Review of Faults

[Afrochild7]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Faults" by Orion Gregory.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Faults by Orion Gregory entails the journey of a young aspiring athlete, promising a tumultuous race to the top of the ranks. The dark past has been resurrected to haunt and destroy the young player's life and an already struggling career. A lot is at stake for Sydney Livingstone, an aspiring professional tennis player who finds herself entrapped in a web of endless drama both on and off the court. Not only does she have to beat the odds and secure a place for the tournament draw, she has a very pressing and precarious matter to contend with; a stalker. With the support of her friends and family she has a fighting chance to overcome this looming war waged against her.

Gregory has weaved a maze of suspects and done a great job at diversifying the plot characters, this has helped to highlight the suspense and mystery of one of most integral themes of the book. There's a lot to admire in Sydney but the true spirit of athleticism which has been meticulously conveyed through her resilience and tenacity is the leading attribute that drew me in.

While I admire the humour of the tone used throughout the book, I feel that some plot twists could have done with a much sombre tone to depict the severity of the situations. I found the book to be lacking the chills and frightening aspects that inevitably come as consequences of murder. In addition, creativity with regard to atmosphere and emotion emphasis was subtle and too laid back.

One prominent theme of the book is revenge, I was disappointed when the motive behind all this was eventually revealed. While I understand that Gregory aimed to create a contradictory villain, a flashback excerpt accentuating the heinous behaviour and tendencies of the protagonist would have helped to make the motive and ending more convincing.

I would have loved to see a much more dramatic, panic-stricken and prolonged climax. The intensity of the events of the book merge so much into each other. The author didn't make use of adjectives and sensory details where it mattered thus the delivery fell short. In what I consider to be the culmination of the book, there is one notable instance where the author described the response and reaction of the protagonist when faced with trouble."Syd,her legs trembling from stress", It was not enough to paint the picture of the incident and ultimately engage me.

Given the aforementioned shortcomings of the book and some editorial errors, I rate it 2 out of 4. With a significant polish on emotional and descriptive aspects, the book stands a chance to attract a diverse audience.

This is a book made for sport fanatics, teenagers and adults alike. The remarkable sportsmanship that is shown through the resilience and tenacity as previously mentioned is bound to draw them in.

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Faults
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[Sarah Sonbol]

I enjoyed reading this book, although it describes some tennis matches -to which I'm ignorant- in details. Thanks for your review.