Official Review: Sierra Hearts by Ash Elko

[erasmus]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Sierra Hearts" by Ash Elko.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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Part one of Sierra Hearts by Ash Elko has a total of only 60 pages. The story takes place in Bear Lake, a tiny village in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Bear Lake had always made Jenn MacKenzie feel isolated. Growing up in the mountains, where the most important news was the next bake sale, Jenn had thought that she was missing out on the world outside of Bear Lake, and had been glad to leave her home for Los Angeles.

She then met Max, a photographer, in a tiny cafe she waitressed at in Venice beach. They dated only for a few months before she moved in with him. It didn't take long before a romantic Max transformed into an unreasonable jerk. Jenn, however, continued to put up with Max despite his unreasonableness, until an incident resulted in a bad breakup. Single, broke, and broken-hearted, Jenn had little choice but to return to Bear Lake.

Right when she settles back into her childhood home, Jenn bumps into Danny Williams. While their family knew each other, Danny and Jenn had never been close, and she lost all contact with him after he graduated high school and joined the army. Now, instead of the scarecrow she used to compare him to, Danny is a rugged, handsome man. The instant chemistry between them - despite Jenn's recent breakup - results in strong, mutual attraction and a steamy affair.

Sierra Hearts resembles a lot of the contemporary romance novels out there in terms of plot. However, most of them also manage execute similar plots with much more skill. Obvious grammatical errors combined with the lack of personality in our main couple, Jenn and Danny, make Sierra Hearts mediocre at best and painfully dull at worst. Jenn is so full of insecurity and lust that she’s got no room for any other emotion most of the time. Where's the independent woman who moved to LA on her own to get away from the mountains gone to? Worse still, Danny is like a blank canvas. He has barely any background, hopes, dreams, or even thoughts of his own.

Perhaps there will be developments in the continuation, but I believe that a strong beginning is needed in order to entice readers to read it. Unfortunately, part one is anything but a strong prelude to a good story. Therefore, I rate part one of Sierra Hearts 1 out of 4 stars. I really don’t want to recommend this book to anyone.

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Sierra Hearts
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Like erasmus's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Tanaya]

Ouch! This is the first 1 star rating I've seen on the site. But of course honesty is important. Hopefully the author just learns and improves. That's all any of us can do.

[Cee-Jay Aurinko]

Your review was a pleasure to read, erasmus. It sounds like the first part of the book is okay. Even though the premise is old, I never get tired about reading about characters that move from their dull environments to the city. But maybe this part would've been better if it was just a prologue, so that readers could get to know Jenn and her past gradually. Max doesn't sound important. But Danny does. A bit more development on Danny and I'm sure the author will have something, if not a great book. Ash, don't feel bad about the rating. Trust me, we as reviewers don't like giving bad ratings. Don't give up on your writing.

[erasmus]

Thank you. Leon!

I also don't mind re-reading plot devices that I've already read, but Danny really needs development. It's not the plot that gets to me, but rather the lack of development.

[NadineTimes10]

Ah! A serial novel, I take it. I've yet to read a serial that isn't already compiled--like, say, classic novels that were originally published in installments in newspapers. I prefer to have a complete story all together, but I still may try a serial one day.

[erasmus]

Ah! A serial novel, I take it. I've yet to read a serial that isn't already compiled--like, say, classic novels that were originally published in installments in newspapers. I prefer to have a complete story all together, but I still may try a serial one day.

Hmm. If I've read any serial novels already complied, I don't know it. I do know, however, that Sierra Hearts is by far the shortest part one I've read.

[bookowlie]

I enjoyed reading your insightful review. I think flaws stick out more in a short book. You made a good point about the lack of character development. I find it's hard to care about a character if I don't know enough about him/her.

[erasmus]

Thank you bookowlie! I think that the lack of character development prevents the story from going forward. However, since this is a very short first part, it's very difficult to judge if the development just hasn't happened yet, or if it's going to stagnate throughout the series. But for now, looking at part one alone, part 2 just doesn't seem interesting at all...

[Espie]

Ouch! This is the first 1-star rating I've seen on the site. But of course, honesty is important. Hopefully, the author just learns and improves. That's all any of us can do.

Exactly. Those are the same words I wanted to say, Tanaya.

Thank you for your honest review.