Category Archives: Reviews

“Wrath of the Fallen” Review | Hayley’s Comments #5

This is review #5 of my own review series, Hayley’s Comments! I review books and literature from small authors, and give my honest and in-depth analysis of them. This is a fantasy novel set in a world that its author has evidently put a lot of thought and effort into.

Wrath of the Fallen
By Kristopher Jerome

Genre: Fantasy
Subgenre(s): High Fantasy

The delicate balance between the forces of Light and Darkness has been carefully maintained for over a thousand years. Two Paladins from Illux, the City of Light, are sent on a mission to investigate what appears to be a disturbance in this balance.

Short on time? Click here to view a summary.

It’s been a long time coming, but I’m finally able to write a review of this book! Originally I planned on doing it at the beginning of the year, but I got caught up in a creative project that ended up falling through. It definitely paid off for me to stick with this one, though, because this book is very memorable—for both good and for bad reasons.

On the surface, Wrath of the Fallen is your quintessential high fantasy novel. It’s a classic hero’s journey about a man from humble beginnings rising up to fight the forces of Darkness. It also contains many of the common fantasy themes that avid readers are probably familiar with; Light vs. Dark, forbidden love, etc. After delving into it, though, you’ll find that it has a lot of nuance that makes it a pretty good read.

That is, the plot has a certain je ne sais quoi, providing depth to the story that readers are sure to enjoy. Jerome has put a lot of thought, energy, and passion into every bit of this world he’s created, and it shows. Despite what the more cynical reader would say, tropes are not at all a bad thing so long as they’re well-executed; and in this case, they are. It does a pretty good job of worldbuilding and setting up for an expansive and imaginative universe.

This book is a solid work of fiction. However, there are two major gripes that I have with it that have had a very large impact on my overall opinion on it. First, though the plot is very good, its execution is rather messy. It’s rushed in some places, stretched out in others, and a bit confusing at times. Second are the many grammar and punctuation issues throughout. It’s rife with run-on sentences, spelling mistakes, and grammar issues that make the book feel rushed and unpolished. I’m not one to nitpick, but I feel that these issues are too numerous and too severe for me to not account for them. Because of these, there were several points where I knew that if I had not been reviewing the book, I would’ve promptly given up on it. I’ll go into more detail about them below, and you can decide for yourself whether they’re worth overlooking.

I would definitely give this book a shot, especially if you’re into fantasy novels. Had those two issues been fixed, this book easily could’ve gotten an extra 20 or 30 points. But as it stands, this book is just good enough to be considered “good” and not “okay”.

Scoring

Overall: 64/100

Plot: 9/10

Dialogue: 5/10

Pacing: 3.5/10

Characters: 6.5/10

Settings: 6/10

Length: 343 pages

Maturity: Adult/Young Adult

Reading Difficulty: High

Point Of View: 3rd person, limited

Spoilers below!

What I like

•Minimizes tropes

More Detail

No fantasy novel is without its tropes. As mentioned, a good book is one that navigates them in a clean, genuine way that takes care to make them an interesting and fulfilling part of the story; and for the most part, this is something that The Wrath of the Fallen certainly achieves. Most noticeably, the Light Vs. Dark theme is one that is a central part of the plot, but for some reason it doesn’t come off as bland or cliché; it just works. Others are just completely avoided; there’s no single Big Bad antagonist; magic isn’t overused; and my personal favorite, there are NO dragons, elves, or other stereotypical fantasy races. Finally reading a fantasy novel without these elements was very refreshing.

•Contains well-executed diversity and representation

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Many works of fiction try really hard to include a diverse range of characters, but fall short of making it fit in with the plot. The Wrath of the Fallen, on the other hand, does this very well. There aren’t just a few token minorities sprinkled throughout the story, nor is it the main focus at any point. LGBT and non-white characters are seamlessly woven into the plot, in such a way that those aspects of them are not at all thought of as a defining characteristic of them, but rather just a part of who they are—just as it should be in real life. One part I especially like is how Lady Ren, the divine messenger to the gods of Light, was described as having skin “of the darkest ebony”, thus subverting the subconscious expectation of light goddesses to be completely and flawlessly snowy-white. These things make this book just that much better.

What I dislike

•Contains some egregious spelling and grammar mistakes

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One of the most noticeable aspects when reading this book is the grammar. Many elementary mistakes are included in this book—ones that I’d think would easily be caught in the early stages of editing. There are run-on sentences, misplaced dashes, missing oxford commas, and even a few spelling mistakes. I counted 18 of all of these in the first two chapters alone, 8 of which made me have to stop and re-read the sentence over again before I could fully comprehend their meaning.

•Details and plot points are delivered in an odd and unsatisfying way

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This is probably the thing that had the biggest impact on my scoring. The plot itself is rich, interesting, and well thought out; the way it’s delivered, however, leaves a lot to be desired. The story begins at a rather awkward point in the timeline; not enough care is put into the exposition, so it doesn’t give you enough time to care about the characters and settings before diving headlong into the action. Too many details are thrown at you all at once, giving little breathing room before peppering in other points that will go similarly unexplained.

Chapter 1 feels like it should be chapter 3 or so. Imagine reading Harry Potter for the first time, but you start at the part where Harry is at the Sorting Hat ceremony, and you’ve got an idea of how I felt reading it. Additionally, the book ends with a rather abrupt cliffhanger. Those in and of themselves are not a problem if they’re well-executed—which this one isn’t. Without giving you any major spoilers, it feels more like there’s a chapter that’s completely cut out by mistake, leaving you with a mix of confusion and disappointment.

Content warnings

Mass murder, mentions of rape

Spoilers above!

In Summary

Wrath of the Fallen is a refreshingly original work of fantasy writing. It does have major flaws and there’s lots of room for improvement, to say the least. But that’s not to take away from the immense amount of passion that Jerome has put into this universe. All things considered, it’s worth a shot if the premise seems interesting to you.

“Intention” Album Review | Consummate Professionalism, Volume 5

Welcome to my music review series, Consummate Professionalism. This is Volume #5; in it, I’ll be reviewing “Intention” by Watsky. The end of an era for an amazing musical artist, this album is one that I had a lot of fun reviewing. I hope you’ll have a good time reading it!

Intention
By Watsky

Produced by Watsky, Camila Recchio, Kush Mody, et al.

Genre: Rap
Subgenre(s): Pop Rap, Rock Rap, Spoken Word
Record Type: Album

Summary

Whew. I have a lot to say about this album. Full disclosure, I have indeed heard of and listened to Watsky long before listening to this, and am quite familiar with some of his other works. Know, though, that I will be just as honest and impartial in my criticism as I would be with any other artist. Part of that means that I’ve reviewed this album as if I’d never heard of him before, and this is the first of his works that I’ve ever listened to. Keep this in mind, for it comes into play later.

