Skeleton Lake, by Angela Kulig -- Review

Skeleton Lake by Angela Kulig
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

All the reviews I read made me want to read this book. I was so excited when I received my copy and couldn't wait to read it.

From the first chapter, I was completely lost. I had no clue what was being said. Maybe this was deliberate since Marlow was "drowning". So, I kept reading. The story began to work itself out over the next few chapters and I could see it more clearly.

The characters were not very deep. Even though the story was told through the eyes of Marlow, I just couldn't get into her, deep into her, to really feel any emotion towards her. Each character presented only provided more complication to the reader's ability to keep them straight. There was nothing discerning about the characters, nothing that made them want to be loved (or hated) by you. There were hints, don't get me wrong. But there was nothing that went deeper. I felt as I was reading this, it was just being "told" to me.

The story has a great premise, overall. Although the book is an easy read and the chapters are short, I just couldn't finish reading. I wanted to finish. I tried. But with the amount of grammatical errors, typos, cliches, and "telling, not showing", I just couldn't manage to finish. I got to Chapter 42. Maybe I will, one day, plow through the rest just so I know what happens.

Even though it's a self-pubbed book, with a little work and a couple more revisions it could have been a great read! I just feel it wasn't ready.

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Sony eReader & Travel Contest Entry

So, I thought I would enter into the Sony eReader Travel contest held over at The Vacation Gals website. The task was to write a creative, witty postcard of your dream destination and include where you are and what you brought to read. Please VOTE for my entry HERE! Once a day please!

And in honor of National Poetry Month, my entry was in poetic format. However, the formatting of the postcard stripped my poetic structure. You should get the hint anyway. If not, here's how I wrote it:

Pink blossoms of snow
contrast against the backdrop of
Osaka's ancient royal gardens.
It awakens memories
of an old Japanese tale
forever safe in electronic ink,
Under the Cherry Tree.
Clutching my eReader slightly tighter,
willing myself to remember
Beneath a canopy of pink rain
kissed by its fragrance
leaving swirls of cherry down
as I walk away.

Wishing you were here.