Wednesday 6 February 2013

Review: Tempestuous by Kim Askew & Amy Helmes


Title: Tempestuous
Author: Kim Askew & Amy Helmes
Publisher: Merit Press
Rating: 3/5 stars

 
Synopsis:

After a mistake with big financial consequences topples her throne, former "it girl" Miranda Prospero is bitter: she finds herself stranded in a crazed new world, holding court among geeks and misfits at a mall Hot Dog Kabob stand. Then, she gets her chance for revenge. When the storm of the decade snows in the mall workers and last-minute shopaholics for a long winter's night, Miranda sets out to get back at the catty clique who was behind her exile. But there's a complication. She somehow gets handcuffed to sullen loner Caleb. With him (literally) bound to her side, Miranda learns more in one night about her own heart, and human nature, than she ever did as prep royalty. With this twisted take on Shakespeare's "The Tempest," authors Kim Askew and Amy Helmes prove again that, from Juliet's grief to Cordelia's rage, no one knew about teen angst better than the Bard. His wisdom holds up nearly half a millennium later.

(From Goodreads)
 

My thoughts:

I received the e-book to review from the authors via NetGalley. Although the story is meant to be based on Shakespeare's The Tempest, you don't have to read his book to understand what goes on in this.
This is the first book I have read from these authors, so I was unsure of the writing style, or how they were going to go about basing it on Shakespeare's novel. In my opinion, I found I was a little lost, and I am unsure why, but I feel maybe it was either due to how it was written, or not feeling the story enough. Maybe there was something missing for me. I'm not quite sure, which is a shame, as I really was looking forwards to this book.
The story is told by the main character Miranda, who is kind of spunky and cool. Although I did think her idea of getting revenge on people from her school did seem a bit childish. Miranda has a best friend called Ariel, who is celebrating her birthday during this novel. Caleb, who is a mysterious guy, ends up being handcuffed to Miranda for most of the story. I found the building relationship between Miranda and Caleb adorable. You also have some characters who come across as mean, like Miranda's ex Brian, and several girls from her school. Having lost her popularity, Miranda gains several enemies. There are more characters involved that you don't learn too much about. I feel like there were so many characters that I got confused who was who, what someone was doing, and where someone was, etc.
The storyline I found was OK. There were a lot of parts that I felt didn't seem realistic, and were too over the top.
The general structure to the book is nice. It's a short story, and didn't take me long to read. The chapters aren't too long either.
The cover to the book is really pretty and draws you in. It's a nice bright blue with an interesting illustration.
The ending of the book I did like, as it was sweet.
Overall I'm going to give this book three stars because I felt it lacked in certain areas. There were too many characters and things going on that I couldn't keep track and felt lost.
If you are into stories that involve high school revenge, hidden mysteries and romance, then give this a try.

Happy reading =)

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