“Intention” is one wild ride of an album. It’s the musical equivalent of going on a cross-country road trip with a group of your best friends since childhood. It takes you on a journey of sorts; the raw passion and emotion displayed throughout truly makes you feel like it’s become your friend in a way. Some of the songs just go hard, and you can actually feel Watsky’s passion through the speakers. It’s something that’s hard for me to express to you in words, but rather would be best understood through experiencing it yourself.

This album also contains an array of features and collaborations with other great artists. Most notably, T-pain and Rachel Zegler make bold appearances on two different tracks, an ensemble that’d be outstanding for just about any artist able to make it happen. But what makes it special is that Watsky is able to hold his own with such big names in music on the record. The cynical layperson would be led to believe that Watsky hired on more popular artists for the clout, letting them do all the heavy lifting, but the exact opposite is true. This is Watsky’s album, and he is the one that makes it as great as it is.

Another defining feature is the audio. Watsky and his producers appear to have gone through great lengths to make the songs as high-quality as possible, and it goes above and beyond in some of the ways it does this. I’ve seen chart-topping hits with instrumentals that weren’t nearly as well-polished as these songs have. From the audio panning effects to the eclectic mix of guitar, drums, and saxophone; all of its elements come together in a most remarkable way.

This record is not without its faults though, to put it lightly. The first one, surely to be the most noticeable for most listeners, is Watsky’s vocal skills, or lack thereof. I don’t want to say he’s a bad singer, but his narrow vocal range leaves a lot to be desired at times; he’s a rapper, first and foremost, and that definitely shows. If he was a little bit more careful on how he sings some of those melodies, or perhaps let someone else hop on the track in certain places, then this album would be a lot more appealing.

The second is that the album starts off strong, but then wanes quite a bit in the second half. There’s a reason for this, I think. Remember how I said that I’ve made a note to review this album as it stands, without the context of being a fan of his? That’s especially important here, because he relies way too heavily on fan service to carry the album through its faults. The first nine tracks were released as a standalone album, the second half originally only discovered through a series of puzzles on his website. That shows, because there is a stark contrast between the two. The first half is a great standalone work, worthy of a world of praise, while the second half is mostly fan service and filler. Those songs aren’t bad, per se, but most are quite forgettable, only memorable through callbacks and references that only decade-long fans of his would understand. If I were to only review the first nine songs—which I very nearly did, mind you—it would get top marks. But it’s my artistic duty to review the entire album, so as a whole, this could’ve been much better.

All in all, for all its faults, this is a solid piece of music, definitely worth a good listening to. Though it sort of dips in quality toward the end, the quality of the stronger tracks is enough to make up for it. This isn’t the type of album that you should just throw on in the background. If you can, put on some good headphones, relax, and let the music move you. That’s Watsky’s intention, after all.

Rating

Overall Rating:

69/100

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This is a good album, worthy of a healthy amount of respect and admiration. Great bars, great melodies, great features, and great production value make for a repeat-worthy album. I can’t express in words how these songs make me feel. Even if you don’t like the genre, I think it’s worth a good shot, as this is a very unique album stylistically.
Though I’ll admit, I was conflicted trying to figure out what to rate this. A good record is supposed to be more than the sum of its parts, but the opposite appears to be true. Split the album into two halves, and the first one becomes a certified hit, while the second half becomes coffee shop fodder. For a die-hard fan of his, this might be considered a masterpiece, as it appears to be intended as a swan song album, paying homage to his dedicated and steadfast fan base.This isn’t bad, but it feels like he forgot that he needs to make it a good album too.
If he’d paid more attention to that, perhaps leaving the deep cuts for a standalone mixtape, and also worked on his vocals and vocal range a bit more, I suspect this score would be somewhere in the 80s or 90s. But as a whole, this is the score I feel it deserves.

Song Quality:

8/10

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The individual tracks on this album range from “eh, it’s alright” to “this is amazing, why hasn’t this hit the charts yet?”. But the quality of the better tracks is more than enough to offset the quality of the weaker tracks. Even the more forgettable ones aren’t bad, by any means; they definitely have their place, they just don’t compare to any of the others.

Flow/Transition:

5/10

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The lyrics and the poetic meaning stays consistent and cohesive throughout, which is one of the more commendable features of this record. On the other hand, while the sound and style of the songs are pretty consistent as well, a few errant songs are placed in rather awkward spots in the track list. Most notably, this happens with the song “SO FAMOUS”; while it’s undoubtedly one of the best songs on the whole album, it’s placed in between two songs that are quite different stylistically from it. I feel like a well-placed skit or two would be good to fix this discrepancy, but alas, there are none to be found. It could be a lot worse, though, and most of the album flows smoothly except for those few tracks.

Technical Quality:

7/10

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The production quality of this album is not quickly forgotten. The audio panning and beautifully mixed and mastered instrumentals make for a powerful listening experience. The only substantial fault is Watsky’s vocals. He strains to hit the notes in higher octaves like he was intending, and it might be considered off-putting to some listeners. 

Lyrics:

9/10

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The lyrics are powerful and meaningful throughout, even in those less memorable tracks. They’re so good that they could stand alone as their own work of poetry. A heartfelt and prosaic series of carefully strung together bars makes for a great experience for those listeners that look for the deeper meanings to songs.

Bonus Scores

Tell-a-friend:

2.5/5

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This is an album that’s quite likely to come up in conversation at some point after having listened to it. The high production quality and skillfully-crafted instrumentals make this an album that you just want to vibe out with your friends to. But on the other hand, some might say it gets boring as it goes along, which might make them reluctant to present it to others.

Replay Value:

4.5/5

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This album is meant to be played on loop. I’m not the kind of person who listens to things on repeat a lot, but I’ve listened to this album probably four times since I started with this review, and some of the more memorable singles even more than that. Additionally, this is one of those things where you might not “get it” at first, but grows on you once you let it sit and you give it another shot. Every time you listen to it, it gets a little bit better, I think.

Originality:

5/5

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In terms of uniqueness, I don’t think I’ve ever heard an album that was quite like this one. I struggled to find some genres and subgenres that I could put at the head of this Volume, because there’s nothing else I can really compare it to. The way the lyrics, the melodies, and the beats are strung together makes for a really distinct piece of music.

Best Track:

AWW SHiT (#4)

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This song is a banger if I’ve ever seen one. The beat and the flow are solid, and the lyrics on top of that create a sort of synergy to make this not only the best song on the album, but one of the best new songs I’ve heard in a while. This one is a shoo-in for the Top 100, for sure.

Comparable to:

Childish Gambino, Dumbfoundead, Logic

Vibes:

Goes hard, Cult classic music

Stats

Runtime:

 00:56:16.00

Average Track Length:

 00:03:07.56

Content Warning(s):

Strong language

Number of Tracks:

18

Maturity:

14+

“Praesidium” Review | Hayley’s Comments #4

This is review #4 of my own review series, Hayley’s Comments! I review books and literature from small authors, and give my honest and in-depth analysis of them. This is a book I saw an advertisement for, and decided to do a review on.

