I read books not only because I love to read about new characters and their adventures, but also because I want to write. I am currently hard at work on the fourth rewrite of my manuscript, and some of the best places I look to for inspiration are other books. Seeing how the author flows the action, how they make the characters come alive, how they draw me in, gives me fresh ideas on how to make my own writing better. So when I read and review novels, I am not just reviewing as a reader, but also as a writer. I just wanted to add that little disclaimer before I get into my next review.
Sammi Ever After, the debut novel from Soma Helmi has a great plot. Sammi, a young girl in her twenties, finds a friend from childhood and instantly falls in love, preparing to move across the world just to be with him. It’s her fairy tale come true. Until she arrives at the airport only to find out she has been dumped- over an email. Fairy tale broken. When Sammi finally forces herself off her friend’s couch and secures a job and new friends, she decides to take a little journey to try to search for that fairy tale ending. From London to Bali to Greece, Sammi gets tangled in sticky situations and personal revelations, and realizes that her Prince Charming may have been by her side the entire time.
Like I said, I think the plot is fantastic. A great story about self-discovery and love, and I am a huge travel geek, so reading about all these destinations I hope to visit had me amped to read this story. But once I started, the writing fell flat to me. Helmi relied on flashbacks and back story when introducing characters, much that was simply not needed and unnecessary to the story. For each flashback, I felt myself became less engaged in the action. Another problem I had was the dialogue didn’t seem very realistic. I don’t know anyone who would actually describe someone’s look aloud by saying “His sandy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes and the way his muscles ripple…” That could be the thoughts of someone, but for a person (especially a young girl) to describe someone else that way? It just wasn’t believable for me. So as much as I would have liked this plot and the characters that came along for the ride, I do not feel the writing did the story justice.
Rating: 2/5
