Official Review: False Trails by Whittney Corum

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VivianLove
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Latest Review: False Trails by Whittney Corum

Official Review: False Trails by Whittney Corum

Post by VivianLove »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "False Trails" by Whittney Corum.]
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2 out of 4 stars
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False Trails, book two in the Lunar series by Whittney Corum, follows the adventure of a half-elf, half-shifter teenage girl, Ingrid, who is determined to free her sister from the King of all Dragons. Ingrid believes that her sister is under the influence of a spell cast by her dragon husband and needs to be rescued. Unfortunately, Ingrid is captured by traffickers and bought as a healer by a band of dragon-hunters. Will these dragon-hunters turn out to be friends who might help Ingrid complete her mission?

The story is written in first-person from the perspectives of multiple characters, both protagonists and antagonists. Even though the narrator switches from chapter to chapter, the style of the writing and the author’s voice are both very consistent throughout the entire novel. Each chapter always ends with suspense, making the story move along rapidly and making False Trails a page-turner!

One of my favorite elements of the book is dialogue. Instead of being held only at the surface level, the dialogues always reveal some type of tension between the characters, their words hinting at complex relationships, past events, or secrets. Because of this crafty display of the dynamic relationships between characters, I started to sympathize with the narrators very early on in the story.

Although False Trails has an exciting story, the plot needs a lot more development. I think that the book contains a solid premise, a beginning, and an ending. However, there is virtually no development in the middle. Characters are literally “teleported” from the open scenes to the ending scenes. Unfortunately, since the journey in the middle is missing, readers do not have a chance to witness any growth or change that the characters might have experienced.

The language of False Trails and its writing style is easy to follow. However, there are simply too many errors in the book to provide the readers with a smooth reading experience. For example, I found at least ten errors within the first 20 pages. Most of these errors are grammatical, spelling, and syntax mistakes. There is one character whose name is inconsistent between the first and the second half of the book.

Considering all of the above, I rate this book 2 out of 4. Because of its interesting plot and intriguing characters, it has a lot of potentials. I believe that after some editing, False Trails could be an enjoyable read. I estimate that the word count for this book is about 25,000 and would recommend this fantasy to advanced middle-grade readers (9-13 years old) and young-adult readers.

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False Trails
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Joseph_ngaruiya
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Post by Joseph_ngaruiya »

I like the book cover and your review. Let's hope the errors will be corrected.
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Adrianna Melillo
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Post by Adrianna Melillo »

This one sounds like it has fantastic potential, so I really hope a revised version comes out! Thanks for the honest review!
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Tbregman
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Post by Tbregman »

Thank you for your review and candor. Fortunately, the author has the foundation right, and just needs to get some editing work in. I love great dialogue and am hopeful the potential will come forth.
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Post by NetMassimo »

Proofreading is even more important in books targeted to kids for them to use proper grammar and syntax. Otherwise, this series would be probably a good choice for them. Thank you for your honest review!
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Post by drwcroaker »

It can be an interesting device to have a big time jump in a story, but only if it’s not at the expense of plot and character development. Hope the author gets a shot at another draft. Thanks for your review.
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