Praesidium
By McKinley Aspen

Genre: Sci-fi
Subgenre(s): Urban Fantasy, Low Fantasy

A woman named Kathryn Bek is recruited by a superhuman policing agency to help fight crime in New York City. There, she tracks down the Paolucci crime family, while uncovering the secrets of her past.

Short on time? Click here or scroll to the bottom to view a summary.

My oh my, do I have opinions about this book. I don’t even think I can begin to describe it via normal means. In order to articulate the impressive mediocrity of this book, I need to tell you a story, a true one.

When I was a kid, I would play outside with my brothers and the neighborhood kids. Inevitably, we would get hungry, so when it got dark, I would go in and eat whatever my mom had prepared for dinner. Her signature dish was baked chicken, which was exactly what it sounded like–a few bone-in chicken thighs, thrown in the oven with minimal spices. I never liked coming home and finding that she had decided to make baked chicken, but regardless, I was never allowed to leave the table until I finished it all.

I have vivid memories of sitting in the kitchen, taking hearty bites of the chicken. Dry and flavorless, I would chew and swallow like clockwork, hoping against hope that the next one would hold any bit of enjoyment; all in vain though, because it never did. The skin was pretty decent, but the actual meat itself was not good. I always found myself wishing she would just fry it like she sometimes did.

Ladies, and gentleman, that hardly-seasoned lump of poultry is the perfect analogy for how I felt throughout reading this book. It just isn’t good. I valiantly flipped through every page, hooking onto every detail, hoping that it was just a slow start. But then a slow start turned into a sow middle, and then a slow middle turned into a slow ending, and after several months of pushing through it, I had accomplished nothing but the relief of no longer having to read it.

I am not saying “do not read this book”. In fact, I’m saying the exact opposite. Please read this book; read it and reaffirm my distates and indifference of this book, which has very little artistic merit or anything of value. There are a few good parts interspersed throughout, but other than that, this is a wholly un-good work of fiction.

Scoring

Overall: 30/100

Plot: 4/10

Dialogue: 5.5/10

Pacing: 1/10

Characters: 3.75/10

Settings: 5/10

Length: 242 pages

Maturity: All ages

Reading Difficulty: Low

Point Of View: 1st person

Spoilers below!

What I like

•Contains some decent bits of dialogue

More Detail

Once in a blue moon, when reading this book, you’ll come across a piece of dialogue, or even a whole chapter, that is actually pretty well-written, and stands out from the text that surrounds it. One part that comes to mind is a chapter wherein Kathryn and her crew try to convince a drug addict to let them get him help and treatment. I felt like the wording and voice of this part was realistic and well-written, and was a pleasant surprise for me to come across.

What I dislike

•The pacing of the book is atrocious

More information

I cannot overstate how bad this aspect of the book is. Many, many times when reading this book, I had to flip a few pages back, because I could’ve sworn that there was something missing, but there wasn’t. It feels like I stumbled upon a rough draft scribbled in someone’s notebook, where some pages have fallen out and large chunks of the story have gone missing, making the story near unintelligible. It’s as if Aspen spent three months writing the “super awesome action heroes” parts, and spent three minutes writing the actual character development and origin stories that make us give a damn about the characters in the first place. So many details are just skipped over; her bonding with her team, her going through training and orientation, her debating whether to join Raphael’s team–all are just glossed over in a few pages. Time skip upon time skip upon unnecessary time skip. In the wise words of Tyra Banks: “It is so bad, I want to give you a zero. But that’s not possible. So I give you a one.”

•There is very, very little character development

More Information

The characters themselves leave little to be desired. It’s not that they’re bad, ber se, but Aspen does next to nothing to get you to care about them, or get invested in them. New characters are introduced sporadically and with little warning. They are given maybe a paragraph of character development before being thrown into intense, harrowing situations with the main character, who herself has about half a chapter’s worth of personality herself. They all come off as shallow, one-note stock characters.

•The whole thing comes off as cliché

More information

This book doesn’t appear to be playing at anything original. It feels AI-generated, as if a computer was trained on 40 different fantasy books and told to write a completely original. It takes elements from different stories, but doesn’t do any of them particularly well. This is quite a hard thing to describe without actually giving you excerpts. It feels so artificial at times, which lends to a very slow, uninspired reading experience.

Content warnings

Drug abuse, organized crime

Spoilers above!

In Summary

Praesidium is a bland, unfulfilling work of fantasy writing. Though some good elements are scattered throughout, the book as a whole is poorly written, in such a way that it is hardly suitable for the majority of audiences.

“Lily Enos” EP Review | Consummate Professionalism, Volume 4

Welcome to my music review series, Consummate Professionalism. This is Volume #4; in it, I’ll be reviewing Lily Enos by Lily Enos. This one was a shoo-in for the series, and I’m glad I ended up reviewing it!

Lily Enos
By Lily Enos

Additional Credits Unknown

Genre: Electronic, Pop
Subgenre(s): Alternative, Lo-Fi, Indie Rock, Country Rock
Record Type: EP

Summary

When reviewing an album, I tend to ask myself one question: if I had to describe this in one word, what would I use?

I have used a lot of adjectives to describe the various albums and music collections I’ve reviewed and recommended, both for this series and not. Both long and short, both positive and negative, both common and uncommon. I’ve described them as eclectic, underwhelming, impressive, and drab. This, however, is the first I’ve listened to in a while–if not in my whole life–that I would solely describe as “beautiful”.

This, in my mind, is the best word I can use. Words like “good” or “exceptional” do not accurately describe my feelings about this record. It’s beautiful, analogous to how a person might be beautiful; while it’s not exactly the best I have ever heard, it has a certain quality, a certain something to it that makes it special to my ears. It does have flaws, but I accept and embrace them, because the other positive characteristics far overshadow them.

The self-titled Lily Enos EP reminds me of why I started this series in the first place; it’s a diamond in the rough, a gem waiting to be found and refined into a fine piece of jewelry. Though I admit there’s a chance I might be overstating its merits, I also don’t want to understate its brilliance. Simply put, it’s a really solid piece of musical work that deserves more recognition. It’s best to listen to it and form your own opinion, because my words alone cannot describe how I feel when listening to it.

Rating

Overall Rating:

90/100

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I would be remiss if I were to give this album a score any lower than this. I always take my personal feelings about the genre, artist, and context into account when giving the Overall Score. Even with all of those considerations, I still believe that this record earns top marks. The vocals, the melodies–they all come together to form more than the sum of its parts. 

Song Quality:

9/10

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I can say with confidence that there is not a single bad song on this EP, which is more than I can say for some infinitely more popular records, even from the most reputable artists. Though I’ve withheld a perfect score, given that one or two of the songs are noticeably lesser than the others, that disparity of quality is not at all enough to take away from the overall quality of said songs, let alone the entire record.

