Official Review: The Claiming of Callan by Connie Lafortune

Jesska6029 · Post by **Jesska6029** » 22 Jun 2015, 20:25

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Claiming of Callan" by Connie Lafortune.]

2 out of 4 stars

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The Claiming of Callan by Connie Lafortune is a book in the romance genre.

Callan and Logan engage in a fiery, five-year relationship, but when tragedy strikes, Logan is forced to leave Callan behind and take care of his family. After a year apart, Callan and Logan are in different places in their lives, and they are different people. When Callan’s future job presents an opportunity for two ex-lovers to reunite, Callan and Logan must figure out if they can function together in a relationship, and Logan must conquer his demons if he has any hope of claiming the girl he has always loved.

The beginning of the book is quite slow. The characters repeatedly talk about the past, and there are a lot of flashbacks. Normally, I enjoy flashbacks, but the use of them completely distracted me from the plot. It was really difficult to get to know the characters because I was overloaded with who they were in the past. If I had the opportunity to get to know the characters before “the flashback overload”, I would not have minded the flashbacks as much. The book entertained me more after I got through about a quarter of it, but the storyline is nothing new, which probably contributed to my lack of enthusiasm for this book. Also, I usually never mind “mature scenes”, but it felt like there were too many of them toward the end of the book.

The narrative switches between a few of the characters. The two main characters, Logan and Callan, are the two main narrators. I liked Callan’s narration more than Logan’s, but I didn’t truly enjoy either of them. I found Callan to be whiny; she constantly cries, and I found her to be an extremely frustrating character to relate to. Logan is really selfish, and he runs away from his problems a lot. I counted three times when he runs away from serious situations. He finds ways to make everything about him. For example, Callan’s mother reveals a really personal secret, but Logan makes the situation about him and his problems. It was really hard to root for Logan and Callan because I really didn’t care for either character. The only narrative I enjoyed was Cara’s. She is everything a mother should be, and she is the only character I found to be remotely likeable.

This book has a lot of big revelations in it. I am a big fan of the saying “less is more.” I didn’t believe the plot developments because there are too many coincidences and too many revelations. As a result, all of the revealing moments lost their impact, and I wasn’t moved or shocked by any of them.

I give The Claiming of Callan by Connie Lafortune 2 out of 4 stars. I think fans of dramatic romance novels may like this book. I did not give the book 1 star because it was not horrible, and I do recognize that other people may enjoy it; however, the unrealistic plot and unlikeable characters do not allow me to rate this novel higher than 2 stars.

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The Claiming of Callan
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gali · Post by **gali** » 23 Jun 2015, 11:06

Thank you for the well written review. I don't think this book is for me though.

Jesska6029 · Post by **Jesska6029** » 23 Jun 2015, 11:10

gali wrote:Thank you for the well written review. I don't think this book is for me though.

That's okay! Thanks for the kind words!

Post by **bookowlie** » 23 Jun 2015, 11:25

Great review. I also don't care for books with too many coincidences, since it's too over the top and unrealistic.

Levi · Post by **Levi** » 23 Jun 2015, 12:20

Although I am romantical in real life, the word romance connected to a movie or book is usually enough to keep me away

That being said, well written Jesska (forgive me if I'm being too familiar, should I call you Jesska0629?

Although books should not only be about likeable characters, I think you hit the nail on the head in that an author must make you empathize with a character before revealing their weaknesses if they are the main characters. Peripheral villains are one thing, but a core character must be loved before being hated.

Jesska6029 · Post by **Jesska6029** » 23 Jun 2015, 12:42

bookowlie wrote:Great review. I also don't care for books with too many coincidences, since it's too over the top and unrealistic.

Thank you! I do agree that too many coincidences can ruin a story.

-- 23 Jun 2015, 12:44 --

Escapeartist wrote:Although I am romantical in real life, the word romance connected to a movie or book is usually enough to keep me away That being said, well written Jesska (forgive me if I'm being too familiar, should I call you Jesska0629? Although books should not only be about likeable characters, I think you hit the nail on the head in that an author must make you empathize with a character before revealing their weaknesses if they are the main characters. Peripheral villains are one thing, but a core character must be loved before being hated.

Thank you for the kind words. It was really hard to feel anything positive for the main characters. Your not too familiar! Feel free to refer to me as Jesska.