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Monday, February 9, 2015

The Irony of Time - Slow, Dull, Uninspiring

Today I’m reviewing the PNR novel Irony of Time by M.L. Crum. It involves a young woman, traumatized throughout her life by a tragedy she believes she caused, and the immortal, supernatural creature who inadvertently gives her a chance to go back and fix it.

I did not finish this book. I made it as far as Chapter Eleven before my drive faltered. I feel like the story had potential…but I just couldn’t go any further.

I give this book a 2/5. Here is my breakdown.

Characters: 2.5/5. Meh. I felt no real attachment to any of the characters. There wasn’t any defining conflict or development that really made either of them stand out. The protagonist had a clear-cut desire, but I didn’t feel any growth from her, and the male love interest was boring and single-minded. His investigations did nothing for me, his desire to find her and get her back seemed without real energy or impetus.

Plot/Storyline: 3/5. This could have been very good. The idea of someone accidentally slipping back in time and deciding to make their old choices anew, to avert catastrophe, is a classic but not-yet-overdone storyline. What kept it from being interesting was the lack of conflict. I think that the author was trying to build up suspense…but it was just a long time without anything really HAPPENING.

Flow: 2/5. Slow. Dragging. Plodding. I forced myself to get as far as I did because the use of language and imagery was fairly good, but the pacing…ugh. I just wasn’t hooked, wasn’t intrigued...was bored, frankly.

Grammar/Spelling: 3/5. Noticeable, but forgiveable, grammatical and spelling errors.


Overall: 2.0/5. This was not the book for me. It had a slow build and the characters were nebulous and poorly defined. I hope the author keeps at it; there was nothing unforgiveable or horrendous about this book. It was just…meh.

You can find a copy of it here: <