Charmed by Lindy Zart

****Spoilage****

***2.5 Stars!***

From the rash of amazing reviews of this book, I went in assuming reading it would be time and money well spent. It was...to a point. I'll insert my 'updates' on this book into this review to give you a sense of what I mean.

3/09 12%: "Yep. Seems legit."

3/11 16%: "Not really liking how we just got thrown into the thick of things with absolutely no set up or background on our MC. I assumed I'd be let in on her secrets int he next coming chapters...nope. As long as I ignore the fact that I'm reading about a perfect stranger who was attracted to he sort-of abductor, I think I'll be okay. Must suspend reality a touch and a half more."

3/11 24%: "I don't like Creed. He's arrogant and entitled. Not a flattering mix."

3/12 32%: "Isn't this awkward? Infuriated. I want to be in love with this book but the emotional leaps are wigging me out. I still like the book but I just wish there was more...just MORE. Ay Dios."

3/12 38%: "This love triangle is tap dancing on my last nerve. It feels kind of forced."

3/13 49%: "Aaaand there it is. Something shifted. And NOT in a good way. *Groans* This book is tap dancing toward he dnf shelf. *Spoiler* It's been like a week and a half- give or take - and already Taryn is acting like a lovesick schoolgirl. I dislike this."

3/14 55%: "Now I'm solidly in the 'Not Feeling it' column. It's melodramatic, extremely rushed, a little all over the place and I just don't feel the drama going on, on the pages. And it was doing so well, too."

3/14 64%:"Yeah. I don't want to read this anymore. So rushed. And it's only 265 pages ffs! There's no reason this wasn't taken slower."

I have no idea what happened past 64%. There was nothing that inspired me to keep reading.





Let's take it from the top....ish, shall we?

Rokie Dokie.

Taryn is our MC. Orphaned, just turned 18, sarcasm embodied - which was a plus, in my eyes. But that's really all we know about her. Oh, and apparently she has bad birthdays. All the time. Whatevs.

From the start, we're thrown right into the middle of stuff going on. I say stuff because that's what it felt like. Like, Zart had an entire two or three chapters before this and just decided to cut them out and start off a book with strange men luring her with their eyes and denting the roof of her car. There's some running, some questioning, some checking out of the douche who trashed her car. But ultimately Taryn goes with him.

As if she has no job, no apartment, no parents and evidently, no sense, either. Still, I didn't care. Taryn's voice in this book was so strong and SO likeable, it made of a lot of the other boring stuff tolerable because she is such a joy to read...to a point.

There are Manang's - which is exactly what they look like. Man-Angels. Let me just tell you how much this term/identifier for this race of beings GRINDS my forking gears. It's almost like, really Zart? Is that what you're giving me after you introduce one of the best MC's/Protagonists I've read in good while?



Disappointing to say the very least.

Anysnooch, Taryn allows Stranger to drive her out of the state and eventually they make it to a house full of other strangers where they tell her she is a Charmed. And Of COURSE she is the strongest/best/last hope/ final Charmed to walk the earth. She'll save them in an upcoming war...yadda, yadda, yadda. You catch my drift.

Some things happen, she gets trained - OH! I'm forgetting the part where Creed - Stranger Who Dented Our Car - Claims her. Which would technically make her a Pitied [Don't EVEN get me started on that term, either.] which is also what it sounds like. Basically, a brainless slave to their Man-Angels who basically are a source of sexual entertainment that eventually die because the Man-Angels have siphoned off their life force and used it to extend their own. Sounds SUPA FUN, right?



Yeah. Any-hoot. Taryn gets trained, starts falling in love with Luke - her Guardian who does what a Guardian should - starts falling for Creed - her sworn Protector who also does what a Protector should. Although he's an arrogant ass. - Whom she barely likes on a regular basis but somehow she manages to fall for them both.



 This is where the aforementioned forced love triangle comes into play. Taryn has been at this house full of STRANGERS for only a few weeks - give or take - and she's managed to find time to fall for both of them, train physically, feel like she's always being watched, learn about her heritage, make friends, find out her dad is a traitor, find out she has a twin sister, TRUST these strangers implicitly - blabiddy blah. It was just SO much crammed into the book, I couldn't help but roll my eyes for over half of what I read.

Throughout all this, I don't feel like any of it pushed the plot along any further. There's supposed to be a war coming but I just didn't feel the urgency that the writing implied I should be feeling.

Okay, the writing. It was really, really well written, most of the characters were engaging, minimal grammatical errors and I almost immediately fell in love with the MC. But that was really all I liked. It felt like she had a good premise going but not enough was happening to make me believe shit was about to go DOWN and that I should be on the edge of my seat wondering what happens next. I had to suspend reality too much to believe this and I just can't be bothered to do it. I wasn't inspired to keep reading and that really sucked. Because it started out so promising.

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Writing w/Your Reader In Mind

What exactly do I mean, you ask? I mean write a book you want to read. One that you can follow easily but it will still keep you wondering what's going to come next. One that will keep you on the edge of your seat wondering if s/he really will kiss her/him or whip out a knife yelling - SURPRISE! I'm the bad guy! One where - if you're into that sorta thing - the frigid and hulking vampire actually has a softer/secret side and knits little bunny mittens for underprivileged inner-city children.

Okay, maybe I took that a bit too far. My apologies.

But never one where you're reading one sentence and the very next one has nada to do with the previous. As the author, we know everything that happens in our books; we know that nothing is said errantly, everything means something in the end. BUT our readers do not. We can't have them playing too much of a guessing game during their reading or else their attentions will stray. Instead of reading, they'll stop and wonder what we mean or make up explanations of their own in their mind. And as writers, I feel it is our responsibility that any leaps in logic our readers have to make are just and not big enough to fit inside the grand canyon.

Thankfully, there's a somewhat easy fix.

Read. 'Tis all. Read lots and lots of books. Read great books. See how the words flow, observe how the author segues into different chapters. See what their grammar looks like and take note of their writing style. Read bad books so you know what doesn't work. So you know what you don't want your book to sound like.

Writing is not a sprint. It's a marathon. And how many times have I told you that you can't run a marathon without putting a couple band-aids on your nipples?*

Sorry, I was watching Horrible Bosses earlier. Kevin Spacey rocks. And Jason Bateman is one of the handsomest men I've seen in a good while.

Moral of the story: Take it slow. Your novel will not decrease in awesomeness or value if you spend more time to "perfect" it. Do your research, get to know your characters inside and out and TRUST in your own creative voice. That is the most important, I believe. You could write one of the most amazing and insightful books ever but it means nothing if you don't believe in it.

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