Flow/Transition:

5/10

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My biggest complaint with Lily Enos is the flow between the different songs. The songs themselves are not the problem, but rather how there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of thought about which songs were placed on the record, and in which order. Each song has a relatively unique style that appears disconnected from the one before and after it. It’s not a complete failure, though; thematically, the songs go together rather well. But the way that it goes from lo-fi to country-ish rock to rock-ish country isn’t very seamless either.

Technical Quality:

10/10

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From a technical aspect, Lily Enos is masterfully put together. Enos has a borderline angelic voice, bold enough to please the most attentive music fanatics, yet low-key enough to be suitable for the casual/passive listener as well. The instrumentals are not to be ignored, either; including delightful and harmonic melodies that are so good that they could work as their own songs, even without the vocals. The team that put this record together deserves top marks, especially considering how much work and effort I’m told it took.

Lyrics:

8/10

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Lily Enos has a fine display of lyricism, including lyrics with substantial poetic value and musical finesse. The lyrics fit their respective tracks very well, and they don’t try too hard to tell some sort of convoluted story, nor are they too repetitive or drab. My biggest gripe is that, since Enos is ostensibly rather soft-spoken, the lyrics can be hard to understand at times, and might be off-putting to some.

Bonus Scores

Tell-a-friend:

3.5/5

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This is a really fine EP, and one that I think many more people should know about. It’s friendly and easy to listen to, and perfect for coffee shops, radio  stations, or casual friend group meetups. It’s the kind of album you aren’t afraid to play loudly in the car, zoning out with a loved one. Though it’s not exactly the “you guys really gotta see this!” album that would earn a perfect score in this category, it is still something that can be admired by a wide audience.

Replay Value:

3/5

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As a whole, Lily Enos is rather middle-of-the-road when it comes to replay value. This is because, while one or two of the songs are definitely repeat-worthy, the others are rather plain, making it easy for one to listen to those tracks once and forget about them. Rest assured, though, that this doesn’t noticeably degrade the listening experience overall.

Originality:

3/5

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I have mixed feelings about the originality factor of this record. The lyrics are fresh and entertaining, giving the listeners a lot to think about, and the melodies are well-done. But for some reason, overall, they don’t accomplish a lot that I would deem “original” per se. If you were to separate each part of the song and then judge those based on their individual originality, they might fare better or worse. But, looking at the bigger picture, not a lot is done in a different way than most other artists would do them.

Best Track:

Redo (#1)

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The introductory track on the record, Redo without a doubt steals the show. It perfectly encapsulates everything I love about the other songs into one beautiful arrangement. It’s pleasant and relaxing, yet distinct, and includes plenty of the delightful vocals that I love so much. It’s also catchy; I found myself humming along to the chorus for hours after listening. If you don’t listen to any other of these songs, please listen to this one.

Comparable to: Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Sixpence None The Richer

Vibes:

Relaxing, Easy listening, Eclectic, Coffee shop mixtape

Stats

Runtime:

14 min, 45 sec

Average Track Length:

3 min, 41 sec

Content Warning(s):

None

Number of Tracks:

4

Maturity:

All Ages

“Tour Is Not A Road Trip” EP Review | Consummate Professionalism, Volume 3

Welcome to my music review series, Consummate Professionalism. This is Volume #3; in it, I’ll be reviewing “Tour Is Not A Road Trip” by A Day Without Love. Serving as a sneak peek of his upcoming album, this quartet of singles will leave many of you with mixed emotions.

Tour Is Not A Road Trip
By A Day Without Love

Vocals and Songwriting by Brian Walker

Mastered by Gary Cioni

Genre: Rock
Subgenre(s): Alt Rock, Indie Rock
Record Type: EP

Summary

Full disclosure, I completed this review much earlier than I planned to; I decided to move this one up in my review queue, since I sometimes prefer to review things soon after they’ve come out. I was informed that this record’s release date was last week, so I offered to bump it up accordingly, to get it done as close to that date as possible. Rest assured that this has no bearing on my actual analysis of the music, positive or negative.

At the same time, it’s also taken me a bit longer to finish writing this review. This is partly because it’s been pretty difficult to describe my feelings toward this music in a coherent, objective way. I’ve racked my brain to think of the perfect summary, that neither overstates or understates the positive or negative aspects. After several hours of pondering, I have come up with one phrase that describes my thoughts in as accurate and concise a way as I can fathom:

“It sounds like it’s good, but it’s really not”.

This is such a hard thing for me to put my finger on. It’s not bad by any means, but I certainly wouldn’t call it particularly “good”. It’s somewhere in between, erring more toward the side of “I mean, it’s alright” and thankfully missing the mark of “meh, no thank you”. What makes this effect even more pronounced is that it’s hard to point to one single element and say “nah, I don’t like this”. Just the whole thing creates a sort of je ne sais quoi–though it should more appropriately be called je ne sais pas pourquoi je n’adore ça.

Let me explain it like this. Imagine your friend tells you about this small, family-owned restaurant in town. Nobody really knows about it yet, but your friend speaks highly of it, and the pictures he showed you of the food make it look great. So you decide to check it out after work one day, and you’re awestruck from the moment you walk into the door. The ambience is superb, and it has some of the kindest staff you’ve ever met in your life. So you go all in, and decide to try out the seafood platter that your friend recommended you get. The waitress brings out the steaming hot plate of food, and you can’t help but to dig right in. You take a bite of the shrimp. Could be better; a little too much breading, unsalted but it’s serviceable. You break open one of the crab legs. It tastes like it was boiled in hot dog water, but a little bit of butter and it goes down smoothly enough. You scoop up a few calamari and pop them in your mouth. They’re pretty good actually, a little too greasy but it’s no big deal. You try out the salted codfish. It tastes like frozen fish sticks. Slightly disillusioned, you pay for your meal and head home, when your friend asks you how you like it. So you think to yourself “did I like it? I finished it all, the staff was nice, but the actual quality of the product? I don’t know, man.”

Listening to this LP is like dining at that restaurant. The technical elements are good, superb even. Walker displays a talent for lyricism, and the guitarist really knows what he/she is doing, bringing a variety of skillfully played riffs to back up the vocals. But, for some reason, all of these elements are better off separate; they fail to come together to create a song that reels you in, that leaves your ears wanting more. At times it feels artificial and overproduced, like the kind of music you would hear a fictional mid-2000s garage band play. Some of the lines are good enough to get stuck in your head, and have you humming along to the melody for hours to come. But it falls flat in that it’s never anything I would imagine voluntarily listening to, say, on the way to work, or while doing the dishes.

That being said, I would certainly not say to not listen to this LP. Just don’t expect to be blown out of the water. This band and the team behind it definitely have a lot of potential; I can feel it. I’m seriously considering buying the full album just to see if those other tracks fill in the blanks, so to speak; I definitely want to hear more of the lyricism that stood out to me in this track selection. As it stands, though, it seems to have overshot what it was trying to achieve, falling short of the throwback rock hit that it was presumably aiming for.

