The Whispers of The Sprite (The Whispers, #1)

by Joanna Mazurkiewicz

[violetpeanut]

I am always a little hesitant to write a review that is less than complimentary of a book. I am not in the business of bashing authors because I don't personally like their book. And, I want to be supportive of independent and relatively unknown authors. That being said, when I read a book like this, I feel that it is my job as a reviewer to set aside the possible hurt feelings of the author and tell my readers my honest opinion.

I so wanted to like this book. The premise sounded interesting: A girl begins to see some kind of supernatural being (fairies or sprites) after a near death experience. She falls in love with one of them despite the danger involved for both of them. Forbidden love, a hot fairie guy, danger - what's not to like, right? Wrong...

First, the writing. There were a lot of awkward sentences, some misused idioms, overuse of certain phrases, words that were technically correct but not "current" and sentences that just plain did not make sense. Now, this could be the case for one of 2 reasons:
One, the author is originally from Poland and is not a native English speaker - thus the problems listed above. If this is the case I would recommend that she find a native English speaker or editor to help her polish this up. Two, the main character is originally from Russia and would therefore likely speak in broken English. The book was written in first person present tense so the entire book is right from her mind/mouth. If this is the reason for the above problems, I understand wanting to keep the character authentic, but the language really detracted from my enjoyment of the book. I would recommend that the book not be written in first-person from Ania's point of view.

Second, the plot. There were a ton of inconsistencies and holes in this plot that made me go "Huh? Whaaaat?" For example, Gabriel (the Sprite love interest) states on more than one occasion that it is against the rules for them to be together and that the penalty for them speaking is death. However, he also states on more than one occasion that this has never ever happened before, in all the centuries that they have existed. If this is true, why would such a rule even exist? In the last couple of pages there's an event (see spoiler below) that seems like a heck of a coincidence.

Even though they are not supposed to be together, when Gabriel is dying they tell Ania "An old legend says that if a Sprite saves a gifted human's life, he will live." First of all, I thought there was no such thing as a gifted human! I thought Ania was the first and only one ever! Second, it seems like this whole statement is thrown in there as a very convenient coincidental way to get out of killing off the main love interest. This whole scene just did not sit well with me.

Third, I really hated Ania. She is the main character so I suppose one would expect to feel some kind of connection there but I just did not like the girl. She was completely immature and a major drama queen. She has an overbearing mother, but her mother obviously cares about her. It's not an abusive relationship or anything. At one point in the book Ania cuts all ties with her and states that she is "just another woman named Natasha that I once knew." That seems quite extreme to me. Also, she sees Gabriel a couple of times and even admits (more than once) how arrogant he is. Yet, after the first time he kisses her she is "in love!" Ridiculous! She knows absolutely nothing about this guy (or Sprite, as the case may be), his culture, his family, etc.. but she's in love with him! She is also the QUEEN of mixed messages. She sends him away and then is angry when he's not there. He leaves for a trip and she's angry that he's gone. She was whiny, immature, overly dramatic and generally unlikeable.

I gave an extra star for the overall idea of the book. I think if the writing were smoother and the plot and details fleshed out a little more this could be great. The idea of fairies as guardians instead of angels was intriguing to me. The very small glimpses I got of their society was intriguing to me. I can see the potential here and give the author credit for putting an original spin on the idea of fairies and angels.

Overall, there were more negatives than positives for me personally. I was unable to overlook a lot of the awkward writing and plot inconsistencies. However, if you are looking for something a little different and like a good love story with a little bit of a mystery thrown in, you may enjoy this one.