Defects by Sarah Noffke (Audiobook Review + Author Interview)
The quality of the characters balances out the (please, not another) love triangle in this YA Contemporary Fantasy.
In the happy, clean community of Austin Valley, everything appears to be perfect. Em Fuller, however, fears something is askew. Em is one of the new generation of Dream Travelers. For some reason, the gods have not seen fit to gift all of them with their expected special abilities. Em is a Defect - one of the unfortunate Dream Travelers not gifted with a psychic power. Desperate to do whatever it takes to earn her gift, she endures painful daily injections along with commands from her overbearing, loveless father.
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SERIES INFO: This is Book #1 in the (completed) “Reverians Trilogy.” All three are available on audio.
CHARACTERS:
Em: I like that she is already trying to live a life that works for her, even before the secrets start to come out. I love her relationship with her little sister and grandmother. She is loyal and brave and, so far, not too “special.”
Rogue: is a bit too typically gorgeous, mysterious, and smirking. But he treats Em well, and that is important to me. I admire him for not giving up.
Em & Rogue: I know they have a deep backstory, but I feel like their relationship got serious really quickly, considering their ages when they were separated and the amount of time that has passed.
Zack: Should’ve made a move while he had the chance. Handles the situation with grace & class. I actually think he would be a good match for the little sister, Nona, when she grows up.
There are good supporting characters too. I love Nona and the grandmother. I actually liked Ren too (well, I didn't "like" him; but I did enjoy reading about him.) I hear he got his own book and I plan to check it out.
NARRATION: Good emoting & pacing / Acceptable male voices / I listened on 1.25 speed (my usual)
FAVORITE PART(S): My favorite part is the class with which the love triangle is handled. I hate them, and rarely continue a series that has one; but at least in this book (so far) they didn’t let it tear their friendships apart (neither between the two boys nor between the Em and the current “other” boy).
I COULD HAVE DONE WITHOUT: Mild swearing
MY RATINGS:
--Narration: AVERAGE
--Enjoyment: AVERAGE
--Re-readability: AVERAGE
I received this book free in return for an honest review.
Defects by Sarah Noffke; read by Elizabeth Klett; produced independently in 2016 / Length: 7 hrs 49 min (Unabr) -- Buy Now
BONUS AUTHOR INTERVIEW
How did you choose/come up with your lead character(s) name(s)?
Em Fuller is the main character in the Reverians series and I really wanted her to be relatable. She’s a tomboy of sorts who loves indie folk music, hiking and farming. All of these things are seen as atrocious interests in her society. She’s supposed to like dinner parties and approved books from the library. It was fun to make a character who was down to earth in a high society.
Tell us something about yourself that we might not already know.
I grew up in the Texas in a lake community. It was mostly a place where tourist visited, so there weren’t many kids in my neighborhood. I think that the hours I spent hiking through the woods alone or swimming with my dog in the lake really brought the writer out in me. I remember creating imaginary friends to play with. Later I created imaginary people to tell stories about.
What are your pet peeves when listening to an audiobook?
Long pauses. I want them to read the story as fast as I would in my head.
What motivated you to sit down and write your first book?
I’ve been writing my entire life, so I think the urge was always in me. However, I used to have a real job. A professional one. One of those jobs where people go to meeting and do reports and things are very business-like. I loved it, but I totally felt like something was missing from my life. My brother died suddenly in his sleep one day and after that I remember thinking, “What if I die before really doing what I want with my life?” And after that I knew I needed to start checking some stuff off my list and one of them was to write a book, which turned into books and now is an obsession.
How long did it take you to write this book?
It took six weeks. However, I didn’t know what I was doing so the rewrites took a lot longer. Now I use outlines and character sheets and my books still take around six weeks to write, but are much tighter when I’m done.