Rating

Overall Rating:

50/100

More

This record is dead center in terms of overall quality. It’s neither good nor bad, neither legendary nor forgettable. It is as it is, and as it always will be. The vast majority of people will think it’s “okay”, and then approximately 1% will hate it, and 1% will love it. It all evens out; I can’t imagine giving this any more or less than just what it has. I do recommend listening to it, though, because I’m sure there’s a small but resolute subset of you that will listen to this and say “what is she talking about? This guy is seriously the best!” My analysis still stands regardless.

Song Quality:

5/10

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My analysis of the songs’ overall quality is approximately the same as my analysis of the record as a whole They aren’t good enough to be considered god, but they aren’t bad enough to be considered bad. The bad elements breakeven with the good ones, leading to what amounts to tracks that are just “okay”. Though there is some divergence with the individual quality of particular songs, both positive and negative, none is enough to push the score up or down any substantial amount.

Flow/Transition:

2/10

More

Though not inherently bad, per se, there appears to be very little rhyme or reason as to the specific ordering of the particular tracks included in this record. Each song has its own distinct style to it that is only loosely related to the other songs. The only reasoning I can think of is that they wanted to include variety of songs that showcase the general sound across the full album. If that’s the case, that’s fair enough, which is why I’ve withheld a score of 1.

Technical Quality:

4/10

More

Different elements to the songs seem to have differing levels of quality. The instrumentals, though slightly dissonant ant times, are generally likable and well-done. The vocals, however, could use could use some work; they have an amateur, untrained sound to them, enough to lower the overall quality of some of the songs. Honestly, if the producer went back and EQed the tracks a little more carefully, and the vocalists spent a little more time practicing and honing their craft, then I would certainly give a much higher score in this category.

Lyrics:

8/10

More

The lyrics, in my opinion, are the defining aspect of the record. Walker has a particular knack for lyricism, creating verses that are catchy and entertaining while also maintaining their poetic merit. Though perhaps coming off as simple and superficial, the word choice and melodic composition give the songs a certain charm to them that’s hard to describe. They’re beautiful in their simplicity, and don’t seem to be trying too hard to emulate any particular style.

Bonus Scores

Tell-a-friend:

2/5

More

In its current form, “Tour Is Not A Road Trip” is nothing especially remarkable. I have withheld a sore of 1 because there is still plenty of artistic potential contained within, just waiting to be released. If things were covered by more experienced musicians, or perhaps touched up and redome a little more professionally, I could really see these songs becoming hits.

Replay Value:

2/5

More

I realized that my analysis of the replay value turns out to be almost identical to that of the “Tell-a-friend” category. I don’t have much to add, so I will just copy and paste that text here. “In its current form, “Tour Is Not A Road Trip” is nothing especially remarkable. I have withheld a sore of 1 because there is still plenty of artistic potential contained within, just waiting to be released. If things were covered by more experienced musicians, or perhaps touched up and redome a little more professionally, I could really see these songs becoming hits.”

Originality:

1.5/5

More

Due to the overwhelming average-ness of the record, I can’t point to any one thing that I would classify as original. It just sounds like rock music; no more, no less. Though some elements are indeed quite well-done, they are not executed in a way that is particularly unique in any major way.

Best Track:

DIY Or Die

More

DIY Or Die is the undisputable standout out of all the tracks included in this LP. The first song on the record, though presumably the second song on the upcoming album, this was a great choice to include among the other songs. Though it still carries some of the flaws associated with the other three tracks, this one manages to overcome them with its catchy melodies and stellar lyrics. I found myself humming along to the tune of the chorus for the rest of the day after I was done listening. If you don’t listen to any of the other songs, at least listen to this one.

Comparable to:

Ween, Drake Bell

Vibes:

Casual, Garage band, Grunge

Stats

Runtime:

10 min, 50 sec

Average Track Length:

2 min, 42.5 sec

Content Warning(s):

None

Number of Tracks:

4

Maturity:

All Ages

“Lady Of The Lake” Album Review | Consummate Professionalism, Volume 2

Welcome to my music review series, Cosummate Professionalism. This is Volume #2; in it, I’ll be reviewing “Lady Of The Lake” by Steam Enginess. This one was quite a treat, and has a lot of meaning to it that I think most listeners will enjoy.

Lady Of The Lake
By Steam Enginess

Songwriting by Hunter Guzenski

Genre: Rock
Subgenre(s): Soft Rock, Classic Rock, Country Rock
Record Type: Album

Summary

If you know me, you know that I’m always excited to try something new. I take great pleasure in stepping out of my comfort zone and partaking in something unusual for me. I believe that you have to do things you’ve never done things before if you want to get the most out of life. Lots of times, things that I’ve taken a gamble on are things that have opened up new doors in my life, fortuitously introducing me to something that opens me up to so many beautiful things hat I only could wish that I’d discovered before Such is the case with this album. I’m not really used to listening to albums with an overarching theme; all of my go-tos are ones with more popular and separately-released singles that are best listened to individually. That’s the exact opposite of this album; it tells a story, it delights you, it makes you feel something.

Indeed, The Lady Of The Lake is a concept album if I’ve ever seen one. It seems to serve a dual purpose, which is a good thing. One is to create a light and easy listening experience that anyone can enjoy. The other is to tell a story–literally. The lyrics tell legend of King Arthur, the monarch whose own wife betrayed him by laying with his most trusted knight. There are many versions of this story, but Guzenski condenses them all into one cohesive storyline, while also adding in the subtext of his own personal experiences with a relationship gone wrong. This has a unique dual-meaning effect; you can either listen to the album as an emotional retelling of the songwriter’s emotional past, or/and as a poetic reboot of the iconic medieval fable.

This album has done a special thing. The best experience one can get from it comes not from listening to any of the individual songs, but rather from listening to the whole album, all the way through, from start to finish. The way it’s crafted, it feels more like one long 40-minute song than 11 highly-polished, standalone singles.It’s more than the sum of its parts, in that listening to any of the individual tracks yields little enjoyment compared to listening to them all as a whole. For some, that might be a huge positive; for others, a major drawback. I leave that up to you.

The Lady Of The Lake is a perfectly fine soft rock album that, for some audiences, might become a staple in their music-listening routine. It isn’t the type of music for you turn up to 11 and blast out of your home sound system. Rather, it’s an easy-listening affair, which seems best suited for casual listening while studying, cooming, or some other similarly leisurely activity.

