May 17, 2016

"The Boy with Words" Review


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Book: The Boy with Words ("Five Seven Five" & "Five Seven Six")

Author: C.E. Wilson

Page Count: 460 (Final Paperback)

My Rating: ★★★★

Synopsis:  White Frost has only ever known the darkness. Everything outside of her closed society is The Unknown – a strange and dangerous place accessible to only a chosen few. White’s only glimpse of the world beyond comes from her beloved cousin in the form of mysterious collections of words that hint at astonishing wonders. When an accident upends her simple existence, she’s given an unlikely chance to see the truth for herself. What she finds is greater and more terrible than she could have imagined, and before long she is forced to make the most important choice of her life: does she accept her safe, limited world that she’s known or take a desperate gamble in a world not meant for her with the Boy with Words?
     

  I was approached by the author, C.E. Wilson for a free copy of the book (which is actually a bindup of the two books in the series) in exchange for an honest review. Having worked with this author before, I agreed. Coming into the book, I was a little wary. To be honest, I wasn't the hugest fan of the last book I read from her, "To Nowhere". It was very basic, quite underdeveloped, I wasn't a fan of the whole giant/little person relationship, and I hated every single character in the book. I decided to give this books a whirl kind of as a chance of redemption for the author. Fortunately, this book did in fact redeem her, though the beginning was a bit rough.



      This book is everything I wish her last book had been. This book, like her last book, deals with giants and little people, but this book however, approaches the topic way better. The world building is very developed and the dynamics between the two worlds are constantly evolving as we learn more about the two worlds. With this book, I don't have to wonder how things came to be because they are clearly defined.



      When it came to the main character, White, I actually liked her, though there were several times when her decisions and thoughts annoyed the hell out of me. White reacted exactly to the situations she was placed in an acceptable normal way that any person would do as well, and I really appreciated that; it made the book seem more real and the story feel like it is something that could happen.



      Kes... I'm going to be completely honest; I didn't hate him, but I also had a lot of issues with him. In general he was... if I had to use a word, it would be creepy. He approaches the entire situation in a way that just isn't normal for a guy his age. Granted, the whole point of the story is that they are different, but there is such a thing as being too different to the point of it being problematic and a psychoanalysis needed.



      Now on to the main thing of the book, the relationship. As cute as it probably was, it is just something I couldn't get behind. Every bone in my body to me that it was just wrong on so many levels and just couldn't be. Maybe it is the psychoanalyst in me who has watched too many Criminal Minds episodes, but the relationship just wasn't normal. 



      Plot-wise, while it was rather cookie cutter and nothing special and quite predictable, it was still enjoyable, more than I thought it would be. I think the main reason for that was because the writing in this book was just way better than in To Nowhere. This writing was more than just the basic writing I was used to in the last book. In To Nowhere, it felt like a middle school girl had wrote the book with it's overused phrases and annoying tone. With this book though, it really felt like the author had given more thought to word choice and just the overall book itself. To Nowhere kind of felt like it was thrown together rather quickly, while this one was clearly developed as much as possible.



      Overall, this book was really entertaining and had a lot of low and high points. While I wasn't really fan of the relationships and dynamics between the characters, I still enjoyed it.


About the Author
C.E.  Wilson
C.E. Wilson is currently living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her husband, beautiful daughter, a chubby beagle and two cats. They are all the loves of her life. When she’s not writing young adult fantasy novels, she enjoys writing short stories on her Deviant Art page. She loves to write stories involving giants and little people (also known as GT) and she can't decide what she loves more: horror movies or shoujo manga. She has a bachelor's degree in English Education so she has a soft spot for older literature authors including John Milton, William Shakespeare, and stories such as Paradise Lost and Beowolf. On a side note, nothing helps her to write more than drinking good beer and watching The Twilight Zone.

Join the conversation!

  1. Great review Sierra (and thanks for the Tom gif!) :)

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  2. Hmmm this looks rather unique. I read To Nowhere as well, and I didn't love the characters in that one, but this one seems more promising. White looks like a very relatable character!

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    1. This one is definitely more promising than "To Nowhere" and White is so much more relatable.

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  3. Great review This is actually the first time I hear about this book, and it really does looks and sounds very intriguing and unique. I am now really curious about it because I never read a book with GT before. Thank you for your awesome post.

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