Doors to the Dead by Rae Else: A Book Review
Genre: Urban Fantasy
[Disclaimer: I received a complementary version of this book through Voracious Readers Only.]
Rae Else writes a story featuring the unique idea of a paranormal universe where people trap and gather souls of the dead. Reading the synopsis, I was extremely interested in the story, but, unfortunately, the story did not reach the potential the synopsis offered. Instead, Else rushes through the story giving detail in places that is unneeded while leaving out details that are needed. While I wanted to like the story and could tell that Else had a vision in mind, it was hard seeing her make the story turn in ways that seemed premature and/or forced. Adding in the romance at the end of the story also cheapened the story for me because the characters did not have enough depth to warrant the attachment to both me and each other.
If I could meet Else, I would implore her to work on character and world-building. While short stories are nice, scenes still need to be set, characters need to be developed, and the plot has to go at a nice pace. What really irks me, though, is that Doors to the Dead has a sequel meaning (to me) that her vision didn’t end when the story did. So why rush through it? Why make two stories instead of one well-developed work?
| Plot: | 5 / 10 |
| Characters: | 2 / 10 |
| Writing: | 5 / 10 |
| Editor: | 5 / 10 |
| Total | 17 / 40 |
Title: Doors to the Dead
Author: Rae Else
Edition: ARC
Published: August 29, 2021
Publisher: Anchorite Publishing
ISBN: n/a
If you want to get it: Amazon
Rosey Reviews 