{Review} I Am Phoenix by Millie Lee

ISBN #: 978-1478112471

Page Count: 278

Copyright: September 24, 2012

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Book Summary:

(Taken from Goodreads)

ARISE FROM THE ASHES AND BE REBORN. I AM PHOENIX; MAGGIE PHOENIX; BORN OF THE GODS OF ATLANTIS. MEMORIES OF MY PAST; I HAVE NONE. SEARCHING FOR THE TRUTH BEHIND MY BEST FRIEND'S MURDER, HIDDEN SECRETS WILL SOON ARISE. WITH THE HELP OF HYPNOSIS, I START TO REMEMBER; I HAVE LIVED MANY LIVES, BUT THOSE LIVES ARE BURIED DEEP AND FORGOTTEN. REMEMBERING THE PAST IS TO MAKE WAY FOR THE FUTURE AND THERE IS NO FUTURE WITHOUT THE PAST. SOME MEMORIES ARE BETTER LEFT FORGOTTEN ...

Kathy's Review:

*sigh*

I hate being the bad guy. I really do.

You know how, on shows like American Idol, the female judges always say something like "You look so beautiful tonight!" to a contestant right before they give them the bad news that their performance sucked? This is going to be kind of like that.

This book has 99 problems but the plot ain't one. I have no doubt that somewhere in this book lies a great story. A really great story. It was just buried so deeply under the poorly-edited writing that I was unable to tell for sure.

So poorly written and edited was I Am Phoenix that I had to force myself to make it through the pages. (See above: the all-cap, misused semicolon fiasco of a book summary.) One of the most frustrating things I found about her writing was the redundancy. I could flip to any page and give you an example. Right on page one - "I've forgotten what happened, blocked out that terrible day. The memory erased, the events of that day, that terrible day, changed my life forever."

The second most frustrating thing was how the characters spoke to each other. When you are speaking to someone else, do you use their name in almost everything you say? These characters are always addressing each other by name, all the time. It's not how real people talk, and I found it very distracting. There's not much description in this book. For instance, I have no idea what Maggie, the main character, is supposed to look like. The dialogue jumps around and characters go from 0-60 in terms of emotions without any description of what's going on.

I could go on, but I know the author probably spent a lot of time on this book and I commend her for actually getting it completed and written. However, I'd strongly suggest that she consults a professional editor if she wants to move forward in her writing career. Maybe even take a few writing classes.

But it does have a beautiful cover. ;-)


*A hardcopy of this book was provided by the author's editor in exchange for an honest review.