Review: Contingent Upon Magenta

Author: C. Drying
Started reading: October 26th 2018
Finished the book: November 10th 2018
Pages: 225
Genres: Science Fiction,
Published: April 28th 2017
Source: Got a physical copy from the author
Goodreads score: Not enough ratings
My score:

Synopsis
An unprovoked attack on Earth prompts the U.S. military to send a small contingent to assassinate the matriarch of a world where mothers and daughters are exalted. A dissenting citizen from the world provides the U.S. military with guidance by insisting a female be an operative in the contingent. Captain Joan Jones is the operative. She’s a mother of a young daughter and is conflicted and torn by her call to duty. The contingent faces a barrage of unexpected events while Captain Jones becomes captivated by the Magentan matriarch. Will Captain Jones’ maternal instincts fail or save the contingent?

My thoughts

This is not a bad debut for C. Drying at all. It's actually pretty good! What I liked most is the writing style. It's well paced and I could easily get into the flow of the story. I'm curious if there is more to come and I'd be willing to read another book by this author!

Pros

• Writing: The strongest part in this book is the way it's written. It's easy to get into, it's fast paced and even for a person that's not English, I could easily rush through. The fact that I like the writing style the most, is a pretty big Pro, because I would definitely read another book by this author.
• Curious: This book makes me so curious to what is to come next from this author. It's a unique story, it's nothing like I've seen before in the Science Fiction genre. I'm curious if C. Drying is going to write another Science Fiction book or if there is another genre to come. I definitely hope I get the chance to read a second book.
• Ending: YES! It's exactly what this book needed and I loved it so much. It's probably very scary for an author to make tough decisions in a book and I can imagine that writing an ending is difficult as well. I can only praise C. Drying for the way this book ended, I really liked it!

Cons

• Long chapters: Sometimes I'm like; I'll quit after this chapter, but in this book the chapters were so long, that I sometimes had to quit in the middle of a chapter. It's easier to read, for me personally; a book with shorter chapters. It does something with my reading pace, because I read books faster if they have shorter chapters.
• Characters: I could not relate to any of the characters and I found them a bit flat. They were mad or in love and that were the two basic emotions for me. They also got mad for no reason and some of the things they did really made no sense to me...
• Shocking parts: Some parts in this book are shocking and great plot twists, but I would've loved for the writing to be more exciting in those parts too. Maybe make bigger emotions around it and make it thrilling and fascinating to read those parts. The shocking parts were, just like the characters, a bit flat. I would've liked more depth.

Overall

This is a good debut, especially if I consider that the writing style was what I liked most. It makes me pick up a book by an author sooner if I know I can easily read the book and if I can finish it pretty quickly. I do hope I will get to read another book by C. Drying, I'm very curious to what's to come next.

Memorable quotes from this book

"It's so much easier to be angry than it is to feel wrenched and torn and scathed and scored deeply by the torment of loss."

Thanks for reading!

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