Review by Urban_13 -- Changing Masks by Nicholas Metelsky
-
Urban_13
- Posts: 1
- Joined: 11 Jan 2019, 16:07
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-urban-13.html
- Latest Review: Changing Masks by Nicholas Metelsky
Review by Urban_13 -- Changing Masks by Nicholas Metelsky
[Following is a volunteer review of "Changing Masks" by Nicholas Metelsky.]
2 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
This book was a unique take on a remodeled version of our own world. A man is thrust from his own life by an unknown cataclysmic event into the body of a young boy on an entirely new planet. Though on the surface the world resembles his own it has differences in history, as well as basic principles of the magic that flows through it. He must learn how to not only survive in this new young body in a strange world, but find a way to fulfill his ambitions.
The plot sounds intriguing, sadly this is as far as the book gets. I only give Changing Masks by Tatiana Vedenska a 2 out of 4. I’ll start at the beginning, the concept of the A.I. giving essentially an intro to the main character from whatever world caused this mysterious event. You have no idea what is happening on their planet, why they did what they did or even what it was. It is the entire origin for why the main character ends up where he does, but it’s just set in a corner to never be thought of again. Not to mention if a planet is so desperate to save their own world that they will essentially sacrifice the lives of others on unknown worlds then why would they waste time and resources contacting them. To me this intro seems like wasted potential or a forced idea that was tossed aside as soon as the story began.
Now I’ll dive into the meat of the story and all the things that nearly kept me from even finishing this book. When it begins the story is in the present, characters are at the oldest they appear in the story. Now to fill in the gaps the author uses flashbacks which is a good and valid method. Unfortunately these flashbacks are not well defined, or placed in the plot. Mid sentence you can be thrown back 6 years in the characters memory without even realizing until you re-read or something very specific in the memory tips you off. The entire first half of this book has such constant time swaps your mind gets whiplash trying to keep up with which timeline your reading. It makes the entire thing frustrating to read and doesn’t help keep you interested in the story.
The next biggest issue I found with this was the lack of descriptions, specifically when it came to actual characters and location. The main character is in a 16 year old Japanese teens body, that is the most description you get. With all characters, main or not, the most description we are given is hair color and a general sense of attractive or not. Nothing further to help readers actually visualize who’s life they’ve been thrust into. It’s like staring at generic background characters in an animated tv show. Next is the scenery, I don’t demand epic poems describing every hill and blade of grass, but I do ask for something to anchor my mind. The most we are given is that you are in Japan and Tokyo is a city still in this world. Never a description of where the characters live, where these parties are occurring or any real visuals on buildings they visits. This makes it very difficult to fall into the story and really feel connected to it.
I will try to end on a good note, the reason for why I didn’t give it a simple 1 out of 4. Though this story has a large amount of structural problems it still has good potential at it's core. I really enjoyed the essence of the story the author was trying to create as well. They brought a lot to the culture of this world and had an intriguing ideas as to a new world and the tech within it.
******
Changing Masks
View: on Bookshelves
Like Urban_13's review? Post a comment saying so!
2 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
This book was a unique take on a remodeled version of our own world. A man is thrust from his own life by an unknown cataclysmic event into the body of a young boy on an entirely new planet. Though on the surface the world resembles his own it has differences in history, as well as basic principles of the magic that flows through it. He must learn how to not only survive in this new young body in a strange world, but find a way to fulfill his ambitions.
The plot sounds intriguing, sadly this is as far as the book gets. I only give Changing Masks by Tatiana Vedenska a 2 out of 4. I’ll start at the beginning, the concept of the A.I. giving essentially an intro to the main character from whatever world caused this mysterious event. You have no idea what is happening on their planet, why they did what they did or even what it was. It is the entire origin for why the main character ends up where he does, but it’s just set in a corner to never be thought of again. Not to mention if a planet is so desperate to save their own world that they will essentially sacrifice the lives of others on unknown worlds then why would they waste time and resources contacting them. To me this intro seems like wasted potential or a forced idea that was tossed aside as soon as the story began.
Now I’ll dive into the meat of the story and all the things that nearly kept me from even finishing this book. When it begins the story is in the present, characters are at the oldest they appear in the story. Now to fill in the gaps the author uses flashbacks which is a good and valid method. Unfortunately these flashbacks are not well defined, or placed in the plot. Mid sentence you can be thrown back 6 years in the characters memory without even realizing until you re-read or something very specific in the memory tips you off. The entire first half of this book has such constant time swaps your mind gets whiplash trying to keep up with which timeline your reading. It makes the entire thing frustrating to read and doesn’t help keep you interested in the story.
The next biggest issue I found with this was the lack of descriptions, specifically when it came to actual characters and location. The main character is in a 16 year old Japanese teens body, that is the most description you get. With all characters, main or not, the most description we are given is hair color and a general sense of attractive or not. Nothing further to help readers actually visualize who’s life they’ve been thrust into. It’s like staring at generic background characters in an animated tv show. Next is the scenery, I don’t demand epic poems describing every hill and blade of grass, but I do ask for something to anchor my mind. The most we are given is that you are in Japan and Tokyo is a city still in this world. Never a description of where the characters live, where these parties are occurring or any real visuals on buildings they visits. This makes it very difficult to fall into the story and really feel connected to it.
I will try to end on a good note, the reason for why I didn’t give it a simple 1 out of 4. Though this story has a large amount of structural problems it still has good potential at it's core. I really enjoyed the essence of the story the author was trying to create as well. They brought a lot to the culture of this world and had an intriguing ideas as to a new world and the tech within it.
******
Changing Masks
View: on Bookshelves
Like Urban_13's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: Changing Masks by Nicholas Metelsky
