Book Review - Refuge

Happy Wednesday! You all know what Wednesday means, right? Yup, you got it, a book review. This will go into the 2015 Time for Books Review Team's pool, making our count to date 323! Want to join in the fun? You still can! Grab the badge, decide on a commitment level, create a post on your book blog saying you're joining, add your name and link to the linky thing here, and get to reading! That's it. Every time you read a book and review it, come on back and put your review in the list. Easy peasy!

This title is from my TBR created during the 12 Days of Review Requests event here on the blog. As a quick reminder, here's where I am in the process:
The Release Club 1 - Misty Provencher - Review HERE
Dry Stories - Kate Baggot - Review HERE
Fragile Creatures - Kristina Circelli - Review HERE
8 Weeks - Bethany Lopez - Review HERE
Moonlight - David Rose - Review HERE
Refuge - Violet Haze - Review Below

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Here's a little about the book:

Title: Refuge (Evie #1)
Author: Violet Haze
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Length (print): 112 pages
Buy Link: Amazon Kindle $2.99

Blurb:
Zee has no idea who she is, or how she ended up in the psych ward of a hospital three months ago. Living a rather blissful life of quiet time, three meals a day, and therapy involving two doctors — one of which has a sexy voice and nice hands — Zee isn’t ready to cope with her truth.

As her memory returns, Zee discovers exactly who she is and what happened, and reality catches up with her in a way she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to deal with.

Ultimately, Zee makes choices which lead her and the one person closest to her down new paths neither of them could’ve seen coming.


Ready for the review? So am I! Let's get to it:

I grabbed a sample of Refuge when the author pitched it to me during my 12 Days of Review Requests event on my blog. Mental illness? Yes, please! I'm familiar with Haze's writing from her other name, C. S. Janey, so I figured I'd enjoy it. Well, I was intrigued enough by the end of the sample to snag a copy and add it to my TBR for 2015. Okay, enough about how I came to own the book, let's get to the good stuff.

From a Reader's Perspective:
This was a quick, short read that packed a lot of punch. I enjoyed the author's storytelling. There were moments when I wondered what the heck was going on, only to have a chapter that took me back in time to show me. While short stories usually don't give you much of a feel for the main character, I felt like I got a good handle on the main character, Zee. Much of her life is completely identifiable, and her reasoning in the end was on par with what someone in her situation might do. Flow/pacing was great, and the plot was a most excellent one. Completely tore at my heartstrings. I wanted more, but the end of this novelette says there's a book two, so I'm okay and not okay with the way it left me hanging.

From an Editor's Perspective:
I found a number of misplaced commas, but they were only slightly bothersome. While I'll have to detract half a star, because it's such a short work and I expect fewer mistakes, it's nothing to worry over. There's plenty of structure variation to keep you interested.

Rating:
1 Star for plot and engagement of my emotions
1 Star for character development
1 Star for twisting and turning in a most excellent manner
.5 Stars for the ending (me being sort of okay)
-.5 Stars for the ending (me wanting more but being sad)
.5 Stars for construct and variation of sentences
-.5 Stars for comma usage
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars. Recommended if you're looking for a short read with an excellent plot and good character development.

Have you read it? Plan to?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo