Saturday, June 28, 2014

Right Click / Lisa Becker


Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Chick-Lit

Approximate word count: 70-75,000 words

Availability    
Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: NO  Smashwords: NO  Paper: YES
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

A resident of Southern California where she lives with her husband and two daughters, Lisa Becker is the author of two previous novels, both part of the series which concludes with this book. The first, Click: An Online Love Story was a nominee in the 2014 BigAl’s Books and Pals Readers’ Choice awards.

Description:

“Love. Marriage. Infidelity. Parenthood. Crises of identity. Death. Cupcakes. The themes in Right Click, the third and final installment in the Click series, couldn't be more pressing for this group of friends as they navigate through their 30's. Another six months have passed since we last eavesdropped on the hilarious, poignant and often times inappropriate email adventures of Renee and friends. As the light-hearted, slice of life story continues to unfold, relationships are tested and some need to be set ‘right’ before everyone can find their happily ever after.”

Appraisal:

As the description says, this is the third and final book in Becker’s “Click” series. As with the rest of the series, the book is done as a series of emails amongst a core group of friends with the character Renee as the main participant or focal point. After I finished I started thinking about this technique: its positives, negatives, and the ways this makes the book different.

With this format, some of the things an author should normally try to limit or avoid aren’t going to be as big of a deal. One example is the adage to “show, don’t tell.” It still applies. The words one character uses in an email to another should mostly demonstrate (show) what they’re feeling so that we’ll read between the lines, but that same character can also get away with spelling out exactly how they felt or telling their interpretation of how another character reacted. The key is to hit the right balance between using the same story telling techniques as in a more traditionally formatted novel while not going so far as to make the emails lose credibility as emails. Becker hit this balance.

I also found the email technique worked for me because I do so much via email. I think most of us do. But for anyone who is non-tech savvy and doesn’t use email or only in a limited way, it might be a tough read.

As with the rest of the series, I found the story funny, entertaining, and realistic. The interplay between the characters that was possible because of the format was amusing and, just as I’ve done, sometimes a character forgets who else is copied in on their response, stirring up a touch of conflict between friends. Although I’ll miss Renee and gang, Becker didn’t leave me wondering where the characters go from here, and brought the series to a satisfying conclusion.

FYI:

Some adult language and subject matter.

Although it might be possible to read Right Click as a standalone, it is a culmination of a lot of story lines introduced in the fist two books of the series. To really appreciate the full import of everything that happens, I’d advise reading the first two books of the series first.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues


Rating: **** Four Stars

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