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Dear Clara

Dear Clara
by engfanatic04

From the very moment I laid my eyes on the book's cover, my expectations were high. The title and the overall ominous feeling I got while looking at the child in a red jacked completely match the mysterious, chilling story promised by the short, yet impactful blurb.

Scrolling down to check the number of chapters, I noticed that none of them were named. Plain numbers made me even more curious and excited about what's to come.

The beginning of the first chapter was interesting. Written in a form of a diary, the chapter began with the words used in the blurb. I found out about Clara's death and her best friend Melinda's refusal to accept it, as well as Melinda's dangerous illness. It ended with an ominous phone call, introducing a mystery to the reader.

Now for the harder part.

My expectations were, unfortunately, not completely met. I couldn't help but notice grammatical and punctuation errors. The mystery promised in the blurb was not accomplished to the fullest, since everything was served to the reader on a silver platter. We got very little insight into the characters' emotions and motifs, aside from the main character, which made the situations seem forced and unnatural. There were very few descriptions and the chapters were filled with characters' actions that happened without a real reason.

The second part of the book, starting from chapter eleven, was, in my opinion, better than the rest. We got some action, though again somehow forcefully. The parts written as a diary I liked best because the emotion was most present.

Overall, I think the story has potential. The idea itself is really interesting, so I hope the author doesn't get discouraged but keeps working on the book.