Tuesday, January 28, 2014

The Sinners' Garden by William Sirls

When I read reviews for The Sinners' Garden by William Sirls, I was excited to see how many people said they were hooked in the prologue. When I started reading the book, I was too. Unfortunately, I got "unhooked" somewhere along the way and ended up skimming through the second half.

The story begins with Andy Kemp and his mother and the abuse they suffered at the hand of Andy's father. The result of the abuse are the scars that Andy wears on his face as well in his soul.

Andy's mother struggles to reconnect with her son, along with the help of her brother, Rip. Andy begins hearing messages through his broken iPod. A "Summer Santa" begins breaking in and leaving unexpected gifts. A garden of wildflowers appears suddenly. All these things in the summary drew me to choose this book to review and, initially, kept me interested. I can't put my finger on exactly why I lost interest. There were several mysteries in the story, but I guess I almost felt as though the author gave too many hints so that I had solved the mysteries well before the end of the book. The twists and turns weren't "twisty" enough to keep me on the edge of my seat.

I can't say this book wasn't good. It just wasn't great. I would probably pick up another book by William Sirls if it was sitting nearby, but I don't know that I would hunt it down.

This book was provided to me by Booksneeze in exchange for my honest opinion.

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