Today I'm reviewing a middle-grade/teen piece sent to me by C.M. Raymond. Mr Raymond explained to me that his books are like episodes, with a new 40-page 'episode' being released every week. He has sent me the first of these for my review.
If you wish to read this series, please click on this link to subscribe to Raymond's newsletter so you'll never miss out on a new episode: http://bit.ly/1HtuyTp
My Review
Raymond has written this book 'for smart, young' audiences. I have to say that it did not satisfy me completely. It was a good book, certainly, but I feel it could be improved. If it is to be aimed at intelligent young readers looking for something complex and articulate enough to hold their attention yet still remaining completely appropriate, Arcanum Island could need a little bit of polishing.
I recommend to Raymond to think more about the tone as well as the language- I think that it would be excellent if the text flowed smoothly when reading and if language was used a little more eloquently.
Overall, I did enjoy the way it was written, but it did not particularly stand out to me as a book for sophisticated or intelligent young people. It might not completely captivate their attention as Raymond hoped it would. Perhaps it is not good for me to be judging it on the first episode; it could vastly improve, but this is my opinion.
I also would definitely like to raise the point that Raymond could easily make the characters more realistic and tangible if he were to change the way they speak. Some of the language is robotic or young sounding. I hate to say it, but I've never witnessed a thirteen-year-old refer to themselves as 'my dear'. Just humanise those character dynamics.
The plotline is intriguing, centered on a group of young people on an island, seemingly without adults or even many other children. I am very interested in the way that it turns out, and I do think that the episodic format complements the plot.
It is a unique sort of book, with there being episodes every week. It seems interesting, and unprecedented. I am intrigued to see whether the format of episodes continues to work well for Raymond and Arcanum Island.
I did enjoy this book, but I did not particularly like the way it was written, so I'm awarding it:
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