Book #15: Pictures of You

[thistlechaser]

Pictures of You by TJ Alexian/tedwords.
(Book received free for review from the author.)
Rating: 4/liked (1-5/hated-loved)

There were a number of elements in Pictures of You shouldn't have worked for me, but they did and I ended up really enjoying the book.

It's told in first person: With rare exception, that never works for me.
The POV is a teenage girl: That alone would have sent me running in the other direction; lately I've read so many painfully bad books with a teenage girl POV.
It has a paranormal element (except not really), and usually that would make me uninterested in a book that is otherwise set in the normal world.
Also, while reading the book, I realized it was something I never read: A book set in the modern, normal world. I can't recall ever reading a fiction book set in our world with just normal, average people in it. I suppose I probably did as a teen or kid, but as an adult? I can't think of one.

So, that's a long list of things that I wouldn't usually like, but TJ Alexian made it work. All the characters, from the POV girl to the more minor ones, were believable as real people, and I was interested in knowing more about them.

The story was a mystery (with lots of other elements as well), and while I don't usually read those, I enjoyed it here. At one point I was sure I knew the ending and I didn't like it, but it turns out I was wrong. For a while I thought it was in fact a ghost responsible, and I didn't like that. I don't believe in ghosts (or anything there's not proof of), so to have it come up in what was otherwise our world annoyed me. I'm happy I was wrong! Not only am I happy to have been wrong, I enjoyed that I was fooled!

Ashley (the main character) and her family were trying to cope with the loss of Daniel, Ashley's brother. On top of that, videos of Daniel were getting posted to Youtube and emailed to her directly. Who would have such videos? Why would they send them to her anonymously? And leave cryptic little messages from "Daniel"?

I hadn't expected the ending at all, but looking back on it once I was finished, it fit.

Recommended!

Comments

[changeling72.livejournal.com]

Is book reviewing your main job?

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Nope, though I'd enjoy that! It's just a hobby. I'm a technical writer to pay the bills.

[tedwords.livejournal.com]

I love your review! Thank you so much for reading it and letting me know what you thought.

Now, you touched upon something I find really interesting: why aren't a lot of books written in the normal world? I mean, I guess it's hard to keep the normal world interesting, but then again, why does everything have to be heightened? It becomes kind of tedious to me.

I am glad I kept you guessing :)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Do you think that's the case? I thought it was probably more that the normal world was less interesting to me as a book setting, so I just tended towards other books, not that there were less of them in general.

I know there are a whole lot of YA relationship/love/love triangle stories set in the real world, and I suppose there must be adult ones as well. I wonder what the percent of each is?

And you did keep me guessing! It was a lot of fun! I never would have guessed who it turned out to be. :D

[tedwords.livejournal.com]

My feeling is that a lot of writers of YA tend to want to make the story/main character more glamorous/interesting/popular than the average reader, so they can be like, "I want to be like that person."

The other thing I should mention: I deliberately decided not to make the final chapter a huge fight scene/edge of your seat, villain has hero dangling over a cliff kind of thing. I just wanted it to be a walk in the woods, where all is revealed. Well, and then something really bad happens after that. But that stands to reason, right?

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I liked the walk in the woods idea. Seemed realistic and fitting (especially how he was talking himself into doing it).

I liked how all the information came out, really. Didn't seem forced in or 'author explains it all!' at all. I see that latter thing in way, way too many books.

[tedwords.livejournal.com]

Thanks. The uncovery is always the tricky part, right? The pay off is the conclusion, which I always find the most enjoyable part to write.