A Lighter Shade of Gray by Devon Pearse
Publisher: Neverland Publishing
Pages: 472
Format: ebook
Buy the Book: Amazon
Goodreads: What does it feel like to stare into the face of madness? Or to anticipate your own? Would you drive away your only love? Could you pretend it didn't matter? How far would you go to protect a friend, or to avenge a death?
Ten years ago, Devon gave up the love of her life, fearing she would one day fall victim to the mental illness that has slowly ravaged the mind of her mother, who is now being cared for in a private facility. Just when it seems Devon might have a chance to make up for past mistakes, her best friend Cass becomes a suspect in the murder of her sister's drug-dealing boyfriend.
Kritters Thoughts: A Lighter Shade of Gray is a dramatic book that while the cast of characters was numbered, the plots were cumbersome. It is easy for the reader to fall in love with these characters fast, but while there were a few too many major plots going at the same time, I was also discouraged to see the story really pick up when it was almost halfway over.
What I did love - I loved the use of journal entries to help incorporate Devon's best friend's point of view into the story. It helped fill the story out by seeing things through her eyes through the journal. Two other characters use the journal as a way to share their story and it was such a perfect way to have them "speak." I thought it was unique and different.
I don't know it it was just me, but I felt as though the massive amounts of description words overwhelmed me and the story. I wanted to strip away some of the description so the heart of the story could shine.
The moral of the review is that this book although a chunkster had quite a lot going on in description words used and plot lines. Although it spanned quite a few years, these characters almost had too much drama; maybe it could have been split into two books.
Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more
Ebook Challenge 2012: 30 out of 25
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Tours. I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Other Tour Stops:
Monday, June 11th: The Book Bag
Tuesday, June 12th: StephTheBookworm
Wednesday, June 13th: As I turn the pages
Thursday, June 14th: Kritters Ramblings
Monday, June 18th: Veronica M.D.
Tuesday, June 19th: Sara’s Organized Chaos
Wednesday, June 20th: Living in the Kitchen with Puppies
Tuesday, June 26th: Mary’s Cup of Tea
Wednesday, June 27th: Tiffany’s Bookshelf
Tuesday, July 3rd: Oh! Paper Pages
Tuesday, July 10th: Beastmomma
Monday, July 16th: Walking With Nora
Wednesday, July 18th: An Unconventional Librarian
Thursday, July 19th: Booksie’s Blog
Friday, July 20th: Silver’s Reviews
Darn, I'm sorry to see that this one didn't really work for you, but thanks for being on the tour.
ReplyDeleteHi....hope all is going well for you and your Mom.
ReplyDeleteIt was long, but I enjoyed this book...my review is up for July 20.
Hope you can stop by.
Giveaway going on at my blog as well for another book.
Elizabeth
Silver's Reviews
http://silversolara.blogspot.com