Otherworldly by Caroline Scott (BOOK REVIEW) 3/5
Otherworldly was certainly not what I expected. This sweet little paranormal romance novella is great for a quick read, but I will admit to it having some off moments. It’s perfectly good to read if you’re looking for something with a cutesy little romance. For me personally, it lacked depth. Certain parts of the novel felt shallow, as if they could have had a little more work or detail to them, and I wondered about how necessary some of the moments were. The characters felt slightly hollow in speech and personality, and everything seemed to fall together in that “perfect” cliche way, but I wished there had been more of something to connect to. I just found myself wanting to sink more into the work, which is a problem I often have with novellas. I sought a grand, heartfelt romance, and this was more of a meet-cute, simple tale of two people who work together.
The writing is better than Ms. Scott’s previous work, and I feel like the plot was better formed, but there is still a good amount of room for improvement. Particularly in dialogue, I think there could be more attention paid to truly get the right tone. As I read, one thing that struck me as needing work was the editing. From my eye, there were many flaws that could have been worked on, plot holes and repeating words and sentences that just didn’t work. That said, for a novella, I didn’t judge it too highly on the editing.
There were a lot of good things about this little novel, however. Even though it felt unpolished, I enjoyed the concept a great deal. I love paranormal/psychic fiction, though I do think that the advertising needs to express this more, as some of Eli’s family powers took me off guard. Going into the novel, I didn’t expect that level of psychic ability, and wished it wasn’t as subtle in what the book was presented as. It’s a great thing, and I wished it had more of a spotlight. But I loved seeing more within the book, and I love the idea of carrying on with the family and their powers. It would be wonderful to see each character get their own story and their own time to shine, making this into a series.
Caroline Scott is becoming a great cozy romance writer, and I think with more experience, this series- and her future works, could flourish. She has wonderful ideas, unique setups, and a few shining points in her novels that I think could be expanded on. If you want a feel-good read, this works well, but I’m really looking forward to there being something more intensive here. I can’t wait to jump into her next novel!