Official Review: Light of Day by K.M. Thompson

ALynnPowers · Post by **ALynnPowers** » 11 Mar 2015, 06:13

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Light of Day" by K.M. Thompson.]

1 out of 4 stars

Share This Review

Labeled as a romance, Light of Day by K.M. Thompson is the first book of the Daylight Series and is available in paperback and eBook for Kindle and Nook. Gypsyheart Editing is credited as the editor of the book. The second book of the series, Darkness in Day, was released in the summer of 2014 and is also credited with the same editor.

I have no plans to read the second book in this series.

After a traumatic incident in which her ex-boyfriend tried to burn down her home while she was still inside, Dana Spencer moves from London to New York City with her best friend James. Thanks to the generosity of her wealthy step-father, they are able to settle into a safe and comfortable apartment in Manhattan. Dana begins a new job doing photography work for a magazine, and the CEO of her company immediately takes an interest in her. Over the course of two weeks, Dana’s life is on hyper-speed as Edward forces himself into her life.

In attempts to cover the pain that she must endure when faced with her horrible memories, Dana turns to alcohol and cutting, in addition to having James beat her with a whip or a belt. Under the premise of helping her, Edward introduces her to BDSM as a means of inflicting pain associated with pleasure. Dana is torn between despising him and being aroused by him. Meanwhile, a mysterious character named Nathan is mentioned throughout the book. Who is he? Where is he? And why does Dana feel like her family is conspiring against her? Is her past sure to catch up with her?

Before I even opened this book, I should have realized that the quality would be a bit below standard; there are no fewer than four errors within the book’s description alone. The content within the book isn’t much better. As I read the first chapter, which is a mere ten pages long, I marked thirty-four indisputable errors. And I was being extremely generous, taking writing style and dialect into consideration. Most of these errors were in the form of run-on sentences with missing commas galore, a sudden shift of verb tense from present to past, and a rare case of “would of” instead of “would have.” Obviously, I’m not going to go through all of these errors in detail; that should have been the job of the editor. Thirty-four errors in such few pages of a published book doesn’t reflect well on the author or on the editor. I stopped counting the errors after the first chapter, but they continued throughout the book.

In addition to the massive number of punctuation and other grammar-related flaws, there are also a few plot holes throughout the story. Mostly these are just moments that don’t make much sense in general, or characters contradicting their own words or personalities. Dana is the worst at this. There are also a few instances in which an American character says something completely non-American; for example, “get on” instead of “get along” and “maths” instead of “math.” I was also a bit confused at why Edward, the CEO of a prestigious company, who has extensive knowledge of Nordic cuisine, would not know that “lift” means “elevator” yet he doesn’t even blink when Dana mentions the lesser known word “pram.”

My favorite part of the book was the ending. Not so much because of the twist or because of the “surprises” that were revealed, but just because it was finally over and I didn’t have to read anymore. When I picked up this book, I was expecting to read a romance novel: two people have some problems yet still manage to fall in love, with a few sexy moments thrown in here and there. Instead, I got Fifty Shades of Grey meets Silence of the Lambs. I actually thought at one point that Edward was going to start telling Dana to “rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.” Incidentally, the book probably would have been more entertaining if that had happened.

As far as characters go, I never once felt a connection to any of them. Dana should probably be diagnosed with a handful of psychological disorders (depression, panic attack disorder, and anxiety disorder, with a chance of PTSD in addition to her alcoholism and deliberate self-harm); I’ve personally known people who were admitted to mental health care facilities for a lot less. Additionally, she is extremely immature, selfish, and entitled, all while she continually makes the world’s worst decisions and then doesn’t understand why things aren’t working out better for her. For some reason, she turns to Edward for help, yet he proves himself again and again as nothing more than a stalker and control freak, also suffering from his own chart of psychoses. I didn’t pick up on any romance in this book. In fact, I felt dirty as I read it. It was no different from reading about a psychopath sexually assaulting a mentally disabled girl. Romance material, no; horror material, maybe.

I give this book a rating of 1 out of 4 stars. Perhaps if it had been classified in the horror genre, I would have been a bit more generous with two stars, but the poor writing quality just doesn’t allow me to go any higher than that.

******
Light of Day
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords | Hassle-Free Sample

Like ALynnPowers's review? Post a comment saying so!

Gravy · Post by **Gravy** » 13 Mar 2015, 02:17

ALynnPowers wrote:Mostly these are just moments that don’t make much sense in general, or characters contradicting their own words or personalities. Dana is the worst at this. There are also a few instances in which an American character says something completely non-American; for example, “get on” instead of “get along” and “maths” instead of “math.” I was also a bit confused at why Edward, the CEO of a prestigious company, who has extensive knowledge of Nordic cuisine, would not know that “lift” means “elevator” yet he doesn’t even blink when Dana mentions the lesser known word “pram.”

