Monday 17 October 2011

Not another book review - Wisdom by Amanda Hocking

When I first started thinking seriously about self-publishing, Amanda Hocking was one of the first authors whose work I tried to test the waters. I wanted to see what sort of quality was being produced and as Amanda was the name bandied around the most, she seemed the obvious choice.

I really enjoyed the first My Blood Approves book. It wasn't perfect by a long shot, but it was fun and a little quirky, and a very easy read. I'd expected a Twilight-esque bore-fest so I was pleasantly surprised by Alice's engaging voice, and I went on to snap up the next three available books in the series, as well as a couple of other Hocking titles (Switch and Hollowlands).

Wisdom is the forth in the My Blood Approves series and my favourite so far. Alice has been a rather passive heroine for most of the series, content to drift along and let life take her where it will. In Wisdom she finally realises she can't face eternity that way and starts being proactive. Tragedy forces her into being a little more proactive than she might like, but she embraces the challenge fiercely, regardless of the cost. I liked that. I liked that she was willing to take risks, physical and emotional, as part of her journey in this book. I feel like she's shied away from that previously.

Milo has been a favourite of mine since the first book (I love that Hocking includes gay characters without making a big deal out of them being gay), so it was nice to see more of him and Bobby in this volume too. The continuation of Mae's storyline from Flutter was heartwrenching but inevitable, and I like how that was handled.

My only real complaint about Wisdom is the slightly repetitive nature of the love triangle. Every book we see Alice examine her feelings for Jack and Peter, decide she loves Jack, and then somehow end up offending one or both of the boys anyway. Although it seems like the triangle is finally resolved this time, there's still one more book to go, so I imagine we'll see this again. It bothers me most because I feel like either boy would be a good boyfriend for Alice - I love Jack and Peter (although Peter a little more) and so it's hard to see a happy ending. Most love triangles usually have a clear choice regardless of what the heroine might say, so whilst it's fun to read one where I feel like it could go either way, it's tiresome to see the same issues hashed out, resolved, and reopened in each book.

Phew, end rant. Despite my complaint, I ate up this book, as I have Hocking's others, and will definitely look forward to the final volume! This is literary candy - looks pretty, tastes good, and satisfies a need.

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