Author Martha Woods offered this reader a free copy of her latest story, "Spellbound By A Vampire" in exchange for an honest review. As this reader had recently read another novella by Woods and found many favorable items within that story, excluding all of the glaring grammar, punctuation, spelling and tense issues that is, this reader hoped this newest offering would also present similar interesting twists and turns. This reader was sorely disappointed. Grammar, spelling and punctuation issues were observed from the first chapter on; once again, Woods seems so enamored of her own words, she doesn't deem it necessary to edit her own story.
A love scene in chapter five between protagonist Nicole Leighton and vampire Alaric started with: "I kissed each of his eyes, and then I picked his nose, then both of his cheeks." Unless a reader finds the idea of picturing a snotty-booger-filled kiss firmly in their mind while reading Woods' story, this sentence truly needs to be edited and revised. This reader prefers booger-free kisses and was quite literally tossed from Woods' world with a sickening feeling in her stomach. A true "Eww!" moment. Or changing an hour spent in detention to being in therapy, and then back to detention.... On another note, similar to the glaring editing error found in the previous book, this reader once again was quickly tossed into "Huh?!?" moments when the protagonist's name was changed without comment or concern. The reader is introduced to sixteen year old Nicole being sent to a boarding school for unknown reasons, only to find her new room mate calling her "Spence" all of the time, and Nicole never questions the odd referral or name change. This is another huge sign that author Woods finds her own words so delightful and perfect, apparently cannot depart with a single one, leaving her unable to correct this extremely noticeable error. Chapter seven begins with an unfinished paragraph about it being a few weeks after the detention and a party at school; the next paragraph is the very next day after detention. Apparently Woods still has no problem screwing with time in her stories since she obviously does not pay attention to what she has written. Chapter eight is nothing but slashed, unfinished sentences and this reader could not get a clue about what was suppose to be happening in this chapter. The entire story seems to be nothing but a character trying to decide which boy she should like and ends with her being told she is a witch. There is no sign of Woods' previously viewed creativity found here, the 'story' is boring and unimaginative. Dialogue is unbelievable and repetitious. The use of cursing is a poor substitute for showing readers that a character is tough. Characters are nothing more than caricatures, similar to cardboard cutouts or cookie-cutter images, completely undeveloped. This YA novella is not worthy enough of a read, teens today are discerning readers that expect more from a story. This reader takes back her previous recommendation for Martha Woods as not even editing can help this story. It is in dire need of total revision. ** Originally posted to Amazon reviews on September 27, 2016. **
