Review of Saoirse's Story
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Kutloano Makhuvhela
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Review of Saoirse's Story
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Saoirse's Story" by A.M. Jaxon.]
Saoirse’s Story by A.M. Jaxon is a romance crime thriller that follows multiple characters, especially Saoirse, who navigate the world searching for love and the meaning of life. More than that, the characters’ lives intersect in one way or another. All these different characters walk their own journey that is just as treacherous as the next one. It is the first book in The Love Connections Series.
The book opens with a prologue where two police officers are attending a domestic disturbance. The day is hot, and both of them are looking forward to solving this disturbance quickly. They think it’s the heat that set them off, and they make conversation, chuckling here and there, until a shot is fired and one officer falls while the other calls it in and tries to help his partner. The book then switches to Ireland, where we are quickly introduced to a younger Saoirse, who finds herself in what looks like a bank robbery because of balaclava-clad men. It’s during the era of the Troubles, and Saoirse vows to leave this country. Later on, it switches to 1999, when Saoirse has grown and is negotiating with her father about leaving for Australia. Her father is sceptical, but due to intense convincing, with her mother joining in, he agrees, and Saoirse finally leaves Ireland.
The first chapter picks up where the prologue left off. Remember that policeman who got shot? He left behind a widow by the name of Daniella and two daughters. Daniella doesn’t wallow in pain and pity but moves her small family for a fresh start in a new environment where they are unknown. This is also her way of protecting her daughters. For work, she decides to help women who are abused by intimate partners, so she puts her law degree into practice. This is where she meets Saoirse, who is eager to learn about Daniella’s work. Chad, an I.T. worker in a law firm, harasses Saoirse. When Daniella intervenes, they, Daniella and Saoirse, think that’s the end of it, but they are wrong.
Read this book to find out what they were wrong about and how wrong they were. What I liked about the book was how the two prevalent genres, romance and crime thriller, were mixed and balanced. I didn’t feel, even for a second, like one overshadowed the other. It took a great skill from the author to achieve this hard feat. Another thing I liked was how the book was plot-orientated. Meaning it focused on the plot more than anything. Yes, the characters were bubbly and felt alive, but this was done to make sure that the plot felt realistic. I liked that it was rich enough to last the whole book without ever feeling like it was dragging or had lost its substance.
The second thing I liked was the characterisation. The characters were developed to a tee. I liked that instead of introducing them all at once or mixing them, the author instead decided to dedicate at least one chapter to each character. At times this could feel ominous and predictable, but once I understood why, it was easy to enjoy this feat. The author did it because each character had their own personal love life knots they needed to tie on their own, so designating chapters for each character allowed the space for each character to be developed and enhanced. When they all came together in some chapter, where they appeared in the background, we knew them and were familiar with their actions. This was tasteful.
What I can say I disliked about the book was the dialogue. For some reason, it felt like uniformed. I didn’t feel impressed by it. Another thing, the dialogue tags were missing. Yes, dialogue tags should not be overdone because they might be monotonous, but when you do away with them completely, that also creates some sense of confusion. The action beats were too much. Other than that, the book had nothing I disliked.
I only detected minor errors that didn’t affect the book in any way. This shows the book was exceptionally and professionally edited. For the reasons stated above, I give this book a fair rating of four out of five stars. It was a good book, but at the same time, it wasn’t perfect. I knocked down the one star because it didn’t blow my mind and for the dislike I mentioned above. Other than that, I recommend this book to people who love romance and crime thrillers. People who have marital abuse trauma or any type of abuse from intimate partners should shy away from reading this book because it contains such strong, sensitive themes. It’s for a mature and older audience, older than teenage years.
******
Saoirse's Story
View: on Bookshelves
Saoirse’s Story by A.M. Jaxon is a romance crime thriller that follows multiple characters, especially Saoirse, who navigate the world searching for love and the meaning of life. More than that, the characters’ lives intersect in one way or another. All these different characters walk their own journey that is just as treacherous as the next one. It is the first book in The Love Connections Series.
The book opens with a prologue where two police officers are attending a domestic disturbance. The day is hot, and both of them are looking forward to solving this disturbance quickly. They think it’s the heat that set them off, and they make conversation, chuckling here and there, until a shot is fired and one officer falls while the other calls it in and tries to help his partner. The book then switches to Ireland, where we are quickly introduced to a younger Saoirse, who finds herself in what looks like a bank robbery because of balaclava-clad men. It’s during the era of the Troubles, and Saoirse vows to leave this country. Later on, it switches to 1999, when Saoirse has grown and is negotiating with her father about leaving for Australia. Her father is sceptical, but due to intense convincing, with her mother joining in, he agrees, and Saoirse finally leaves Ireland.
The first chapter picks up where the prologue left off. Remember that policeman who got shot? He left behind a widow by the name of Daniella and two daughters. Daniella doesn’t wallow in pain and pity but moves her small family for a fresh start in a new environment where they are unknown. This is also her way of protecting her daughters. For work, she decides to help women who are abused by intimate partners, so she puts her law degree into practice. This is where she meets Saoirse, who is eager to learn about Daniella’s work. Chad, an I.T. worker in a law firm, harasses Saoirse. When Daniella intervenes, they, Daniella and Saoirse, think that’s the end of it, but they are wrong.
Read this book to find out what they were wrong about and how wrong they were. What I liked about the book was how the two prevalent genres, romance and crime thriller, were mixed and balanced. I didn’t feel, even for a second, like one overshadowed the other. It took a great skill from the author to achieve this hard feat. Another thing I liked was how the book was plot-orientated. Meaning it focused on the plot more than anything. Yes, the characters were bubbly and felt alive, but this was done to make sure that the plot felt realistic. I liked that it was rich enough to last the whole book without ever feeling like it was dragging or had lost its substance.
The second thing I liked was the characterisation. The characters were developed to a tee. I liked that instead of introducing them all at once or mixing them, the author instead decided to dedicate at least one chapter to each character. At times this could feel ominous and predictable, but once I understood why, it was easy to enjoy this feat. The author did it because each character had their own personal love life knots they needed to tie on their own, so designating chapters for each character allowed the space for each character to be developed and enhanced. When they all came together in some chapter, where they appeared in the background, we knew them and were familiar with their actions. This was tasteful.
What I can say I disliked about the book was the dialogue. For some reason, it felt like uniformed. I didn’t feel impressed by it. Another thing, the dialogue tags were missing. Yes, dialogue tags should not be overdone because they might be monotonous, but when you do away with them completely, that also creates some sense of confusion. The action beats were too much. Other than that, the book had nothing I disliked.
I only detected minor errors that didn’t affect the book in any way. This shows the book was exceptionally and professionally edited. For the reasons stated above, I give this book a fair rating of four out of five stars. It was a good book, but at the same time, it wasn’t perfect. I knocked down the one star because it didn’t blow my mind and for the dislike I mentioned above. Other than that, I recommend this book to people who love romance and crime thrillers. People who have marital abuse trauma or any type of abuse from intimate partners should shy away from reading this book because it contains such strong, sensitive themes. It’s for a mature and older audience, older than teenage years.
******
Saoirse's Story
View: on Bookshelves
‘When you do a good deed, people are grateful, and that creates a nice feeling inside you; and then because it feels good, that makes you want to do more good deeds. That repetition is the cycle of goodness.’
~Hogoromo.
~Hogoromo.
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This sounds really interesting, I love how Saoirse is key to all the stories. Too bad about the dialogue issues and the errors, I think I'll still add this to my list. Thanks for the detailed review.
Latest Review: Bless Your Heart by Susann Camus
