A reminder again of how the scoring works: Low scores = GOOD. High scores = BAD. Points are earned based on flaws. They're taken away for super awesome moments. Star ratings are done based on number of points in comparison to the number of pages in the book. 0-20% = 1 20-40% = 2 40-60%= 3 60-80% = 4 and 80-100% =5.
REVIEW: THE OTHER SIDE OF LIFE - Jess C. Scott
SCORE: 10 points.
RATING: 5 stars
More often than not when I pick up a self-published novel, I get a little pit in my stomach. Is this going to be good, or am I going to regret my decision. More often than not I lean more towards the latter because while I’m all about the self-publishing industry, a lot of self-published authors need better editors to the point where I’m so distracted by mentally red-penning a book to death, I can’t enjoy the story. Yeah, so a lot of books have the occasional errors in them, but when they’re so plentiful they distract from the work, that’s usually a bad sign.
Hesitations aside, I started this book. The concept seemed too cool to pass up, and boy am I glad I did because this book is probably the best indie/self-published novel I’ve picked up in a long, long time, if not to-date. I’m happy to say, I was able to enjoy this story and not be distracted, and boy is the story a good one. I’ll copy and paste the synopsis here so you can see for yourself.
A scuffle to prove who’s “the better thief” transforms into more than Anya and Ithilnin ever bargained for. They retrieve the missing piece of an ancient poem, before getting caught in the secret dealings of a megacorporation. What they uncover threatens to alter the very essence of not just human life, but the other side as well.
Elven intrigue, cyberpunk action, and a deadly dose of danger come together in The Other Side of Life [Book #1 in the (Cyberpunk) Elven Trilogy].
WHAT WORKS
The story starts out quick enough. There’s hardly ever a time where it lags actually. It’s a great pace of information and action. What I especially like is that while you might be able to predict the romance line, it doesn’t follow into cliché story line patterns. The chemistry is real and it develops so fluently that I’m rooting for the characters in all of their adventures.
In fact, all of the characters in this book are diverse and developed enough where you’re interested in their lives. I find in a lot of books, an author only takes the time to hold the readers interest in just the main characters. That wasn’t the case in this book.
If there was something I loved the most about this novel however, it was that Scott was able to create a completely new world for me. With the plethora of cookie cutter fiction out there, this was a breath of fresh air for me. I got to travel to a world of corruption, technological dreams, and magic. She does a wonderful blend of magic and science, keeping it fantasy but believable with lots of good cultural references in the mix. In fact, the world was so believable and well described that when I went to bed that night I had a dream about breaking in to a corporate tower with a group of elves. I’m not lying. You have invaded my dream world Scott, and this is quite a feat to accomplish. ;)
WHAT DIDN’T WORK (aka earning the points)
Points were earned simply for some minor errors. Five points were given for some grammar blips and writing errors, and then another five were for some formatting problems. They weren’t anything distracting necessarily, but they were noticeable, so I can’t sit and give it a completely perfect score of 0. However, 10 points for a 200+ page novel comes out to being 95% perfection and puts it at a 5 of 5 stars.
Now, I charge you, Jess C Scott, with getting the next two books of this trilogy out so I can read them. I’m kind of on the edge of my seat here, and I’m pretty sure anyone else who picks up this book will be too. If you’re a lover of science fiction, fantasy, or just looking for something new and different that’s a fun, fast read? Pick up this book. You won’t regret it.
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