Roman (Saints and Sinners) by Kennedy Streath (Nya Rawlyns)is a YA Romance/Dark Fantasy. I'm not exactly sure why Mrs. Rawlyns felt she needed a different pen name for this book, except that maybe she wanted to have a different standing for YA than her usual adult work. And I do mean "Adult Work". She has a score of Adult Romance novels out, so going into this, I was very wary. I don't mind Romance, and I don't even mind a sex scene or two in a novel if they aren't too explicit, but when the whole book is smut, I can't turn the page. The only reason I agreed to review this work was that it was YA, and I hoped that the smut would be toned down for the kiddos.
Okay, before I start the review, I need to get a monkey off my back. I'm part of so many writer's forums, blogs, support groups, and Facebook pages I can't even keep track of most of them. I always see the question, "Why don't publishers like the omniscient narrative voice?" Well, I've read a couple of professionally published works where they author, with, I'm sure, the help of editors, made it work. I've also been reading a lot of indie work from authors who don't have the benefit of all of that professional help. Omniscient Narrative is very, VERY, hard to do well. It can be very confusing and jarring to read when not done well. I'm all but convinced that a single author, no matter how talented, can not accomplish the task alone. It's the biggest critique I have of this book. Don't use an omniscient voice. When I have to go back an read something over again because I don't know who is talking/thinking what, I get put in a surly mood. Especially when thoughts are italicized without lead-in or lead-out tags annotating who is speaking/thinking. TJ's thoughts are thrown in in the middle of other character's sentences. There are better ways to portray thoughts and feelings.
Okay, on to the review. Theresa Jane (TJ) just lost her no-good mother, and is forced to move in with her no-good father who abandoned them when she was five. Typical premise for this type of YA novel.
A strange young man named Roman is living with her father. He's on probation for a crime which has been sealed, and even the police don't seem to want to talk about. The only advice her brother tells her before shipping off is to stay away from the boy. You know the old saying, "the best way to get a girl to do something is to tell her not to do it"? Well, it works. The mysterious bad boy is an immediate obsession for TJ, even against her own will. She finds herself drawn to him, wondering about everything about him. Her dreams are even riddled with the essence of him. That part is borderline too adult for a YA book, but I digress.
It becomes quickly apparent, however, that there is more going on with Roman than just your typical street tough teen. The lead-ins for this are actually brilliant. I have to tip my hat to Mrs. Rawlyns for not giving away too much too fast. The characters are built very carefully, and even with the whinny, poor-picked-on-me, school girl premise, I didn't hate TJ. She's not completely self-absorbed like most YA protagonists seem to be. I'm certain the YA audience will love her.
The story is actually quite good. The characters are well developed. I cringed a little whenever things heated up between Roman and TJ, just because of the other books Mrs. Rawlyns has written, and she did a pretty good job staving off the inevitable, but, right towards the end, she gave in to her writing habits. A couple of sixteen year-olds going at it... It was kind of a shame because the rest of the book was rather good. I don't think teens need more sex and passion. That one little slip, in my opinion, made the book unsuitable for YA. Even though it wasn't too explicit. So, that's my only other criticism; write for kids, or write for adults. Don't put too many adult ideas into kids' minds who can barely contain their hormones as it is.
I would have given this book 4-5 stars if not for the end. As it stands I give it
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