Reviews

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Review | "Cryptic Spaces: Foresight" by Deen Ferrell

This week's review will be over another book I won in a giveaway on Goodreads a few months ago. "Foresight" is the first book in the young adult fantasy/science fiction series "Cryptic Spaces" and it's, so far, the only book released.
It's a complicated storyline, so here's the Goodreads description:

Foresight (Cryptic Spaces, #1)
Willoughby sees patterns where others don't. His brilliance in mathematics allows him to uncover puzzles hidden in plain view. When a carved symbol leads him to the barbershop of Antonio Chavez, he finds himself in a world where nothing is as it seems. His friend, Antonio, is far more than a mere barber. Captivated by the famous and beautiful Sydney Senoya, he learns of a musical talent that can reach beyond the living. His new friend, James Arthur, proves to have strange healing powers. Even feisty T.K., their crew liaison on the company yacht, has startling secrets to hide. Determined to uncover the truth behind the supposed seer, Nostradamus, the team finds itself lost across the corridors of time, fighting for their lives. Does Willoughby alone, have the skill to save them?

 If that synopsis made sense to you, congratulations, because to be completely honest, I reread it multiple times before I started the book and still had no idea what the storyline was about going into it. That being said, I liked the book. I gave it three stars, but it would be closer to 3.5 in my opinion. There were obviously some things that bothered me, so I'll get into those.
Right off the bat, I noticed some detail inconsistencies/moments in the books that didn't fit with the storylines (a big example is a much older character wanting a much younger character to kiss her). There were a lot of characters to keep track of, having not only multiple protagonists but multiple villains as well, all of which starts to make more sense towards the end, but in the beginning, it can cause the reader some confusion. 
I noticed a lot of filler dialogue that didn't seem natural and there were phrases that were a little nonsensical (i.e. "graceful as a stuffed avocado") which solidifies the Alice in Wonderland throwbacks that I was seeing in the book, but also made for some eye-rolls while I was reading. 
The main climax of the book seemed very abrupt and all of a sudden the storyline split into multiple perspectives, making it seem like two different books in a series rather than one storyline that flows together. The ending was a little campy with all the different elements that were thrown into the book. 
Overall though, I liked it- yes, it was very clearly the first book in a series. The entire reason the action seemed so abrupt was due to the fact that so much time needed to be spent building the sci-fi/time travel elements as well as letting the reader get to know the team. It was a fun read, but there's a pretty big cliff-hanger ending, so I'm not sure I would recommend reading this unless you're fairly certain you'll want to stick with the series.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review Gaby. Great book-reading goal! Cryptic Spaces: Eight Queens, the second book in the series, is due in late October. It is generating considerable interest and excitement. Would love to get your take. Enjoy the day!
    Deen

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  2. If you want to receive a free review copy of Cryptic Spaces: Eight Queens, the second book in the series, email me at crypticspaces@gmail.com with where I can ship it to. Thanks Gaby!
    Deen

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