Book Review: Ramcen's Assignment by Simone Gillespie

Image taken from Amazon

Carmen and Jenny have always been bitter rivals and soon Carmen becomes consumed by her hatred for Jenny. When a mysterious and frightening creature appears to her and offers to help her defeat Jenny, she overcomes her initial terror of him and accepts his help. Ramcen’s pranks make revenge sweet but when these pranks cross the line into attempted murder Carmen begins to distance herself from Ramcen and to rely on her own strength . That’s when the trouble begins, Ramcen does not take the rejection lightly and begins to plot his revenge.

I recently received an email from Simone Gillespie with a link to the trailer for Ramcen's Assignment, she is giving everybody who subscribes to her website a PDF version of the book so go and check it out if you get a chance to. As this was the first book I have ever been sent to review, I was eager to get started.

The premise for this book is great, it's a fresh idea which is great to see. Ramcen is the physical embodiment of rage, and he quickly persuades Carmen to exact her revenge upon her nemesis, Jenny. I was pretty excited to read this book and Gillespie has a kicker of an opening sentence: "The sky was dark, very dark, it was only three o’ clock in the afternoon but it looked like midnight." The use of weather to set up a novel always has something to say for the way the novel will go, and using darkness to open the book was a great way to engage the reader and make us wary of the events about to take place.

At 76 pages, it's a very quick read, the kind that you can sit down on a rainy day with a nice cup of tea and read in one sitting. However, I found myself losing interest at some points. I found that the dialogue could be a little stunted, and actually the plot moved way too quickly for the story to be engaging. I know I usually complain that plot is awful when it moves too slow but shh.  Obviously, I understand that this is quite a short novel so Gillespie is going to need to keep the plot moving fast but she missed out on important character development which I felt led to some confusion, it felt as if the reader could not understand whether the rage Carmen felt was out of character or not. If the reader knew Carmen's character better, we might be able to connect with her on a more personal level, and thus lead us to feel empathetic towards what is happening to her. I expect Gillespie will develop this in the sequel, and it will certainly be interesting to see how her writing style has evolved.

I absolutely loved the way the book ended though, Gillespie gives the readers an incentive to read the sequel. The twist at the end introduces us to more groups and the embodiment of another familiar human emotion. There was suddenly a great twist, and you know what, I found myself speeding through the last 15 pages because I just had to know how it was going to end! But I won't spoil it for you, in case you decide to read the book. 

This book wasn't really for me, but that doesn't mean that you won't like it. Contrary to the review I have given, it is a good book but it just didn't fit my preferences in novels. I rate this book 3 stars out of 5. I may read the sequel to learn more about the world that Gillespie has introduced to the literary universe. Hey, the book is free, you may as well check it out and see if you like it yourself! Follow the link to YouTube to claim your free copy! Click Here For Your Free Copy!