A Chance for Charity

by S L Baum

[Angie]

Emily may appear to be a spaz to her new classmates, since she can't seem to remember her name. But Emily has had a few different names, since she's been through high school a few times. She's really named Charity, and it took her entirely too long to reveal what she was. We find out how she takes her coffee and that she's bad at math before we even know what type of non-human she is. This was quite frustrating, since she's our narrator and we should know what she is from the very beginning. I guess the author was going for a mysterious vibe, but I just found it annoying.

The one main problem I had with this book was the dialogue. It was stiff, awkward, and sometimes really formal. Real people don't speak that way, so it was hard to believe the characters. A few contractions would have made all the difference though. Also from time to time it was what the characters said that felt strange, rather than how they said it. I found myself skimming through some of the longer conversations.

There's nothing really new or exciting in A Chance for Charity. I feel like I've read variations of this same basic story several times, and many are better versions than this. It's not a terrible book. I still enjoyed it, but I did find myself bored when my predictions were correct. There are a few twists along the way that I hadn't read before, but overall, this one was just okay for me. I may pick up the second book eventually to see what happens to Charity and Link now that they have each other.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.