1. 'Tis the Season

The book:  Whispers in Autumn (The Last Year #1)
The author:  Trisha Leigh
The rating:  3.5 stars

I'll admit, I was quite cautious going into Whispers in Autumn, and that may have coloured my perceptions while reading the novel.  The premise sounded fantastic - aliens, the-not-too-distant-future, mind control, dystopia... it seemed just about perfect.  Then I noticed that it was a self-published work.  Now, I'm not trying to say self-published works can't be good, but it made me hesitant.  I write; I could self-publish something if I wished.  However, I don't really want to read a novel published by an amateur like me... publishers are quality control, in a sense.  Some of the writing 'Greats' had their manuscripts refused by publishers many, many times before being published - JK Rowling and Lucy Maud Montogomery are two - but despite that knowledge, I was a bit prejudiced towards Whispers in Autumn in the beginning.  However, it was free to download on Kobo, so I pushed that prejudice aside and waded in.

Let's get those basic fears out of the way to start.  Leigh can write a sentence; I only encountered two grammatical errors in the entire novel, making my worries about professionalism completely unwarranted.  This wasn't the stereotypical self-pub with the painfully photoshopped cover; the artwork adorning the front of Whispers was lovely, and the little autumn leaf at the start of each chapter was a nice touch.

I'm going to change gears for a moment.  When I was very young, my friend and I had this game of pretend where we'd imagine we owned a magical bubblegum machine.  You would put a nickel into the machine, give it a twist, and out would pop a colourful capsule containing some sort of superpower that you now added to your arsenal.  "I can fire lightning bolts!" I'd declare, and she'd say, "Well, I can turn into animals!"  A twist later, I'd retort, "Now I can stop time!"  This book reminded me of that bubblegum game, in a way.  There's time travel!  And aliens!  And mind control!  And elemental powers!  (Those were always one of our favourite picks from the ol' bubblegum machine.)  While the premise was one of the things that intially drew me in, it quickly became simply too much.  The plot felt cluttered with too many gimmicks, too many tropes, and too many cliches; it reminded me of the superfluous superpowers that we came up with as children.  I couldn't just be able to fly.  I had to fly, and turn into inanimate objects, and have a pet unicorn (another of my childhood favourites).  As you grow older, you realize that more isn't necessarily better.  It's like teachers always say when they explain essay writing:  you're better off going into depth on three ideas than touching briefly on thirteen.

The other problem I had was with predictability.  You'd think with all these concepts going on, the plot might be clunky, but unique.  However, there was never any twist that really had the necessary oomph.  The foreshadowing was often layered on thick; when foreshadowing is used sparingly, a novel will make you feel clever for figuring it out before the characters.  When it's used as heavily as it is in Whispers, I grew immensely frustrated with Althea for being so obtuse.  The novel isn't written in the tone required for mystery; it is obvious which character hinted as being a friend will actually be a foe, and who hinted as being an adversary is actually an ally.  After having just read These Broken Stars, a novel written with a particular mastery of suspense, Whispers fell especially flat.

Those were my two big critiques; now for the good!  I quite liked the relationship between Lucas and Althea.  It was light (and heavy), touching, and believable.  So long as Leigh resists the urge to introduce a love triangle in the next books of this saga, I will be one happy reader; the hint of romance and jealousy regarding Lucas's past was just the right amount to strike a chord without going overboard.

Despite its penchant for the predicable, the plot was also engaging.  The season-traveling was a highlight of the novel for me; it gave Whispers a unique flavour.  If Leigh had dropped well-worn tropes like elemental powers and divine parentage, focusing more on that which makes her premise unique, I think the novel would have been better for it.  Ignoring these what ifs, the tale that Leigh spins in Whispers is most definitely not a waste of time.  Hers is a vibrant novel - at times comical, at times poignant - and despite its shortcomings, it is a story well-worth reading (particularly seeing as you can pick up the eBook for free).

The verdict:  I'll definitely be checking out Winter Omens, the next book in Leigh's The Last Year series, at some point, although it probably won't be next on my reading list.  Nevertheless, after I've given myself some time to breathe and seen some other books, I think I'll be eager to catch up with Althea and follow her on the next segment of her exhilerating journey.