Obstacles by Chris Reardon

Hey guys, Joe here!

It’s been a little while since an update happened, but fear not, one has appeared! :D

Today I’m going to be reviewing Christopher Reardon’s book ‘Obstacles’.

Here’s a little bit of the blurb to get you interested:

Blurb add in:

A child will die. You're afraid to live. Would you go to all lengths to save him? Darkness knows no bounds, as Alcott, an African American doctor sees all too well. The man is petrified by death. His fragile existence rests at the mercy of the universe. This fact is far too much for him to handle. From unyielding nightmares to elevator terrors, he's lost in paranoia. 

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The author sent me this e-book for an honest review.

This book was a really nice refresher from what I’ve been reading recently!

I generally did enjoy reading this book, even though it is definitely recommended for people of a younger audience.

It had quite a good story, which was very linear making it easy to follow, which helps for any age of reader and was very fast-paced so the intensity followed quite smoothly.

The characters were also very distinct and memorable, which made it easier to remember the premise of the story.

Though the story was good, it was very simple and a good portion of it was very predictable. Though, a few bits did take me by surprise and made me smile at the writing used which was refreshing.

Again, the writing was pretty awesome for the age intended; the world building was quite enjoyable aswell, I was able to picture quite intricately and in quite deep detail certain parts of this book from scenes such as the first obstacle where Alcott has to fight the giant shark to bits like when Alcott summons the Jauntla on the cliff edge.

Overall I really did like the story side of this book, the writing was refreshing and enjoyable, the world building was pleasing to read and how it was pretty linear for the most part without convoluted story-plots soaking ninety-nine percent of the story up, which allows anyone from basic reading skills to a higher advanced level able to read and enjoy this book.

I could see this book being turned into a Teen Fantasy-Action movie such as Maze Runner or The Hunger Games.

The only thing I thought badly about the story was that the start was a little all over the place.
There was one mishap during the book though, during the obstacles were Vitaly (one of the contestants) was taken from the group as part of the obstacle. This left only Alcott, Gretchen, Travis and Marya to search the area for clues to where Vitaly is… BUUUUUT at one point the author starts using Vitaly’s name instead of Marya’s when the group is talking amongst each other, which was highly confusing and distracting from the immersion to the story.

The characters in this story were actually really – really cool!
I liked the diversity when it came to the description of the characters and that allowed me to feel as if the author had taken all aspects of this book into consideration while writing it! I especially liked how he included other worldly characters. :)

Alcott is quite a good character, but I didn’t like how he kept changing his personality; I mean when he changed his personality to favour someone else (e.g. Gari, Gretchen) that was awesome as it showed a braver side.

But when he started sulking/crying about why he did the obstacles it kind-of made me feel like Alcott didn’t really know why he wanted to get into the obstacles.

Gretchen was quite an awesome character aswell; I like the selfishness that she felt for her sister and I liked how she was the main talker for the group when they met Alcott.

She was also allowed for her personality to change quite drastically which I felt was good character progression as in the start she was very open and smiley but as the story continued she became more confined from the other contestants and in-tune with Alcott

Mayra was your generic shy character with a dark side, though she was a nice take on it honestly.

The main thing I didn’t like about the character situation is that the author sort of disregarded some of the characters sometimes and it made it the overall story feel quite bland at points.

Overall, I did enjoy this book, it was a fun and pleasant read.

I do think it is mostly aimed for children around the ages of 10+, which I understand and thought the author grasped completely!

I’m so glad the author gave me the chance to read this book!

Thank you so much to the author for allowing me to read his book.

You can purchase it here if you fancy it:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Obstacles-Chris-Reardon-ebook/dp/B00TXUOC4S/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1424826257&sr=8-5&keywords=obstacles+book

http://www.amazon.com/Obstacles-Chris-Reardon-ebook/dp/B00TXUOC4S/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1424826265&sr=8-11&keywords=obstacles+book

Thank you for reading guys!
We appreciate you guys so so much! :)
Thanks!
Joe :)