In the Storm

This is my 10oth Review! 


In The Storm

Author: Karen Metcalf

Publisher:Vagabond Press

Pages: 88

Read Time: 1 Hour

Rating (1-5): 3

Tag Words: Sci-fi, first love, true love, domestic abuse, sisterly love, imagination, storms, powers-that-be

My Summary:

Carly hears the click and suddenly she is in a different place, a different time and a different dimension. 

The only thing in this world is a tree a thunderstorm and a boy who makes the lightening shy away. 

As Carly becomes closer and closer to Morgan she must learn to let those she has left behind go. 

My Review:

I liked the bones of In the Storm very much. It is an interesting concept- even if God is a pseudo hated being in this one- and a mind-bending exercise into fate, destiny and taking the future into your own hands. However, I have to ask the all encompassing- why.

We never truly learn why Carly and her younger brother have been left behind to be cared for, using the term very loosely here, by their stepfather. We never learn why it is Carly who is given the gift of an- imaginative? Real?- sanctuary away from all the pain and most importantly we never learn why Mitchell must meet his fate in such a way. Why did that have to happen? I didn’t see any justification whatsoever, except that those points were needed to deliver the reader to The End. Even if the book has a complete conclusion I can’t help but feel that it is all rather open-ended. 

The ending is a bit too-good-to-be-real, which sounds rather silly coming from me- the girl who loves ‘Happily Ever After,’ but it does just come off forced and perfected, rather than realistic and thought-provoking. 

It was a good, quick read from a debut author and I enjoyed my time with the story.

Notes on the Names: 

All the names are good names, nothing too boring, nothing too tedious, but nothing all together super-special. I did rather like many of the names, however. Carly, Morgan, Mitchell, all good. 

Thoughts on the Cover: Very capturing, and a good illustrative companion to the text. 

Parental Book Review *spoilers*

Sexual Content: 

Carly locks her stepfather out of the bathroom while she is showering, and he tries to break in.  

Language: 

Mild/Moderate

Violence: 

Moderate

The stepfather playing Russian Roulette with Mitchell’s hand and a butcher knife, but Mitch walks away unharmed.  

Other Notables: 

Mitchell dies from smoke inhalation in a domestic fire which Carly cannot rescue him from.