Official Review: The Life of a boB by Leslie Daniels

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meadhbh
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Official Review: The Life of a boB by Leslie Daniels

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[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Life of a boB" by Leslie Daniels.]
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2 out of 4 stars
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thE lifE oF A boB, as the title is formatted, is written by Leslie Daniels, a former admin of an online virtual chatroom community. This book is a short collection of stories about another admin, the titular boB. Whether it’s a trip to the zoo, travels through space or a fight between a snowman and a tiger, Daniels creates fun, silly, and quirky stories based on the various chatrooms herself and boB are involved in.

Based on the cover and the blurb, I was expecting this book to be a lot more like a traditional graphic novel. However, there is no consistent plot throughout the book, with each chapter telling a different story. The chapters are short, ranging between one and five pages. As well as stories, some of the chapters contain other things like a poem, suggestions for room redecorations and a list of things invented by Canadians. While most of the chapters are fun, they are often very confusing, and I would have liked to see a more coherent collection. Often, there seems to be no connection between the chapters, and because they are so short, the book doesn’t seem to have a real sense of purpose.

Probably my favourite part of the book is the illustrations. Scattered throughout the book, they have a simple, bright style that helps bring some of the more ridiculous scenes to life. There are also a number of photos, as well as ASCII art, which involves using standard computer characters to create pictures. These various images add colour, and they are the main thing that kept me engaged throughout the book.

The thing that frustrated me the most about the book was the formatting. While it seems to have been formatted in an attempt to imitate the casual writing style employed by chatroom users, the effect is often quite jarring. There is no consistency, and incorrect use of asterisks often makes it hard to follow what exactly is happening. I think there is probably some way the author could have altered the formatting to make it more user-friendly, while still achieving the affect she was aiming for.

Overall, I would give this book 2 out of 4 stars. While I didn’t love it, it was an entertaining and very quick read at only 48 pages. I would recommend this for someone looking for a very short, easy read, or for someone who was involved in the chatroom scene and wants to relive that a bit. If you’re looking for a book with a bit more substance, this is not the book for you.

******
The Life of a boB
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MsTri
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Post by MsTri »

Man, it really is a shame that the execution of this book wasn't as good as it seemed like it'd be; as soon as I saw the on the review list, I got jealous. But then I saw your score... Even so, I still may check it out some time as time allows, if only for the art, *lol!* Thanks so much for the review.
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Post by Kemunto lucy »

I thought the book was a fun read all the way to the end but your review tells otherwise. I 'll pass on this one. Thanks for the review.
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Post by Kendra M Parker »

Wow, back to the days of chat room administration. That is some nice throwback. This sounds like a collection of all the wacky things that admins do behind the scenes to keep themselves sane as they deal with the insanity of working with people on the internet. Unfortunately, it also sounds like they assumed the inside jokes and the things that they found funny should have been strung together with a little bit more.
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meadhbh
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Post by meadhbh »

MsTri wrote: 29 May 2018, 00:11 Man, it really is a shame that the execution of this book wasn't as good as it seemed like it'd be; as soon as I saw the on the review list, I got jealous. But then I saw your score... Even so, I still may check it out some time as time allows, if only for the art, *lol!* Thanks so much for the review.
I was expecting more too! It's definitely still worth a read though, I think my expectations were just a little higher so I was disappointed.
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meadhbh
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Post by meadhbh »

Kendra M Parker wrote: 29 May 2018, 07:15 Wow, back to the days of chat room administration. That is some nice throwback. This sounds like a collection of all the wacky things that admins do behind the scenes to keep themselves sane as they deal with the insanity of working with people on the internet. Unfortunately, it also sounds like they assumed the inside jokes and the things that they found funny should have been strung together with a little bit more.
That's a great way to describe exactly how I felt actually, thank you. Yes, I'm sure this book is incredibly fun for those who were directly involved in these specific chatrooms and possibly even for people who were involved in other chatrooms around the same time, but sadly it fails to translate that into something with broader appeal which is a real missed opportunity.
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Post by Ginnamassa19 »

oh man, chatrooms! Good old days. XD The book seems to have a really interesting concept, and it's short and sweet, which is always nice. It's just a shame about the frustrating formatting and confusing collection of chapters.

Thank you for your review--I was looking at the book and wondering about it, and your critique has really cleared things up! :)
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meadhbh
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Post by meadhbh »

Ginnamassa19 wrote: 30 May 2018, 09:43 oh man, chatrooms! Good old days. XD The book seems to have a really interesting concept, and it's short and sweet, which is always nice. It's just a shame about the frustrating formatting and confusing collection of chapters.

Thank you for your review--I was looking at the book and wondering about it, and your critique has really cleared things up! :)
Honestly, I think I'm mostly disappointed that the book didn't really live up to what I was hoping! Maybe my expectations were too high.
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