Tuesday, November 05, 2013

5 Star Review from Reader's Favorite

Reviewed by Lit Amri for Readers' Favorite

Marvin has a gift: he can see dead people. He hates his new home, which is near a graveyard, and his stepfather. He considers his gift as a curse. The ghost of his dad, a dead psychic medium, still hangs around, niggling him to use his ability. Then he meets a strange girl who lost her memory and claims that her name is Stella McCartney. From that point on, Marvin has to accept his ability and his dad’s advice if he wants to help Stella. A fascinating paranormal modern tale, Marvin’s Curse is written by Debra J. Edwards.

I found Marvin’s Curse easy and enjoyable to read from start to finish. Obviously it is a YA paranormal story, but very well-crafted so that mature readers like me won’t find it hard to be drawn to it. The young protagonist, Marvin, is a 17-year-old teenager with anger and angst that is familiar to all of us. He misses his time with his dad when he was still alive, but finds his dad’s ghost annoying. This is ironically funny and a delight as I always consider humor an added bonus. Marvin progresses from an angry teenager to a young man who comes to terms with his problems. Debra J. Edwards’s writing style is simple yet deftly done and the plot is uncomplicated, but nonetheless interesting. The pacing of the story is not slow but not rushed either; perfectly balanced.

Simply put, a paranormal novel that I could easily describe with the word ‘comfortable.’ The only question I have is whether there’s going to be a sequel.