Beth's Review: Dissident by Cecilia London
Author Provided Copy
Publisher: Principatum Publishing
Released: March 17th 2015
Genre: Political Contemporary Romance
Length: 274 Pages
Format: eBook, Paperback
Buy Links: Amazon | iBooks | Kobo
Synopsis
She once was important. Now she’s considered dangerous. In a new America where almost no one can be trusted, Caroline lies unconscious in a government hospital as others decide her fate. She is a political dissident, wanted for questioning by a brutal regime that has come to power in a shockingly easy way. As she recovers from her injuries, all she has are her memories. And once she wakes up, they may not matter anymore. Dissident is part contemporary romance and part political thriller, with elements of romantic suspense and speculative fiction. Told mostly in flashback, it details the budding romantic relationship between our heroine Caroline and Jack, the silver fox playboy who tries to win her heart. The Bellator Saga is a six part series. Each part is a full length novel between 60,000-120,000 words and ends in a cliffhanger. For readers 18+. This saga contains adult situations, including non-gratuitous violence, explicit (consensual) sex, psychological and physical trauma, and an oftentimes dark and gritty plot (particularly in part two)
Two Boundless Stars
The prologue is a dramatic future predicament of the main characters, and successfully pecks interest in the reader. One has to wonder what actions could result in such harsh consequences’. The book goes on to tell how the two main characters, Jack and Caroline, became one of DC’s powerful political couples. (I don’t think London meant it to be “the” Jack and Caroline) I applaud London for her obvious intelligence and political knowledge. Unfortunately, I found the prologue to be the only good part of this book. I continued to read in hopes that it would get better, it didn’t.
At first I felt I could relate to Caroline, a strong and independent democrat, with liberal beliefs, and a feminist viewpoint on most issues. However, her actions throughout the book completely contradicted who she was. I really could not see, the professional congress woman I just described, begging her “boyfriend’ to stay the night and behaving like a clingy, lovesick teenager. I didn’t find her boyfriend, John Montgomery McIntyre AKA “Jack”, likeable from the moment he was introduced.
Their actions and subjects of conversation were not logical at all. I don’t see how any couple, even one with two politicians, could go from bondage and blindfolds to discussing their plans for political endorsements. Pillow talk should not involve where you stand on abortion issues, or how you feel about “the gays” or “the poors.” That reminds me, there were a few politically incorrect statements in Dissident as well.
Dissident is not an easy read. I had to force myself to stay focused on the story. Also, I had to go back and re read paragraphs to remember what the conversation was about, and who was having it. When introducing the characters there were several nicknames used for each person, which was not necessary.
The conversations jumped around and were drawn out, with several irrelevant details. Only 20% of the information given contributed to the story. There were not any smooth transitions throughout the storyline. Chapters that didn’t relate to anything in the story were inconsistently thrown in. It wasn’t until the last two chapters that you understood who the characters were, but they never made a connection with the main characters. Let’s hope they come together in the rest of the saga.
The positive side is, I can’t give away the ending and spoil it for you. I’m not a fan of cliffhangers. In political scandals, the story is always different depending on who you ask; therefore, I felt this would be better as a series with each book focusing on the viewpoint of one character. This would allow me, as a reader, to get to know each character and their thoughts behind their actions.
I would have to sum Dissident up by saying: from Chapter 1 to the end I felt like a first grader with ADD, trying to do a 6 part word problem, in a Math class decorated with shiny objects. And no, I’m not exaggerating.