Rating

Overall Rating:

69/100

More

If I had to describe the quality of this album in one word, it would be “good”. Not “spectacular”, not “masterful”; just good. And that’s okay! It’s good music for casual listening, for the everyday ear. The deeper meaning and subtext definitely adds a layer of nuance to an otherwise average album. It is the type of go-to comfort album that your uncle plays in the car, that you get attached to and don’t want to let go. It does tend to drag on at times, making a 38-minute album feel like an 80-minute one.there are other elements that cound definitely be improved, but for all its flaws, The Lady Of The Lake

Song Quality:

5/10

More

Save for a select few standout singles, the individual songs are nothing more than okay, ranging from unremarkable at best to mediocre at worst. Several of the more forgettable songs in the latter half of the album aren’t bad, per se, but don’t provide much of substance. This score reflects the inclusion of those standout tracks compared to the inclusion of the mediocre ones.

Flow/Transition:

10/10

More

The flow between the songs is one of the defining characteristics of the album. The tracks are arranged in a way that creates a smooth transition between each song that, for some reason, is relatively uncommon in the music world. Sometimes, it’s so smooth that I’m unable to tell where one song ends and the other begins. Other times, the way the songs sound just blend well together, in a way that’s hard to describe. Either way, the whole record just has a unique coherent sound to it, with a healthy amount of je ne sais quoi added via this element.

Technical Quality:

6/10

More

The technical aspect of the songs are remarkably professional and well-done. The audio mixer did a good job of incorporating all of the instrumental elements into a cohesive whole, with stereo sound to boot. The biggest reason I gave it this score in this category was because of one thing: the vocals. While Guzenski’s vocals are occasionally up to the challenge his average voice seems to have bitten off more than it can chew in tackling powerful vocal melodies. It struggles to hit the notes and provide a pleasant timbre to what would otherwise be chart-topping tracks.

Lyrics:

8/10

More

The lyrics, in my opinion, can best be summed up by the word “delightful”. The aforementioned dual-meaning effect is powerful; it makes you want to listen to the album twice, once to listen to it as a romanticized retelling of the tale of King Arthur and Guinevere, and once as a compilation of requiems for Guzenski’s own romantic experiences. I give it an 8 because at times, the lyrics lack depth and nuance, being very straightforward and not leaving much for the listener to ponder.

Bonus Scores

Tell-a-friend:

3/5

More

My first thought when listening to this album was that this would be the perfect setlist for a band to play in a laid-back, modern coffee shop in the city. It gives the image of a tight-knit group of fans stopping my there on their afternoon coffee break just to stop and relax to the tunes. That’s why I give this such a score; it feels comfy and nice, the kind that you love to play on loop on a road trip for your friends. I would give it a higher score if the album had better individual songs. This album only makes sense as a whole, and most people would not want to play an entire album from start to finish for their friend.

Replay Value:

4.5/5

More

If you like soft rock, this is not the type of album that you play once and forget about. The Lady Of The Lake has a smooth, uniform sound throughout, leading to a light, easy listening experience. This plays like the go-to album that you keep on hand in your car’s CD player, listening to it whenever your phone dies or there’s nothing good on the radio. I’ve withheld the last half a point due to a few of the individual songs being very skippable and not worthy of repeat play.

Originality:

2/5

More

The only feature of this album that I would call “original” would be the fact that it’s a retelling of the legend of king Arthur; tales of myths and folklore, even if metaphorical, are much more common in metal than in soft rock Other than that, this album is very ordinary, as it relates to the music world as a whole.

Best Track:

#1 “Windchimes”

More

This was a bit difficult to decide, because most of the songs in this album are a complete tie when it tomes to quality; not that the songs are similar, but that their individual quality is pretty even. Ultimately, though, I went with the lead-off track “Windchimes, as it is a combination of all of the best elements of the rest of the album. It has a clever transition with the next song, the instrumental and the lyrics are crisp and professional, and it generally sets the tone for the rest of the album.

Comparable to:

Oasis, Ween, Third Eye Blind, Nirvana

Vibes:

Lowkey, Mellow, Easy listening, Study music

Stats

Runtime:

38 min, 34 sec

Average Track Length:

3min, 30sec

Content Warning(s):

None

Number of Tracks:

11

Maturity:

All Ages

“All My Love And Lack Thereof” Album Review | Consummate Professionalism, Volume 1

Welcome to my music review series, Cosummate Professionalism. This is Volume #1; in it, I’ll be reviewing “All My Love And Lack Thereof” by Jessica Haya. The artist was so gracious as to allow me to listen to this album pre-release; I hope to do it justice by painting an accurate picture of it for those who are eagerly anticipating listening to it.

A portrait of the artist, Jessica Haya.

All My Love And Lack Thereof
By Jessica Haya

Produced by Chris Doms

Genres: Rock, Soul
Subgenre(s): Indie Rock, Soft Rock, Ballad
Record Type: Album

Summary

I must say, this is quite the album to start off this series with. I went into this first one with no context, no prior knowledge, and basically zero expectations of what I would hear upon first listening. This was a conscious decision, made so that I could capture the raw emotions as the artist intended. That’s something I don’t usually do, but I believe it paid off in this case.

“All My Love And Lack Thereof” is a solid album, and one that takes you through a journey of emotions and thoughts that I think many will enjoy. The songs are eclectic, powerful, and manage to all have a distinct sound, while still being connected by one general unifying theme: love, self-acceptance, recovery, and healing. Though I do have mixed feelings about it in the more poetic respects, what it lacks in lyricism and poise it makes up for in technical expertise and craftsmanship.

The defining quality would definitely have to be the vocals. Haya has a vibrant, scintillating voice that is comparable to those of the most accomplished singers in the industry. Think of Idina Menzel mixed with Adele; add a dash of Hayley Williams, and you have Jess Haya. The tracks themselves are composed in a multitude of different subgenres, making it a bit difficult to pin down one specific sound or quality throughout, though the general theme can be summed up as a sort of soft indie rock.

In my opinion, the standout track “Fuck Me” is the defining song of the album. It’s a catchy, upbeat track, that’s sure to have you humming along to the melody throughout your day. It’s a song that upon a casual listen sounds like a run-of-the-mill music comedy bop, but is really a gleeful proclamation of the narrator’s unapologetic self-acceptance and refusal to bend to the whims of her admirers. This is a nice touch that cleverly weaves the outlying sleeper single of the album into the overall theme of the other songs.

Though not for everyone, “All My Love And Lak Thereof” will definitely find a welcome home in the hearts of many an avid music listener. I would absolutely love to see this turned into a musical or film of some sort, à la Purple Rain; such a production is a shoo-in for a new cult classic.

Rating

Overall Rating:

85/100

More

This is a really good album, and is one of those records that gets better every time it’s listened to. The songs are catchy, the lyrics are meaningful, and the vocals are pristine. I decided not to give it a higher score for two reasons. First, some of the lyrics can come off as corny or cliché at times. Second, the tracks could be organized better, and occasionally it feels like the record lacks a coherent sound. These issues are not nearly enough to ruin the listening experience, though.

