I have read the
following
The author did present interesting and seemingly
factual information. Pinpointing legends
and tales can be difficult. It is clear Trollinger did his research. The way he chose to divide up chapters was
inconsistent. I would have preferred
instead of blending reasonable explanation and the ghost story that he tell the
legends or tall tales first then at the end of each section provide the context
and possible explanations. The way it
was done however distracted from the haunting in a number of chapters.
A fun story written for
pre-teens. This is an interesting fact
considering I found this book tucked away in the adult section of the
library. A riveting story of a fourteen
year old girl in the 1940’s who takes her past, present, and future into her own
hands despite her plush lifestyle. Despite this books tendency to tell instead
of show readers it was a riveting book even for an adult almost twice the
protagonist’s age. While I haven’t
continued in the story yet I’m excited to see a wonderful saga of a girl told
in manageable sized books for youth.
Book two starts off with a bang
immediately where book one left off. This riveting tale seems to slow in comparison
to book one however the themes are highly important. Another homey book which deals with intense subjects
without being too heavy. Despite the
high stakes this is a feel good book. The ending does seem farfetched,
something you would only see in a religious fiction book.
As is true for this series book
three starts off with a character decision which seems not only out of
character but highly unlikely unless shaped by an author. One must rely on their fait to believe that a
person would make such a decision so easily.
This book is filled with the most action in the series although it waits
till the back third of the book. Faith
seems less farfetched in this book than the others. Faith becomes less about getting what one
wants and becomes more of a comfort and a place of self discovery. Despite the higher stakes for others’ that aren’t
just Allison the book remains true to its predecessors and contuse to be a
feel-good story.
Following all the high stakes of the previous
books the angst that this book begins with becomes tedious. The book does pick up. The author does a great job of the villain
from earlier in the series makes a reappearance instead of creating a whole new
cast of characters. Again the author relies
on preexisting faith of the readers to make readers believe that character
changes are believable when they aren’t.
The author made sure to tie up as many loose ends as possible without
breaking the overall feel of the series.
The
Allison Chronicles as a whole series.
The
author was true to the time period she chose for her setting. The author was careful not to deviate from
the religious genre. She towed a fine
line keeping romance away from the plot as much as possible and when it was
present it was wholesome. In fact
romance not between adults was portrayed as bad or a distraction. The author did rely heavily on the readers
having faith in God already. The author
assumed that readers would already be praying and would be happy Allison was
instead of readers being unsure of their faith.
This could potentially alienate readers, make them feel inferior to a
character, or make them not pick up the next book.
I have worked on the
following
Writing out possible scenarios for Gwen and Brooke so I could
return Haunted Iowa City to the library.
Finished my first ten pages of a script. It will be showcased in the Omaha’s film festival
this summer. I do still need to make the
character write-ups.
Thoughts
Is there a series you found to rely to heavily on knowledge
or beliefs that the reader needed to have before reading to be effective?
Is there a series you think I should do next?
