Sunday 1 December 2013

Review ~ The Boy from the Woods by Jen Minkman.



Title: The Boy from the Woods.
Author: Jen Minkman.
Genre: Romance.
Publication Date: December 1, 2013.

Purchase Links: Kindle ; Nook ; iTunes ; Kobo

Julia fell down on her knees next to his lifeless body, her heart filling with dread as she noticed the left side of his face was covered in blood. He had fallen off the motorbike, hitting his temple on a sharp-edged rock. His head injury looked really, really bad.

“Michael?” she whispered softly, putting a trembling hand on his forehead. “Can you hear me?”

Julia has been in love with Michael for years. He’s the hottest guy in school, and she can’t believe her luck when they finally hit it off during Senior Prom. Her dream doesn’t last, though: after a few dates, he callously dumps her out of the blue. Summer vacation starts with Julia feeling heart-broken and miserable.

But then she rescues Michael in the woods when he has a motorcycle accident in a heavy thunderstorm. From that point onward, her life is turned upside down. Michael has changed completely after the blow to the head that nearly killed him... and he wants her back. But why is he so different? And will she be able to trust him this time around?

Can the boy who broke your heart ever win it back again..?




Check out the book trailer here!



Review:

The Boy from the Woods had a plot which just made me want to read it. I thought it sounded really original and was expecting to love it.

When I actually started reading, there were parts which I loved and parts which drove me a little mad because the pacing changed that much. At the beginning, it felt like it rushed too much into the story and then other parts felt really long-winded. However, when the pacing felt right, I really enjoyed this book.

The Boy from the Woods had a different feel from a lot of Young Adult romance books. The story stood out as it was unique (I hate that word but can’t think of another way to describe this). It’s not the typical kind of plot and that’s what made me really enjoy it.

Jen Minkman wrote a really intriguing book. I liked her development of Michael especially. She definitely knew how to control the way readers felt about him! At times I wanted to hate him and others I actually grew to like him. As well as the building up of Julia and Michael’s characters, the side characters like Gaby and Anne were well developed too. I felt this was a strong point in Jen’s writing.

There were a few parts of The Boy from the Woods when I kind of switched off a bit. Like when she met up with her friends or whatever felt a bit repetitive. However, I feel like this was just due to personal taste. I would have preferred to see Julia with Michael more when I’m sure others wanted to see the story built up the way it was.

Personally, I loved the few twists and turns throughout and was hoping to see more. The suspense kept me engrossed in the plot as I was always expecting something else to happen.

Overall, I really enjoyed the originality and character development in The Boy from the Woods. With a little bit of work on the pacing, I feel like I’d probably have loved this book but I’m looking forward to reading more from Jen Minkman.

Rating:

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Review also posted on Goodreads ; Amazon UK ; Amazon


Check out the soundtrack to The Boy from the Woods!
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About the Author:

Jen Minkman (1978) was born in Holland, in the town of Alphen aan den Rijn. When she was 19, she moved between The Hague, Salzburg (Austria), Brussels (Belgium) and Cambridge (UK) to complete her studies in intercultural communication. She is currently a teacher of English, career counsellor and teenage coach at a secondary school in Voorburg, Holland. She tries to read at least 100 books a year (and write a few, too!). She is a published author in her own country, and translates her own books from Dutch into English for self-publication.

In her spare time, she plays the piano, the guitar and the violin. For every novel she writes, she creates a soundtrack.

'I have always been drawn to writing. My first book was a sci-fi novel at the age of eight, which I painstakingly typed out on my dad's typewriter and illustrated myself. Nowadays, I stick to poetry, paranormal romance, chicklit and/or fantasy. In my home country, I am the first-ever published writer of paranormal romance, and I will gradually make my books also available in English (seeing I have to re-write and translate the books myself, this will take some time!).

Connect with Jen: Goodreads ; Website ; Twitter ; Facebook

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