Title

When I was first assigned to do a review, I was given a pick of three, and it was the title that drew me to choose Saving Hadley. It's short. It's catchy. It's easy to remember. Most importantly, it fits the theme of the story without being too on the nose of what it's about.

Cover

I would say the book's cover is nice. It's fairly standard and on par with other Wattpad Y.A. books. While there's nothing too special about it, it is easy on the eyes.

I will note, however, the girl on the cover who I'm assuming is supposed to portray Hadley, the protagonist, does not appear to be the same model shown in the introduction.

Blurb

For Wattpad, the blurb (or description, as I like to call it) is a bit on the longer side. It isn't the longest I've come across, but had I come across the book naturally as a reader instead of being assigned the book for reviewal, I likely would've read the first paragraph and stopped there.

But, seeing as I did read the description in it's entirety, I've got some notes. I find that the description is a little too revealing as far as what the book will be about. I believe the description of a book should be treated as more of a teaser or a hook than a synopsis. By condensing the information and only including the most exciting information, your readers will be more invested in the story because they won't already know what it's about.

Introduction

Not all reviews will contain a section dedicated to the introduction, but Saving Hadley not only has an introduction but has a note within it that I would like to discuss. The author writes:

This rubbed me the wrong way for two reasons. First, the author requested a review, thus agreeing to being receptive to criticism, both positive and negative.

Second, the story touches on PTSD (a mental disorder) and addiction. I find it willfully ignorant to just dismiss the realities of so many people who suffer with PTSD and/or addictions out of fear of being corrected. As writers, especially realistic fiction writers, it is my belief that it is our duty to portray things as accurately as we can instead of just waving a hand at the notion of correctness. There's humility in being wrong but strength in owning up to it.

By simply omitting that one sentence, I think you'd gain more readers. An author's likability is just as important as the book itself.

Prologue & First Chapter

I find that the prologue did a good job of introducing the protagonist and the situations leading up to the story the author is about to tell. However, the pacing established with the first chapter was a bit slow for my liking. It felt unnecessarily drawn out and sort of just reinforced what was already touched on in the prologue.

Plot / Theme

The next few chapters unfolded much like the first. The pacing was slow, and the tone was monotonous. I felt that, at times, there were too many background details that didn't progress the plot but served their purpose of lengthening the chapter.

Writing

The writing itself was fairly standard. It had its share of grammatical and spelling errors, but there was nothing too glaring that deterred me from understanding what was trying to be conveyed.

Characters

The protagonist wasn't likable nor unlikable. She just sort of...was. I think the characters for the most part were believable given the events that had occured prior.

Overall Impression

I can't say I was hooked on the story. The idea of it was much more appealing than the way it played out, as I often drifted out of focus while reading. I think the story has room for improvement as far as maintaining the reader's attention is concerned. I will not be continuing the story past the five chapters I read in addition to the introduction and prologue.

Reviewed By: Ray