Official Review: Rebirth by Valerie A Willis
-
erasmus
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 2475
- Joined: 10 Apr 2014, 22:39
- Bookshelf Size: 27
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-erasmus.html
- Latest Review: "Torn Between" by Karen A Miles
- Reading Device: B00GQDBS7O
Official Review: Rebirth by Valerie A Willis
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Rebirth" by Valerie A Willis.]
Share This Review
In ancient times, survivors of a tribe after a massacre made it to an island, a paradise they named Eden. There were only twenty of them. It was after they arrived that they discovered that they were immortal, and that they each had a special ability: of twenty, ten were elements of Humanity, and ten were elements of Nature. However, they were unable to find peace. After they left Eden, they only caused more destruction and bloodshed due to their carelessness. After which, a decision was made. A spell would be cast by the element of Rebirth, and nineteen of them were to reincarnate endlessly without their memories and leave this cursed life behind. Start with a clean slate, so to speak. One of them was left behind to watch over them. Thus begins the story of an ancient people and their Awakening as the spell began to fail.
Rebirth is the first instalment in the Tattooed Angels Trilogy. In this fantasy novel, we follow Hotan, our protagonist, as he tries to find a semblance of order in his life and at the same time, find out more about his past (and apparently immortal) life as the element of Rebirth. This book begins with a nightmare that has plagued Hotan for... years? For the past few months, they have been getting worse, and that's when his nightmares become reality.
Hotan is an orphan, with no other relative or family member that he knows of. Hotan is part of TOOL, a band in which he takes his role seriously because it pays his bills. His best friend is Kyle, and he is currently dating Shellie. When he finds refuge in a small, dilapidated church from his life that is rapidly spinning out of control, he gets attacked by a man out to kill him for seemingly no reason - at least, not any reason Hotan could understand. He later finds out that the man who attacked him is Geliah, an immortal and the element of Fear. And he is out to exact vengeance on Hotan - more specifically, the Hotan who used to be the element of Rebirth. Before he knows it, Hotan's life becomes even more chaotic. Between finding out that he has a brother and that his best friend is also now part of this mess, he's not sure of his future - not that he's even been sure of it in the first place.
While I admit that the concept used in Rebirth is really interesting, but the plot... Well, there are a lot of things I do not like that I cannot overlook, most of them centred on the delivery of this story. For one, why are there no last names for anyone at all? This is a fantasy novel, sure, but it's set in the 21st century. It might not be a big deal to anyone else, but I cannot help but see it as a glaring problem. Secondly, there is a lot of telling instead of showing, and in all of that, there is redundancy. Willis likes to tell, a lot. We do not need to know what Hotan is thinking to himself all the time. There is one part where four chunks (that's almost one page) dedicated to Hotan's monologue - italicized and all. That is way too much. Not only that, Hotan's thoughts also repeat repeatedly what we can infer from the events that's already happened by ourselves. Throughout the whole book, what Hotan is thinking to himself at the time can be found practically after every few paragraphs. Frankly, it's very irritating.
Not only that, there are also some unrealistic reactions to situations. For example: an orphan finding out that he used to be an immortal with special abilities thousands of years ago. Usually, I'd anticipate that a person facing a situation such as this would react with shock, denial, and maybe even anger. Hotan, however, gets shocked for a moment, then gets over it the next, and is practically accepting after that. There is no conflict, or struggle with himself to accept that he isn't an ordinary human being (if there is, I'm not seeing or feeling it). Maybe it's unfair of me to push my expectations onto the characters, but I do not find them to be unreasonable.
Lastly, the language and dialogue also needs editing. There are odd sentence structures, missing punctuations, and unconvincing dialogue. It makes the whole book dull. There's no anticipation or thrill. It has been very tedious going through the motions of reading Rebirth. I'm afraid I'll have to rate this book 1 out of 4 stars. I realise that I may have been overly harsh, but there truly are instances when events in Rebirth are so unconvincing (at least to me) that they turn me off the story.
***
Buy "Rebirth" on Amazon
Share This Review
Rebirth is the first instalment in the Tattooed Angels Trilogy. In this fantasy novel, we follow Hotan, our protagonist, as he tries to find a semblance of order in his life and at the same time, find out more about his past (and apparently immortal) life as the element of Rebirth. This book begins with a nightmare that has plagued Hotan for... years? For the past few months, they have been getting worse, and that's when his nightmares become reality.
Hotan is an orphan, with no other relative or family member that he knows of. Hotan is part of TOOL, a band in which he takes his role seriously because it pays his bills. His best friend is Kyle, and he is currently dating Shellie. When he finds refuge in a small, dilapidated church from his life that is rapidly spinning out of control, he gets attacked by a man out to kill him for seemingly no reason - at least, not any reason Hotan could understand. He later finds out that the man who attacked him is Geliah, an immortal and the element of Fear. And he is out to exact vengeance on Hotan - more specifically, the Hotan who used to be the element of Rebirth. Before he knows it, Hotan's life becomes even more chaotic. Between finding out that he has a brother and that his best friend is also now part of this mess, he's not sure of his future - not that he's even been sure of it in the first place.
While I admit that the concept used in Rebirth is really interesting, but the plot... Well, there are a lot of things I do not like that I cannot overlook, most of them centred on the delivery of this story. For one, why are there no last names for anyone at all? This is a fantasy novel, sure, but it's set in the 21st century. It might not be a big deal to anyone else, but I cannot help but see it as a glaring problem. Secondly, there is a lot of telling instead of showing, and in all of that, there is redundancy. Willis likes to tell, a lot. We do not need to know what Hotan is thinking to himself all the time. There is one part where four chunks (that's almost one page) dedicated to Hotan's monologue - italicized and all. That is way too much. Not only that, Hotan's thoughts also repeat repeatedly what we can infer from the events that's already happened by ourselves. Throughout the whole book, what Hotan is thinking to himself at the time can be found practically after every few paragraphs. Frankly, it's very irritating.
Not only that, there are also some unrealistic reactions to situations. For example: an orphan finding out that he used to be an immortal with special abilities thousands of years ago. Usually, I'd anticipate that a person facing a situation such as this would react with shock, denial, and maybe even anger. Hotan, however, gets shocked for a moment, then gets over it the next, and is practically accepting after that. There is no conflict, or struggle with himself to accept that he isn't an ordinary human being (if there is, I'm not seeing or feeling it). Maybe it's unfair of me to push my expectations onto the characters, but I do not find them to be unreasonable.
Lastly, the language and dialogue also needs editing. There are odd sentence structures, missing punctuations, and unconvincing dialogue. It makes the whole book dull. There's no anticipation or thrill. It has been very tedious going through the motions of reading Rebirth. I'm afraid I'll have to rate this book 1 out of 4 stars. I realise that I may have been overly harsh, but there truly are instances when events in Rebirth are so unconvincing (at least to me) that they turn me off the story.
***
Buy "Rebirth" on Amazon
"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one." - George R.R. Martin
Latest Review: "Torn Between" by Karen A Miles