Song Quality:

9/10

More

The songs are generally very enjoyable and easy to listen to, especially when listened to individually, outside of the context of the album. Many of these songs have a certain superstar quality to them, and a je ne sais quoi that adds to the powerful listening experience. “Parachute”, “My Design”, “Thank You”; I would not be the least bit surprised if at least one of these songs becomes a chart-topping single at some point.

Flow/Transition:

6.5/10

More

Though the individual songs on the album are generally very good, it sometimes feels like the songs don’t come together to form something better than the sum of its parts, as an album should. Songs like “Smile Too” and “Fuck Me” come off as disjointed singles in an otherwise cohesive album. It could be a lot worse, and for me personally it doesn’t at all take away from the quality of the album. Nonetheless, I feel like Haya and her team could have done a better job at organizing the tracks. I still give it a score of 6.5 because most of the songs really do flow into each other nicely, and it’s an album that I can picture being played on repeat over and over again. Perhaps if the aforementioned singles had been added in as bonus tracks, or even just placed in a different order, it would get a higher score in this area. Don’t let this stop you from listening to the album, though.

Technical Quality:

8.5/10

More

Haya, as well as whoever helped her compose these tracks, clearly have an eye for detail that that will come as a pleasant surprise to more astute music aficionados. The album starts off with the iconic “C#, E, G#, E” riff; composed like a classic sonata, this whole song sets the tone for the album. The track “Letting Go” contains some ASMR-inducing Left/Right stereo panning that displays an additional eye for detail. The backing guitarist and drummer are also noteworthy, displaying a worthy eye for music theory and giving the album a more down-to-earth indie sound. There are more examples contained within, but these are the most prominent; I’ll let you discover the rest on your own.

Lyrics:

6/10

More

The lyrics are generally decent, and occasionally brilliant. The most notable of the latter would have to be “My Design”, as well as some other lines interspersed throughout the other songs. Regrettably, though, this is probably the weakest element of the album. Though not bad by any means, a lot of the lines can come off as histrionic, dramatic, or corny. They’re the kind of lines that you might hear a high schooler in musical theater try to improvise. Though not significantly bad enough to sour the album, and though it ersonally didn’t bother me too much, it it could definitely leave a bad taste in the mouths of some listeners (though some might enjoy it even more for the same reasons).

Bonus Scores

Tell-a-friend:

4/5

More

There are a couple hit tracks on this album that really stand out, worthy of being played for anyone that will listen. The sheer power of Haya’s voice makes you wonder why you need to tell people about her in the first place, why people don’t know about her already.

Replay Value:

4/5

More

The songs here are fresh and easy to listen to; They aren’t the kind of songs that you just listen to once, think “hey, that’s pretty good!” and then skip over. A lot of the tracks are extremely catchy and certifiably replay-worthy, in a way akin to the most popular mainstream hits. In fact, as I type this, the song “Thank You” has been stuck in my head for hours, the chorus playing in my mind on repeat. I’m sure that such will be the case for many other new listeners, too.

Originality:

3.5/5

More

Though reminiscent of other more mainstream artists, Haya has a signature sound that’s hard to put into words. As an example, I brought my partner into the room, gave her no context whatsoever about the album, played a small clip from one of the tracks, and asked “who do you think wrote this song?”. The response I got was, and I quote, “I don’t know; that doesn’t sound like anyone else I’ve heard”. So you see, “All My Love And Lack Thereof” is definitely not lacking in je ne sais quoi. It doesn’t have a higher score in this area, though, because the actual topic and message of the songs aren’t particularly original, per se, and nothing new or innovative is technically done throughout.

Best Track:

#5. “Fuck Me”*

More

If I had to put my money on one track, it would be this one. Don’t let the vulgar title fool you; as mentioned above, what at first appears to be just a run-of-the-mill, shock value romantic comedy track actually includes an important message of self-acceptance that I think a lot of women need to hear. “Fuck me” has just the right amount of wit and comedy, balanced with distinct subtext and musical finesse. *A very close second is the track “Thank You”, the 12th and final song on the album. Though I personally enjoy it slightly more than the former, is definitively more unique, and thus has a range of appeal, for lack of a better phrase.

Comparable to:

Adele, Florence + The Machine, Idina Menzel,
Sixpence None The Richer, Imogen Heap

Vibes:

Broadway musical, melodrama, empowerment/motivation,
debut album, cult fanbase

Stats

Runtime:

00:42:17.00

Average Track Length:

00:03:31.42

Content Warning(s):

Mild strong language, sexual themes

Number of Tracks:

12

Maturity:

14+

Announcing My New Album Review Series!

Hello all! As mentioned earlier, I have another series in the works right now. I planned to officially announce this a little earlier, but regardless, here goes nothing:

I’m adding a new review series to this website. It’s called Consummate Professionalism, and in it, I will be reviewing albums, mixtapes, EPs, LPs, and other similar compilations of music.

I was reluctant to delve into the world of music criticism. My professional experience is almost entirely limited to literature, and I wanted to avoid getting sucked into the music industry as a whole. I made up my mind for two reasons. First, music is art; it would be a tragedy for me to allow all of that art to go undiscovered and unappreciated.

Second, the world of reviewing and criticizing music is in need of an overhaul. The current top critics live in a cultural echo chamber, with values and preferences grossly dissimilar to those of the general population. In other words, there needs to be more reviewers whose analyses align with the average music listener–a role I intend to fill as faithfully as possible.

I don’t yet have an official release date for the first installment (each one will be called a Volume. Ha, get it?). I’m extremely confident I will have it up within the next month, though, if not less. If I don’t post it immediately after it’s finished, then I’ll announce its publication date on the Likewise12 Twitter page. Follow me, and keep checking back for more updates about this and other projects!

Shifting Focus: Why I’ve Been Doing Mostly Reviews Lately

Hello all! This is just a quick, impromptu update post to explain a slight shift that some of you might have noticed in the past few months.

Namely, my website posts have been almost entirely of reviews, with little in the way of quizzes, poems, or traditional articles. This may be an unwelcome change, as a lot of you come here specifically for my original content, and don’t want to be directed away from content that’s original to me. I want to stress to you that my original content is not going away. Rather, I want to explain why my content has taken this shift.

