Official Review: The Blue Raven by JD Beales

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Heidi M Simone
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Official Review: The Blue Raven by JD Beales

Post by Heidi M Simone »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Blue Raven" by JD Beales.]
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1 out of 4 stars
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What if your world was turned upside and you realized the existence of supernatural creatures? What if your life was at risk? What would you do? Through the themes of revenge, homosexuality, family, and death, the young adult fantasy read, The Blue Raven by J.D. Beales, takes readers to another type of world.

Sixteen-year-old Dylan Andrews isn’t the most popular or well-liked kid in high school. However, one day, he stumbles upon another dimension, giving him the power of creation. No longer afraid of the bullies in school, Dylan’s attitude and confidence changes.

When Dylan meets Matthew Stadding, suddenly his life is turned upside down. Not only does feelings stir inside of him toward this sweet young man, he learns about the true dangers of Morphed Ones, Humanoids, shapeshifting, and so much more. Can Dylan and Matthew stop the evil ones trying to destroy Earth and the other dimensions?

Told in the third-person omniscient perspective, readers are introduced to quite a number of characters. Regrettably, all the characters here were one-dimensional and weren’t given backgrounds. In turn, it made it difficult to care about any of them. The other aspect that made the text challenging was the long-winded, complicated names some of the characters and creatures were given. For example, Craheaantugh, Otrtecwuar, Ecerrhhethgutaa, Rcuroafhhgutnaae, Ghinhankaagf, and others were merely a few included. Keeping track of these peculiar names took away from the story and potential enjoyment.

Though there was much action within this very short book, the amount of content presented became overwhelming. Not only were there times when readers weren’t given a chance to breathe, the plethora of storylines presented led to choppiness to the overarching plot.

In addition, themes were presented in a very weak fashion. The essence of revenge was there, but it seemed superficial. Also, the theme of homosexuality was almost nonexistent, given a few very small scenes. When looking at the theme of death, the reaction to those deaths were so quick I had to reread certain sections to confirm certain deaths actually occurred. In general, the over-the-top action sequences, unfortunately, overshadowed the book's themes.

Lastly, the number of errors presented leads me to believe the book was not professionally edited. Errors varied from punctuational issues, fragments, inconsistent name usage (“Raven” versus “Revan”), misused words, misspelled words, and capitalization issues.

Considering all the above, I have no choice but to give The Blue Raven a 1 out of 4 stars. In its current state, I cannot truthfully recommend this book to anyone.

******
The Blue Raven
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Post by MsTri »

'Tis a pity that the book has so many negatives because I love the idea of visiting another dimension, thereby leading the characters to learn new things...I'll hope for a revised edition so I can read it. Thanks for the review!
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Post by Heidi M Simone »

MsTri wrote: 27 Sep 2018, 11:11 'Tis a pity that the book has so many negatives because I love the idea of visiting another dimension, thereby leading the characters to learn new things...I'll hope for a revised edition so I can read it. Thanks for the review!
Yes, it is a pity, and I also hope that a revised version will come out. No worries, thank you for reading! :tiphat:
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Post by Georgia Lyonhyde »

Thank you for taking the time to review this book as it has saved many of us from a poor ordeal.

I hope the author takes your critique on board and uses it to strengthen their writing on a second boom. I also hope they stick with a similar theme as I like the concepts but I couldn't put myself through the efforts you have just described.
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Post by Heidi M Simone »

Georgia Lyonhyde wrote: 27 Sep 2018, 16:01 Thank you for taking the time to review this book as it has saved many of us from a poor ordeal.

I hope the author takes your critique on board and uses it to strengthen their writing on a second boom. I also hope they stick with a similar theme as I like the concepts but I couldn't put myself through the efforts you have just described.
Thank you reading and for your thoughts. :tiphat:

I also hope the author improves their second time around because the premise seemed like a good one.
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Post by Sonya Nicolaidis »

It has been interesting to read a 'less than glowing' book review for a change. It cannot be an easy task, yet you have tackled this systematically and honestly and provided the author and editor(s) with consecutive criticisms which I hope will result in a revised version of this story. Many thanks for this - it was most enlightening.
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Post by Samantha Powell »

This looks like it has the potential to be a good story. I don't think I would enjoy it in it's present state with the issues you mentioned though.

Good job on giving an honest, well written review!
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Post by kfwilson6 »

Those names are completely unnecessary. What a distraction. The storyline had potential; I'm so sorry it fell flat.
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Post by MagensWife1995 »

This is a prime example of how you can not judge a book by the cover. The description seems like a great concept, yet it was delivered so poorly. Thanks for the honest review.
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Post by liftedbooks »

Wow. What on earth made the author decide to use such strange names? This book sounds unreadable in it's current state. Thanks for a comprehensive review.
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Post by HollandBlue »

Fantasy books aren't my favorites, and this one doesn't seem to have enough positives to make me want to try reading it. Thanks for your honest review!
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Post by inaramid »

Those names! It's like a cat stepped on the keyboard and generated random letters. I like the premise, and like Ms. Tri, I think I'd like to read this once it's edited. Thanks for the insight and information!
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