|Review| Silverwood – Betsy Streeter

Title: Silverwood
Author: Betsy Streeter
Publisher: Light Messages Publishing
Series: Silverwood #1

Publisher | Amazon | Goodreads 

The Silverwoods are a clan with a messy history and an uncertain future, responsible to protect humanity from the shape-shifting Tromindox. Helen Silverwood, fourteen, is beginning to realize that she will never lead a normal life. There have been clues: Her mother's unusual work habits, her father's absence, her brother's strange abilities with a pencil and paper, and her own recurring dreams and hacker tendencies. And, the family's constant moves from place to place.

Things are about to get much more complicated, and it all leads to the remote town of Brokeneck, California. Can the Silverwoods keep from losing each other in space and time, while unraveling a dangerous mystery? [Light Messages Publishing]

I wasn't sure what to expect from Silverwood. It wasn't published yet (and when I publish my review it's still not out yet) and I hadn't read any reviews about it before. So I hoped the book would be as amazing as the summary. It isn't, even though it isn't bad ether. I'd say it's okay. 

The beginning is pretty confusing. You do not really understand what is happening. Although the story itself isn't that complicated, the way it's told makes it hard to understand. There are way too many narrative perspectives, which is the reason why it's so difficult to follow the story line. You need some time to adjust to this way of telling a story but later on it's somehow compelling. The book gets better and better with every single page. As I've already told you, you need some time to understand what is going on. But when you've finally understand it, you'll enjoy reading it, because then you'll finally be able to concentrate on other things than understanding what you've just read. 

The general idea which the story is based on, is quite amazing and unique. Or have you ever heard about Tromindox before? At least I haven't. I can't give away more information without spoiling but let me just tell you that the idea is definitely worth discovering it! 

Somehow irritating is another fact again: the missing chapters. The book is divided in three big parts but not a single chapter. Normally, when I want to stop reading, I finish the chapter but in this case this wasn't possible. So I always had to stop during the story even though I tried to pick moments where the action slowed down a bit this was not always possible. 

Another problem I've got is the protagonist. She is really nice and I like her a lot – so not that kind of problem. I just think she is a bit to grown-up for her fourteen years. By the way, it's the same with her brother. He is only nine years old but behaves like a grown-up. That's not only unrealistic but also annoying. It would have been easier to just create older protagonists. 

The biggest problem is another, though. The story is really interesting. However, the book is no page turner. There is no pressure while reading to continue on with the next couple of pages. Sometimes I had to force myself to read even tough the story itself isn't boring. Silverwood is just not compelling enough. 

To sum it up: Silverwood is a book with a quite interesting idea and a strange way of telling it. It's somehow unstructured and confusing with protagonists who seem much older than they really are. Will I continue on with this series? Yes, I think so. Do I recommend the book? I'm not quite sure. It's not bad, but it's also nothing special. When you are okay with a not so structured story telling and when you're searching for an interesting idea, than this book might be yours!

I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review from the publisher via NetGalley!