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Thursday, May 14, 2015

Book Review: The Talented by Desy Smith

The Talented
by Desy Smith
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Romance Fiction
Publisher: Floebe Publishing
Date of Publication: January 30, 2015
ISBN: 9781507799291
ASIN: B00SXOLV80
Number of pages: 197
Word Count: 46,170
At age 17, Carmel founds herself in a mental institution thanks to an ice dagger, and a woman who apparently isn't human. After being rescued and arriving at the H.o.T, House of Talents. A house where no one is entirely human. She learns that she's Talented and has the ability to control Water and Ice.

At the H.o.T, Carmel learns to control her Talent, makes new friends, a few enemies, and begins to fall head over heels for a handsome guy. Who has a few secrets of his own. Carmel begins to realize that many people want her dead because of who she is. However she has no idea why. Can she figure it out or will she die. Look inside to find out.

Available at Amazon and BN

Aspiring Young Author

Carmel (Mel for short) is twice orphaned when her foster family places her in a residence for "crazies." At 17 she is beginning to understand that she has some special talents that are not shared by everyone....such as the ability to make water freeze with mind control. Apparently there are some people that are trying to harm her and she is rescued from the "crazy" house by a group of young people (one of whom is a young man with green eyes that strongly attracts her attention) and taken to a different "school" for the Talented.

Here she forms friendships, finds romance, develops her "Talent" and discovers things hidden about her past. She is introduced to other young adults who are talented in the use of the elements of fire, water, air and earth. Just as most young adults, she takes all this in stride and accepts her new way of life. Isn't that just like the young!?

She has a few close calls with kidnapping and attempted murder and must quickly learn how to use her "Talent" with water to save herself. But even after those close calls (now pay attention, this is where the "teen" mentality comes in)...she is more concerned about her new boyfriend and the fact that he lied to her about them having sex a few years before she was rescued by him. (of course he had wiped her memory of that for her own protection at the time) Now I am concerned.....why were they having sex when she was just 14 years old and thinking that was OK!? Again...the young mentality.

After reading this book I had to set back and try to see the story as a film in my head. In doing that I could appreciate the storyline the author set for the reader. I do believe that this will appeal to the teen audience. I got the impression that the main subject matters were: romance/sex, young people with no fear of mortality, friendship/belonging and not always thinking things through before acting. (Isn't/wasn't that all of us at age 17!)

I had many problems with the grammar, sentence and paragraph structure and some continuity of thought processes of characters but really liked the premise of the story and had a desire to know the outcome of Carmel and Devon. I feel that with a little more life experience and proper editing this author has a gift to share with her readers. If I am correct in the information provided on the author, this story was written in her early teens.....WOW! I think most 13 -15 year olds are more concerned with fashion and social issues than pursuing a passion of writing and reading. So Kudos to Desy for this book. It will be interesting to test out her second book to see how she has matured in her writing.

If you are a new/young YAF reader, give this a try, if you are an adult/seasoned reader you may feel a little frustrated in the editing and organizational issues and may want to skip this first book.

I give this 3 "hopeful" sheep for the storyline.






JeanieG

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Desy Smith was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. She wrote her first book when she was thirteen years old, because she ran out of books to read inside her home. She loves reading books as much as she loves writing her own. Desiree also loves food and sweets, if she’s not reading, she’s probably eating a cupcake or two.

She published her first book The Talented under a publishing company she started Floebe Publishing. Desy writes to provide an escape for anyone who wants to live in a fantasy world, and not worry about the trouble of everyday life. She also writes to inspire. This is Desy’s first novel, and she plans to release the second part of The Talented series during late summer.

The Talented will be a five part series. Currently she is working on another story, which she hopes to release in the fall.



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3 comments:

  1. The premise sounds interesting and I think my daughter would like it.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by the reviews Mandie. I think this writer has a "Talent" that will appeal to young readers! She should give it a try. Would be interesting to get her take on this book.

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  2. Ambitious indeed, for one so young to write a book and good for Desy to decide to publish it. I like the story line and feel it will grab the attention of those younger readers out there. Will have to see where this leads this young lady.

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