My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Imagine a future where Earth is at war and a select few are chosen to relocate to a dome at the bottom of the ocean while the planet as we know it becomes toxic. This is the setting for PULCHRITUDE and Lt. Blake Morgan is one of the soldiers in charge of keeping the dome safe. Now imagine that mermaids not only exist, they are involved in a war of their own and the dome has just made its way onto their radar.
J.K. Ervin creates an entirely alternate universe – one with prophecies for the future, battles within battles, and bad guys hidden where you least expect them. Despite such a large task of world building, the author is able to describe each aspect with such clarity that the reader can’t help but visualize the dome, the sea, and the people/mermaids within it.
While I found the scene descriptions crisp and detailed, I felt like the character’s lacked a depth of emotion and believability. Lt. Blake Morgan quickly develops feelings for Cora, yet as a reader I felt removed and indifferent. From early on in the story when Lt. Morgan described dreams of a woman he’d never met, I’d been hoping for someone like Cora – but when she appeared I had a hard time believing their relationship. Perhaps it was because of Cora and Blake’s continuing relationships with their previous partners – or perhaps it was the quickness with which they fell in love and the disjointed description of this aspect of the story.
I also think the story would strongly benefit from some beta readers who could help with missing words and misspellings – to say there were many would be an understatement. Sometimes I wondered if I’d even missed a sentence or two from the way the story seemed to jump forward – it became distracting and made it hard to stay involved in the story.
All that being said, with some work on character development and some thorough editing I think there is a story there and one that leaves the reader interested in what becomes of Lt. Morgan in volume 2. The author is offering PULCHRITUDE free on Amazon May 8th – May 12th (2013) so lovers of science fiction may want to check it out. Also during the month of May, the author is running a contest on her blog and the winner will receive a signed paperback copy of PULCHRITUDE. For more details or to answer the contest question, go to J. K. Ervin's blog.
**Copy provided by the author for an honest review.
**Reviewed by preppea on I ♥ Bookie Nookie Reviews.
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