#hadenajames

[coffincritiques]

Elysium Dreams

(Dreams & Reality Book 2) Book Review

By Hadena James

Finished 05-09-2019

Genre: Crime/Suspense-Thriller

Basic Plot: Aislinn finds herself in Alaska hunting an especially gruesome serial killer with the rest of the Serial Crimes Tracking Unit. With her innate ability to attract these types, she finds herself involved heavily in this case. 

This one was so much better than the first. I found so few annoyances in repetitious phrasing and the characters really start to bloom. I think I personally enjoy this series for the fact that I find, even though she is a sociopath, Aislinn is quite relatable at times because of her distance from her humanity which, if anyone struggles with any kind of psychosis or even just mental handicaps, can display a lot of emotions all of us face that we generally won’t give conscious thought to. I found the plot overall, gruesome and dark to a higher degree and I really loved the change in perspectives this time. This author has a way of normalizing mental disorders that make these characters feel real. I love her ability to suck you into their thought processes and because these are related to serial killers and crime, I find myself delving into the story line so completely. 

I gave this a 4 out of 5 because everything in it was captivating and it really was overall pretty strong writing. The only thing I still struggle with with this author in particular, is her lack of fluidity at times in her dialogue. I like the banter, I like the way each character has their own voice but sometimes it’s easy to lose track of which character is speaking, or in following their line of reasoning. It’s a small error, and partially due to comprehension on my part, but i still think a little more clarity in her dialogue would help immensely. Honestly though, this was extremely good and I’m hoping the next one will just captivate me even further and delve into the psychological aspects even more. 

[coffincritiques]

Tortured Dreams

(Dreams and Reality Book 1) Book Review

By Hadena James

Finished 04-08-2019 

Genre: Crime/Psychological Thriller

Basic Plot: A sociopathic non-victim, is newly recruited into a very unstable and progressive new branch of the US Marshalls, specifically based upon her background. Aislinn Cain is no weakling as proven at the young age of eight years old, taking down a serial killer who captured her. It seems violence has followed her ever since. She now has to take on the most personal case of her life with the help of her new psychopathic team members. 

This book changed my opinion as it went on. I started off with deep intrigue, I mean a mentally unstable woman, with intelligence that rivals Einstein, mashed together with serial killer stalkers and a devious past, what could go wrong? But as I started to get into the actual writing, it comes off as a bit choppy initially, making it somewhat difficult to grow attachment to characters and plot. But, then it twists again as you find out more and more about the protagonist. You realize, this is how she thinks, factually and quickly. When major scenes happen, they almost are like reading about a puddle passed over, but I personally think it fit very well with the main characters thought processes. Cold and clinical. It honestly was also a nice differentiation from the normal first person perspectives riddled with feelings. A few noticeable difficulties when reading this were repetition of phrasing and description and somewhat confusing dialogue. I read so many times how a character frowned, now this may be a pet peeve of mine but when you are constantly being hit with the same description time and time again, it tends to feel mind numbing and aggravating. I found it a little difficult with the dialogue at certain points when the protagonist would think something but another character would react as if it had been spoken. I also found it somewhat out of character that certain plot points were described over and over when these characters are all supposed to be of above average intelligence. But these are all small compared to the overall story line and should in no way stop someone from enjoying this plot. Also, since it is a series, I’m hoping the next book will ease up on these errors.  

I gave this a 3.5 out of 5 deducting for the writing style alone. The research on torture displayed a decent depth of knowledge, more than if you just heard about these methods once or twice. It overall was a well plotted tale of events and the ending was a nice intro into a budding series.