My Book Rating System

My book rating system is based on 5 stars. The book must be rated at least 3 stars for a review.

3 Stars: Good story, good plot, good writing.

4 Stars: I was wowed, but something about the story fell short of perfection.

5 Stars: I was either drooling, on the edge of my seat, or falling in love.

If you would like me to review your book, please contact me at 00ibitz@charter.net.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Book Review: d'Ark: d'Ark Saga, by M. Phillips

d'Ark: d'Ark Saga, by M. Phillips

The book is about a guy, Michael, who has a fascination with Joan of Arc. The college where he goes to school is plagued by a series of mysterious murders, one of whom is Michael's close friends. Disturbed as he is, life goes on: school, and work. When Michael meets a mysterious woman in the book store, he's immediately captivated, and fails to notice the budding interest of Megan, the book store owner. A sort of loose love triangle ensues between Michael, Megan, and the mystery woman, Joan. Michael and Joan eventually team up to stop the murders, a result of vampires on the loose.

The story itself has a nice hook with the Joan of Arc twist to the standard vampire theme. The main characters stay with you, and the plot was rather clever. Joan and Michael are well-defined characters, though Megan's acceptance of Michael's interest in Joan (over her) is a little under-done. Joan's motivation in this story is especially strong, and her confusion over her feelings for Michael compelling. Michael is another strong character, though the ending leaves the reader wondering what, exactly, he is about.

My rating for d'Ark is a 3 out of 5, mainly because the secondary characters, Michael's best friend Eddie and Eddie's girlfriend, are little more than one dimensional, and I would have liked to have seen more depth to these relationships, especially with Eddie. I am not sure if those characters added anything to the story.

The writing style is on the choppy side, and the dialogue not natural-sounding, but those are matters of taste to me and my preferences as a reader. I also would have like to have seen more closure on Michael's future.

Overall, I enjoyed this book.

1 comment:

maptx said...

Dale thank you so much for your review of d'Ark. I am glad you enjoyed it. I found your comments to be insightful and intelligent. Comments like yours are always appreciated as it will help me learn to become a better writer. So much thanks for taking your valuable time to review it.

Sincerely,

M Phillips