Barking Madness
By Ryan Hill
Barking Madness by Ryan Hill, a young adult paranormal book, definitely was a letdown for me. As a lover of both paranormal and YA books I had high hopes that just didn’t meet my expectations. From both a storyline and character development standpoint I think you take a chance if you read this one. Please don’t misunderstand that for some it might be a great read, but for me it just didn’t meet the mark.
The narrator and main character, Rosetta, was an extreme let down. She was actually quite nauseating. From the jump I didn’t care for her. She’s like the typical mean girl. Rosetta is an instigator, obnoxious, self-absorbed, and pretentious. She is such an ungrateful brat! To be honest, I can’t say that I’ve disliked a main character so much. However, perhaps that is the way Mr. Hill intended us to feel. If so, bravo!
Although I can say that I feel the storyline had potential, there were just things I couldn’t overlook. The editing wasn’t up to par nor was any proofing that could have been done – there were small but noticeable errors. The characters often seemed contrived with their flippant attitudes. The relationships between the teens and parents seemed off-putting. The dream scenes rolling over into real life were very confusing. The dramatics seem fake and the plot was just super convoluted, On a positive note I did think Mr. Hill did a great job with the imagery throughout, especially during transformation scenes from human to wolf.
As I typically do, especially with YA books, I like to let readers know what to be warned about before picking up the book to read. In Barking Madness, the only warnings I have are drinking and drugging by teen characters, sexual situations involving teens, language, and violence.
As aforementioned, I am hesitant to recommend this book to my readers…unless you are a super werewolf fan. Other than that, I think I’d leave this one on the shelf.
By Ryan Hill
Barking Madness by Ryan Hill, a young adult paranormal book, definitely was a letdown for me. As a lover of both paranormal and YA books I had high hopes that just didn’t meet my expectations. From both a storyline and character development standpoint I think you take a chance if you read this one. Please don’t misunderstand that for some it might be a great read, but for me it just didn’t meet the mark.
The narrator and main character, Rosetta, was an extreme let down. She was actually quite nauseating. From the jump I didn’t care for her. She’s like the typical mean girl. Rosetta is an instigator, obnoxious, self-absorbed, and pretentious. She is such an ungrateful brat! To be honest, I can’t say that I’ve disliked a main character so much. However, perhaps that is the way Mr. Hill intended us to feel. If so, bravo!
Although I can say that I feel the storyline had potential, there were just things I couldn’t overlook. The editing wasn’t up to par nor was any proofing that could have been done – there were small but noticeable errors. The characters often seemed contrived with their flippant attitudes. The relationships between the teens and parents seemed off-putting. The dream scenes rolling over into real life were very confusing. The dramatics seem fake and the plot was just super convoluted, On a positive note I did think Mr. Hill did a great job with the imagery throughout, especially during transformation scenes from human to wolf.
As I typically do, especially with YA books, I like to let readers know what to be warned about before picking up the book to read. In Barking Madness, the only warnings I have are drinking and drugging by teen characters, sexual situations involving teens, language, and violence.
As aforementioned, I am hesitant to recommend this book to my readers…unless you are a super werewolf fan. Other than that, I think I’d leave this one on the shelf.