Essence of Re, by Bonnie Lamar

Author; Lamar, Bonnie

Book Title; Essence of Re

Genre: Young Adult Historical Mystery/Action/Love Story

Young Adult novels are flooding the market ever since a certain wizard made his appearance in print several years ago.  Since the increase, adults such as myself, stumble across them every now and then.  That being said, most of the books I’ve recently read happen to be from the young adult genre, simply because of what I like to read about.  That being said….

This is Book 1 in what is evidently planned as a series.  In this book, I can tell the author is not use to American slang, spelling, or mannerisms of the American teenager.  I can feel comfortable saying this since my youngest daughter just recently turned 20, and she’s my bookworm.  (The apple does not fall far from the tree when you read to them when they’re little!)  I can honestly say, the language in this book is too formal as there are not many contractions used and sayings such as “Ringing Off” are NEVER used here in the States by American Teenagers, let alone the adult population.  I surmise that the author is trying to say “hanging up [the phone]”.

That aside, the book is well laid out in a format that young adults will be able to grasp onto quickly and entrench themselves into the story, however unbelievable it is.  The character development is quirky, in that most teenagers I’ve met and interacted with over the years truly aren’t about doing hours of homework without complaint, and have the amount of freedom our heroine seems to have.  The author, I think, is trying to send the message to her target audience that studies come first, then every thing else, which is great.  However, in the same vein, she is showing the characters as having way too much freedom with parents who seem more wrapped up in their own social lives then whether or not their child is accepting her current lifestyle change (I can’t say much more without tipping my hand towards the plot, which I don’t like to do,).

The plot is interesting in its dabbling of historical facts interwoven within it, however it slows at times, and then simply confuses.  Our heroine acts and thinks much older than her age of 17, as well as her cohorts, though at times normal teenage angst does rear it’s head.

Would I suggest this book to my friends or their children?

That would depend on the friend, to be completely honest.  If they’re young adults, who feel they are invincible anyway, sure.  But the characters are a contradiction of themselves, meaning that they DO NOT ACT LIKE TEENAGERS OR SPEAK LIKE TEENAGERS!  I must admit I openly hope the reading gets better from the first book. 

My Grade:  2.5 out of 5 bookmarks