Review: The Seeds

The Seeds by Ann Nocenti
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'll be honest, I only read this because the art was done by David Aja. After reading it though, I still can say it should only be read for the art. It's short though, so it won't take up too much of your time. I would like to see a quote like that in a follow-up printing of this book. It's badly written, but at least it's short.

There's not much praise to be had for this book. Even the primary reason, the art, isn't a strong contender. The art is good from a technical aspect but lacks any creativity I might have come to expect from David Aja. The art just felt dull and underutilized. Though, given the story he had to work with, I wouldn't blame him.

The writing here is just bad. Plain old-fashioned bad. People talk without much meaning behind their words as if they are having slightly different conversations. Or, to put it another way, it's as if one person is replying to a conversation that is taking place five minutes in the future while the other person is still in the present. Characters also randomly (and repeatedly) mention things meant for world-building but don't affect the story in any conceivable way. I know it's setting the scene and tone, but it's just so badly done.

There's also no real beginning or no real end to the story. And I mean that in a narrative sense. Plenty of great books begin and/or end in unresolved spots, but you can at least affirm that it was the beginning and/or end. This book just kind of begins and just kind of ends, as if the writer didn't care about it.

This review turned out longer than I had planned. I was just going to make a few notes and be on my way. Turns out I had some issues to get off my chest. I didn't care for this book if you couldn't tell by now. I fully recommend the works of David Aja, but there are much better examples than this.

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