This book I won't name because I'm not sure if it was me or the author :-)
This one had a more formulaic love affair: fireman and writer. I think it depends on what kind of story you like to read. If you want to feel a little more comfortable with your story and know where it's going, this would be your type of book.
Within pages, you know the couple will be together, and you know he'll rescue her. After all isn't that what heroic firemen do?
I think a lot of my difficulty with the book stemmed from some of the paragraphing. Character point of view was, at times, difficult for me because there were no spacial of character indications of POV changes. And the transitions weren't always smooth. I reread several passages to have a better idea of what was actually happening.
The character development flowed easily enough, but the two leading characters were both distrusting loners, where do you think the story is headed?
Short and simple, the story wasn't complicated, and overall, I was satisfied at the end. But, I guess, I wish mainstream publishing houses didn't always throw the formulaic story at us. I'd be nice if they gave us a little credit for wanting something more. It may not always be hugely successful (financially,) but until they give it a shot, who really knows.
What type of book do you like? Do you want to know what happens, or do you like a few surprises? Do you need the pretty bow wrapped around your ending?
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I do prefer happy endings. I read to escape reality and to find hope, so when I read a book where the happy ending doesn't occur, I feel let down. Otherwise, I love surprises. I love raw, emotional stories. I detest the stories that paint the two destined-to-be-together characters as hating each other only to suddenly fall in love. Ugh. Ick! I just read a book like that and got so disgusted by the "I hate you so much, but you know what, I'll spend my life with you, after all" crap. I think that formula is played out and that we can come up with different adversities to keep the characters apart than making them hate each other. Nice post.
ReplyDeleteOh, and if you don't mind, I'm going to quote your remark about POV shifts. That's a big pet peeve of mine, yet so many of my author friends argue that you don't need to show POV shifts.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind at all.
DeleteI love happy endings, too, but I guess they weren't always so predictably obvious. Maybe that's why I love and hate series. I like the continuation of the character and story because it gives the author time to pull away from the traditional, but I don't like the set-up for the next story to always be so blatant.
ReplyDeleteOk, I'm a happy endings girl. But that doesn't mean I don't want a few twists. I need characters to root for, flaws that are real and conflict that can't be resolved with a nice long talk over a beer. I need to have at least a nagging sense of doubt that maybe they won't be able to work it out in the end. (Oh and I have to cry at the end or it wasn't a keeper!)
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