Review by ab2020 -- B-Side by Janis Jones

ab2020 · Post by **ab2020** » 27 Aug 2019, 09:57

[Following is a volunteer review of "B-Side" by Janis Jones.]

3 out of 4 stars

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One of the major ongoing discussions in the book world is a conversation about the representation of the LGBT+ community in literature. A good number of recent fiction books attempt to bring LGBT+ lives into the spotlight. However, many of these books highlight LGBT+ relationships as if they are something special or peculiar. In my opinion, it is much better to portray such relationships as nothing out of the ordinary. This is exactly what Janis Jones attempts to do in her novel, B-Side.

B-Side is the story of Mara Bays and her partner, Cassandra Terranova. Mara is a detective, and Casey is a graphic designer. Unbeknownst to Mara, another detective, Derek, is jealous of Mara and Casey’s relationship. One night, Casey is violently assaulted by an unknown man. As a result, both Mara and Derek become emotionally unstable. Mara’s quest to solve the mystery leads her into conflict with Derek and her other colleagues. Though she is determined to maintain her loving relationship with Casey, she and Casey also encounter trust issues and conflict. The novel follows Mara’s journey as she attempts to solve the mystery and preserve her relationship with Casey.

Janis Jones is a decent author but not an outstanding one. The prose is neither sublime nor particularly intelligent. It is simply good enough to take the reader through the story without too much confusion. The chapters are short, which makes the plot easy to follow. Jones skillfully weaves the lives of many different characters together, and this makes the ending both revelatory and satisfying. At times, though, the plot moves a bit too quickly, and I would have appreciated it if the author had taken some time to explore the details of the setting and the characters’ feelings. However, I understand that the mystery genre is inherently somewhat fast-paced, so it wasn’t too big of a problem.

I found a lot to be desired in terms of the book’s editing. The author seems to have a strange habit of italicizing random text, and there are a lot of missing quotation marks. Some lines break off in strange places, and the author often leaves out dialogue tags (“he said”, “she said”, etc.), which makes it difficult to remember which character is speaking.

Despite the apparent lack of professional editing, B-Side is still an engrossing and enjoyable book. I would recommend it to those who wish to add some diversity to their reading and to those who enjoy a good mystery. It is not a long book (only 200 pages), and despite the confusing errors, it is quick read. If you are looking for an immersive, atmospheric, and complex tome, this is probably not the book for you; otherwise, you might want to give it a try. Thus, I rate B-Side 3 out of 4 stars.

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B-Side
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Erin Painter Baker · Post by **Erin Painter Baker** » 04 Sep 2019, 10:58

I like that you include in your review a perspective on LGBTQ+ relationships in literature. I don't read mystery/thriller novels (though I watch movies made from them), so I am not going to pick up this book, but I do like that it portrays Mara and Casey's relationship like any other relationship in this kind of story.

ab2020 · Post by **ab2020** » 07 Sep 2019, 16:37

esp1975 wrote: ↑04 Sep 2019, 10:58 I like that you include in your review a perspective on LGBTQ+ relationships in literature. I don't read mystery/thriller novels (though I watch movies made from them), so I am not going to pick up this book, but I do like that it portrays Mara and Casey's relationship like any other relationship in this kind of story.

Thanks for the comment! I actually just noticed that the cover is in rainbow/pride colors. It probably speaks to the content of the novel that I didn't notice this before - specifically, the ease with which the author portrays a gay relationship.