  1. I genuinely really like doing it. This is an often-overlooked aspect of writing and content creation that a lot of creatives encounter some time in their career, including myself. It’s easy to lose sight of your purpose, falling into a trap of creating content that you feel your fans want to see, rather than things you actually want to create. This is something that tripped me up for a while; I would spend months working on a few rather bland articles that would undoubtedly get a lot of clicks, but that were an absolute pain to write. I want to start creating for me just as much as for you again, and this is the most recent thing I’ve found that fulfills both of those. There is a lot of other content I genuinely enjoy making, but most of it is not posted here, for the other reasons listed.
  2. I have a vision for something bigger. While I love writing poems, especially as of the past year or so, I have plans for what I want to do with them rather than posting all of them here. The most prominent of which would be creating a poetry collection and publishing it, or incorporating my poems into some of my other works. Now, I don’t want to seem like a sellout who is just milking all of their content for a profit. If I could write full-time for the rest of my life without making a single penny from it, I would. Alas, in order to devote more of my time to my work, thus bringing you bigger and better projects, I somehow need to make more money off of all this. Rest assured that I see and understand your concerns. I plan to look into options for how I can make my future paid content more accessible for lower-income fans.
  3. It helps others like me. As an indie creator myself, I know how hard gaining exposure can be. In a lot of ways, getting your work into the hands of those who will enjoy it is the hardest part. How are people supposed to know how to chose your work, rather than anything else they may come across? I want to help others who are going through my same creative struggles. Writing these reviews may help some of them kickstart their careers, giving them that little push it needs to spawn a fanbase, an income, and a living off of it in the future. In simpler terms, I want to let people know about all the great undiscovered books* they should read (and which they shouldn’t, of course.
  4. Related to point #2, these reviews are perfect for this online format. Again, it’s important to find a balance. It’s best to find something that you both a) like to create, and b) earns you money, and c) exposure. These reviews accomplish all of these. I like creating them, and they generate a good amount of traffic, so they earn more money while also directing people toward my website, where they can learn about all of my other content.

I hope that this change is not a difficult one. As I write this post, I have a few ideas for how I can create some new original content that’s better suited for this website. If they materialize, I’ll post the relevant updates. As it stands, I’ll continue writing more reviews, and even have a new review series that I plan on announcing very soon–and this one won’t be focused on books. Stay tuned, and thank you all for your support!

P.S.: Don’t mind any minor spelling, grammar, formatting, or other related mistakes. I plan to publish this page almost as soon as I’m done typing it. The date and time you see attached to this post are pretty much the same date and time I finished writing it.

“The Girl In The Box” Series, Book 1: “Alone” Review | Hayley’s Comments #3

This is review #3 of my own review series, Hayley’s Comments! I review books and literature from small authors, and give my honest and in-depth analysis of them. This time around, I’m reviewing the book “Alone” by Robert J. Crane. I’ve been meaning to read this book for a while, and I’m really glad I did!

Alone
By Robert J. Crane

Genre: Sci-fi/Fantasy
Subgenre(s): Urban fantasy, Coming-of-age, Thriller

A 17-year-old girl named Sienna Nealon has lived a life of solitude, shielded from contact with the outside world. When a group of intruders break in and force her out, it turns out that she and her mother are part of something much greater than she could have ever imagined.

Short on time? Click here to view a summary. [Add HTML anchor]

I’m gonna try to go over this book as impartially as possible. I’ve been trying hard to think of a way to write this review without hyping it up too much, since your personal opinions may be different, and I don’t want you to finish this book with unmet expectations. Know that, while I’m super confident that you’ll agree with my assessment, there is a slight chance that your analysis and opinion will be much different than mine. That being said…

“Alone” is pretty close to a masterpiece. The fact that this book isn’t a certified classic, a literary staple, or the subject of an avid fandom is nothing short of a tragedy. This book had no problem carrying my rapt attention throughout, never truly feeling bogged down or slow in some areas. Even when not reading it, I’d find my mind continuously wandering back to the plot, awaiting the time when I’d be able to read just a few more chapters. The book hits all the right marks; great characters, great setting, great plot, and more. Crane waves together all these beautiful story elements in such a way that many authors could even dream of–including some more well-known names. Replete with action, nuance, and subtle subtext throughout, this book is sure to make your week, or your month.

Scoring

Overall: 93/100

Plot: 8/10

Dialogue: 9/10

Pacing: 6.5/10

Characters: 10/10

Settings: 8.5/10

Length: 182 pages

Maturity: Young Adult

Reading Difficulty: High

Point Of View: 1st person

Spoilers below!

What I like

•The plot is excellent and engaging

More Details

This book had no problem keeping my rapt attention throughout. Beat by beat, I never lost my focus once while reading this. A lot of books–especially fantasy books–contain some slower parts that are harder to get through, and leave much to be desired. In “Alone”, however, there’s never a dull moment to be found.

It’s also achieved another rare feat: I don’t think I found a single plothole, error, or inconsistency throughout the entire book. All the details are seamlessly sewn together. Nothing really goes unexplained, nothing conflicts other parts of the story, and nothing is left for the readers to fill in the blanks. It hits all the barks for a good plot, while also maintaining originality and engagement.

•The characters are superb and interesting

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Every character in this book that I can think of is interesting and unique, and brings something different to the story. There are no cookie cutters, stock characters, or cliché archetypes to be found. They’re complex, nuanced, and just generally relatable in an endearing way. Now, this is not to say each character is some sort of allegory or metaphor to some deeper meaning. Rather, the characters feel like normal people

•It contains subtle subtext, and a message that we can love and relate to

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I think this book contains deeper meaning behind it, that’s not essential to the plot, but can enhance the reading experience if you’re looking out for it. For instance, the whole idea of her being hidden from the outside world, only to be thrust into an environment of chaos and mystery, can be viewed as an allegory for hardship and adulthood. It conveys that parents try so hard to protect us from the horrors of the outside world, only to ultimately be to our detriment. And that once we are eventually forced out of the parental bubble, we encounter tribulations and menaces beyond our ability to understand. There are more examples, but the reader has the choice to acknowledge them, or just read it for the plot and the lore. You can get what you want from it, and I think that’s beautiful.

The first 3 out of an astounding 52 books in the series so far! (Credit: Art by Karri)

What I dislike

•Some elements should have been focused on more

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Alas, a good portion of my qualms with this book arise not from what is included, but rather, from what isn’t. For what I can only assume to be in the interest of saving time, Crane seems to gloss over and “yadda-yadda” his way through some elements of his story that I would have preferred he focused on. The major one that stuck out to me was that there should have been more focus on showing how Sienna acclimated to her new environment at the directorate. It feels like she just shows up there, says “hey, this is my life now”, and goes about her daily activities. I know that this is not actually the case, but this is the feeling that’s given, since there’s almost no time devoted to describing how exactly she got settled in. A well-written panic attack scene might very well have fixed this issue.

•It can come off as cliché

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This one almost entirely involves the main character and narrator, Sienna Nealon. She makes a ton of wise cracks, jokes, and pop culture references that seem unusual at times. A lot of the dialogue comes off as unnatural and tends to break the immersion. I personally don’t think it’s that big of a problem, and I understand that it’s a result of her ignorance to the outside world, her only knowledge of non-maternal human interaction being that which she’s seen on TV. But other readers might not be as fond of this, so it’s worth mentioning.

Content warnings

Abuse, rape, body mutilation, bullying

Spoilers above!

In Summary

“Alone” is a certified classic, a literary gem amongst a genre of coal. Well-crafted and artistic–though not without it’s flaws–Crane has created a work good enough to contend with even its most mainstream competition.