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Monday, May 9, 2016

Review of A Taste of Bliss by Adrian R. Hale

Solid 4 Stars
I quite liked this story. I was very moved by Lisa, Bliss' mother's storyline. Tragic and yet inspiring.

Talan was a sweetheart. Almost too perfect, but honestly, that's the way I like my heroes. It's nice to think there's a guy out there who can handle all our BS. I liked the layers to his personality and his life, and the way he was all in when it came to Bliss. My only problem is the amount of time he was absent from the story. I got a bit twitchy wondering when he was going to be back in the picture.

Bliss... Well, I liked her well enough. I thought she was pretty relatable, flawed, and real. She'd go flying off the handle, and then come to her senses. And Lord knows I'm a lot like her when it comes to overthinking things, and creating issues when there isn't really one there. Unlike her, I like to think I would let someone say their piece, defend themselves, in the event of a major misunderstanding, but who knows.

That particular misunderstanding was pretty predictable, although I did wonder what the real story was going to be. (Sorry if I'm vague, but I don't like to leave spoilers.)

My main problem with this story isn't really the story, it's the fact that it is not only first person, which--as those of you who follow my reviews know--is not my favorite, but it is also in present tense, which I find super distracting. I've only ever read one book in present tense that I didn't find so distracting--I hardly even noticed it, it was so well done. This one, for me, was not. As a reader, I was taken out of the bubble every time to dialog fell into past tense--which was often--and during the times when Bliss is flashing back to something that happened "off scene". So it felt bouncy and just not smooth.

Take that for what it's worth. For me, it's worth the loss of a whole star. But other readers who don't have problems with first person present tense may not mind it at all. Otherwise, the plot was well constructed, the characters all likable and relate-able, and the writing--other than my issues framed above--was very well done.


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