Running Together, by Einav Aflalo, LTER SEPT 2021
Talk Reviews of Early Reviewers Books
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1LyndaInOregon
Disclaimer: An electronic copy of this book was provided in exchange for review by publishers BooxAi, Inc, via Library Thing.
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Let’s get this out of the way right up front: I did not finish this book.
Not every book that makes it to the LTER review list is fine literature. Many appear to be from beginning writers, and while those early efforts may have some rough patches, it’s generally possible for a reviewer to soldier on. Not. This. Time.
The review offering Einav Aflalo’s ‘Running Together’ says “This story shows how an innocent little girl called Anna becomes the victim of abuse, which deeply injures her soul for good. It's a story that anyone should read in order to learn how innocent children could become abuse victims and how this could affect them. Through this book, we can have a deeper look into the victims' minds and maybe acquire a better insight into how to take better care of our own children.”
Okay, fair enough. It’s obvious that there will be at least discussion of child sexual abuse (teen, as it turns out), and the cover note indicates “+21”. But this is not – as far as I could tell – a serious look at how young women get pulled into the sex trade and what it takes for rescued victims to put their lives back together.
The first 20 pages (or roughly 10% of the book, which was as far as I got) is a poorly-written amalgam of straight-up porn (a flashback, you see), followed by an unlikely series of events involving a rainstorm, a conveniently empty house with lots of beds and a well-stocked wine cellar, and a more-or-less random group consisting of four college girls and – surprise! – four college boys all wandering in for shelter, with the expected results.
A casual skimming of the remaining pages shows several more flashbacks, a family reunion scene that doesn’t make a lot of sense, and some therapy sessions, but there really doesn’t appear to be anything going on here that would make reading it worth the effort.
I don’t think this thing was even proofread, let alone edited. In Chapter 2, for instance, which is a whole four pages long, we find the following egregious errors:
• She wasn’t the type who was late on the regular, but after she started living here, it was investable.
• Her bag giggles on her back as she rushes through the rain…
• Anna was drenched from the rain and wet everything around her, including her desk, chair, and some of the class’ floor…
• She even took a few curses from the business-management department…
• Anna’s eyes lid up…
• Anna said her ‘Thank you’ and shaved the piece of paper into her jeans…
These felony-level assaults on the English language continue throughout the book and can be seen even while just skimming the text, along with random slippage between current and past tense within the same paragraph, same sentence, and occasionally within the same phrase!
• “I’m sorry, dear, we don’t,” Martha answered, knowing she’s disappointing the poor kid.
Please don’t waste your time with this dreck. I’m giving it half a star because I have to give it something.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Let’s get this out of the way right up front: I did not finish this book.
Not every book that makes it to the LTER review list is fine literature. Many appear to be from beginning writers, and while those early efforts may have some rough patches, it’s generally possible for a reviewer to soldier on. Not. This. Time.
The review offering Einav Aflalo’s ‘Running Together’ says “This story shows how an innocent little girl called Anna becomes the victim of abuse, which deeply injures her soul for good. It's a story that anyone should read in order to learn how innocent children could become abuse victims and how this could affect them. Through this book, we can have a deeper look into the victims' minds and maybe acquire a better insight into how to take better care of our own children.”
Okay, fair enough. It’s obvious that there will be at least discussion of child sexual abuse (teen, as it turns out), and the cover note indicates “+21”. But this is not – as far as I could tell – a serious look at how young women get pulled into the sex trade and what it takes for rescued victims to put their lives back together.
The first 20 pages (or roughly 10% of the book, which was as far as I got) is a poorly-written amalgam of straight-up porn (a flashback, you see), followed by an unlikely series of events involving a rainstorm, a conveniently empty house with lots of beds and a well-stocked wine cellar, and a more-or-less random group consisting of four college girls and – surprise! – four college boys all wandering in for shelter, with the expected results.
A casual skimming of the remaining pages shows several more flashbacks, a family reunion scene that doesn’t make a lot of sense, and some therapy sessions, but there really doesn’t appear to be anything going on here that would make reading it worth the effort.
I don’t think this thing was even proofread, let alone edited. In Chapter 2, for instance, which is a whole four pages long, we find the following egregious errors:
• She wasn’t the type who was late on the regular, but after she started living here, it was investable.
• Her bag giggles on her back as she rushes through the rain…
• Anna was drenched from the rain and wet everything around her, including her desk, chair, and some of the class’ floor…
• She even took a few curses from the business-management department…
• Anna’s eyes lid up…
• Anna said her ‘Thank you’ and shaved the piece of paper into her jeans…
These felony-level assaults on the English language continue throughout the book and can be seen even while just skimming the text, along with random slippage between current and past tense within the same paragraph, same sentence, and occasionally within the same phrase!
• “I’m sorry, dear, we don’t,” Martha answered, knowing she’s disappointing the poor kid.
Please don’t waste your time with this dreck. I’m giving it half a star because I have to give it something.
