5, 4 and 3 Stars for Fearful Symmetry by Francis Gideon #MM #Paranormal

Title: Fearful Symmetry
Author Name & Publisher: Francis Gideon (Dreamspinner Press)
Publication Date & Length: October 7, 2015 – 164 pgs

When something is perfect, it sets itself up to be destroyed, and for everything gained, something is lost.

Since Dryden was young, his mother taught him about balance. While she weaves jewelry to sell at the marketplace, Dryden learns how every unspoiled gem begs to be damaged, just like the universe corrects every misfortune.

But with age and experience, Dryden begins to see the cracks in his mother’s naïve view of life. If she is wrong about balance, she might be wrong about the supposed beast in the woods. Dryden ventures into the forbidden, where a handsome hunter named Otto saves him from a deranged fox and seduces him. But like so much else, Otto has an unseen side, and if Dryden wants to regain his freedom and break Otto’s spell, he’ll have to answer three riddles in three days.

With the help of his mother’s stories and the fox who once threatened him, Dryden must beat the monster and restore balance to his world. But it will come at a cost.

There is a huge life lesson in this book..

They way the author wrote this story and the whole pretense of this book I loved!
Dryden’s father dies and all the sudden he needs to be the man of the house. Well he grew up hearing a lot of tales and life lessons from his mother. Well in time he learns not all those lessons were right and he makes a huge mistake which I can’t tell you without giving away this whole book.
I will say what happens in this book makes you realize that not everything is what it would seem and it is good to be leery about what other people may offer you because you never know by accepting that offer what you will really get.
Dryden really goes through a lot in this book trying to rectify what he has done and to get himself out of a terrifying situation. With this story you will get the big bad, the fox shifter Emmon’s who tries to help Dryden get out of the mess he is in and Dryden’s mom as well.
There is angst, action and some steam in this book which all worked together perfectly.

All together I loved this book!

I would definitely recommend this book!

Kara

 

This book has great morals to it.  It is written in an almost little red riding hood fashion.  I liked how the story was laid out – with the riddles to solve.  I must admit that I had to think about them a while before figuring out the answer.  I always tried to figure out the answer before reading further, which helped me enjoy the story much more.

The characters in this book were well thought out.  You have three main characters and what I would deem an eccentric mom.  I liked how they all played their parts well, were all carefully written and each fulfilled their part of the story to a T.

While I wouldn’t necessarily characterize this book as a YA romance with morals attached, it did feel slightly juvenile during some aspects of the story.  Otto seemed almost disciplinarian in his ideas of the world and Dryden was so innocent at times that I wished he was less naive.

This book shows that not everything is as it seems and sometimes, that’s a good thing.  You can’t always take what you are taught at face value and that sometimes, people will surprise you.

AvidReader

This book was just a bit out there for me and I just couldn’t connect with it as much as I would’ve liked.

It reads a lot like a fairy tale… a story passed down through generations to impart life lessons.

The main character was very naive and it drove me a bit nuts at times. Not to mention one of the other main characters was like an eccentric parent with his odd demands.

While the story was interesting and the characters are memorable, overall it just didn’t quite work for me. The characters were annoying and frustrating with their choices and actions.

Renee

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Francis Gideon is an editor and writer. He has appeared in Microscenes, Gay Flash Fiction, and JMS Books. He lives in Canada.

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