Huge, major, jumbo-sized pet peeves!
Sooo would've been a DNF for me.
Major kudos for finishing it!

ALynnPowers · Post by **ALynnPowers** » 13 Mar 2015, 02:47

Graverobber wrote:
ALynnPowers wrote:Mostly these are just moments that don’t make much sense in general, or characters contradicting their own words or personalities. Dana is the worst at this. There are also a few instances in which an American character says something completely non-American; for example, “get on” instead of “get along” and “maths” instead of “math.” I was also a bit confused at why Edward, the CEO of a prestigious company, who has extensive knowledge of Nordic cuisine, would not know that “lift” means “elevator” yet he doesn’t even blink when Dana mentions the lesser known word “pram.”

Huge, major, jumbo-sized pet peeves!
Sooo would've been a DNF for me.
Major kudos for finishing it!

It's because I'm so stubborn and refused to give up.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » 13 Mar 2015, 03:36

Thanks for the very funny review

ALynnPowers · Post by **ALynnPowers** » 13 Mar 2015, 04:19

You're welcome. Thanks for reading.

Gravy · Post by **Gravy** » 13 Mar 2015, 05:27

I'm stubborn...but I'm not that stubborn

ALynnPowers · Post by **ALynnPowers** » 13 Mar 2015, 06:05

Graverobber wrote:I'm stubborn...but I'm not that stubborn

That's probably a good thing.

PashaRu · Post by **PashaRu** » 13 Mar 2015, 06:16

Yay! It was published! Funny, funny!

ALynnPowers wrote: My favorite part of the book was the ending. Not so much because of the twist or because of the “surprises” that were revealed, but just because it was finally over and I didn’t have to read anymore.

This is great! I think we've all read a few stinkers and can totally relate!

So much about this book that makes me say with confidence, "I will never, ever read this." BDSM, awful grammar, poor writing, stupid characters, etc. TOTALLY everything that irritates me!!!

ALynnPowers · Post by **ALynnPowers** » 13 Mar 2015, 06:28

PashaRu wrote:Yay! It was published! Funny, funny!

ALynnPowers wrote: My favorite part of the book was the ending. Not so much because of the twist or because of the “surprises” that were revealed, but just because it was finally over and I didn’t have to read anymore.
This is great! I think we've all read a few stinkers and can totally relate!

So much about this book that makes me say with confidence, "I will never, ever read this." BDSM, awful grammar, poor writing, stupid characters, etc. TOTALLY everything that irritates me!!!

There might be people out there who would like it. You wouldn't be one of them, for sure.

Post by **bookowlie** » 13 Mar 2015, 08:19

Nice review. When the grammatical errors are "beyond numerous", it becomes a major distraction. Unfortunately, the rise of e-books has sprouted a new phenomenon.....self-published books that resemble first drafts. It's a shame because there are many indie e-books that are well-written and carefully edited; the others give the good books a bad name.

ALynnPowers · Post by **ALynnPowers** » 13 Mar 2015, 09:06

bookowlie wrote:Nice review. When the grammatical errors are "beyond numerous", it becomes a major distraction. Unfortunately, the rise of e-books has sprouted a new phenomenon.....self-published books that resemble first drafts. It's a shame because there are many indie e-books that are well-written and carefully edited; the others give the good books a bad name.

I love self-published books, and I love supporting those independent authors who try to do such a difficult thing... but... yeah, you're spot on with your description!

On the bright side, I've found some real gems among the independent authors!

Post by **bookowlie** » 13 Mar 2015, 09:20

I've also found gems, including a few I've read and reviewed here.

ALynnPowers · Post by **ALynnPowers** » 13 Mar 2015, 09:27

bookowlie wrote:I've also found gems, including a few I've read and reviewed here.

Same here. And some I've found on my own, which led me to want to review more, just to let people know of the great, lesser-known books that I've found!

Kappy · Post by **Kappy** » 14 Mar 2015, 21:37

I have reviewed only six books so far, but already they include a self-published science-fiction gem (and I'm hard to please) and one book I enjoyed about as much as ALynnPowers enjoyed this book.

ALynnPowers · Post by **ALynnPowers** » 15 Mar 2015, 03:35

Kappy wrote:I have reviewed only six books so far, but already they include a self-published science-fiction gem (and I'm hard to please) and one book I enjoyed about as much as ALynnPowers enjoyed this book.

Haha, glad to know I'm not the only one.