Heather D. (icantswim) - reviewed on 8/30/2013 + 71 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

I feel I would be doing a disservice by not writing a review for this book. I checked this out from my library and I am very glad I did not buy it. I was very disappointed with this book. It has all the wrong things going for it: too simplistic, VERY predictable as the mystery is not very mysterious, and a bad story line. I can't tell if this book is over or under edited. Why maybe over-edited? There are a slew of unnecessary scenes and content leaving me to believe there used to be more meat to the story but much was taken out leaving the story to feel undeveloped, choppy, and scattered. Why maybe under-edited? Again, unnecessary scenes leaving me to wonder if the author was trying to add length to what is a very short novel and in doing so created a mess. Either way, it didn't go well.

I also should have seen simplicity coming when the author chose to use two different fonts to distinguish between the two characters' story lines. Come on, seriously, when each character's chapter is only five pages long, how intricate does the author think the book is to merit different fonts to distinguish between them? It also shows she has a low opinion as to the intelligence of her fan-base, which goes on to explain why her books lack complexity. I guess she doesn't think we can handle it, or maybe she's not capable of creating it.

This is my third Jio novel. I've also read Bungalow and Blackberry Winter. I did like Bungalow mostly for the setting. There were several loose ends that when tied up in the end did not logically make sense, but because it took place in the South Pacific I was willing to forgive the oversights. I was so-so on Blackberry Winter for many of the same reasons I was disappointed here. It was very predictable but I did like the characters better.

As someone who enjoys cerebral books, Last Camellia was a no-go. I will need to take an extended break from Jio for some time.

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