Archie of Outlandish Review

**Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me an ARC in return for an honest review. 2.5 stars!!! I'm going to try and keep this review as brief as possible. All I can say is that this story read at a middle grade level. The writing was so clunky and forced. The author is clearly not an expert at writing. There wasn't so much of showing as there was telling. So I got pretty bored reading about the characters. There are so many unnecessary details that reading felt more like a chore because the pacing became slow. At some point, I just wanted to be done with the story. The illustrations, on the other hand, were cute. Although, I found the MC Archie to be rather quirky. I felt the conversations and interactions to be very flat. Even personality wise, none of them popped out at me. I thought the concept of the story was interesting and the worldbuilding was very peculiar and whimsical. But the characters needed to be fleshed out more with more realistic scenarios and situations. I felt the characters were all so goody-goody with no real flaws that made it hard to actually connect with them on a deeper level which I would have liked. The only thing that I did like about this book was the mention of God. As a firm believer in Christ, I liked seeing some insightful life lessons interwoven in the novel. The book speaks about how God has a plan for our lives and trusting Him helps us find our passion as well as love. I liked how the characters kept God central in their lives, constantly seeking His guidance. I found this refreshing. However, I was majorly disappointed because I would have liked to see more passion flow through the pages especially when one is talking about a relationship with the Creator. As an author who is using a novel as a platform to engage and reach out to a reader in a profound way, this book missed the mark. I would have liked a deeper glimpse into Archie's relationship with God. This would have made for a richer experience and the context of the relationship between Callie and him would have been more engaging. In addition, I found the plot twists and devices to be sub par, to be honest. The story took predictable turns. I could see the ending a mile away. I also felt that character development was average with the MC and minor characters achieving some of their dreams but they weren't really pushing themselves. I would have liked more conflicts and struggles. That being said, it was an okay read. I wouldn't recommend this book to all readers as there is the element of spirituality. Maybe if you are looking for a faith-based, clean read you could give it a go. But, I guess there's better material out there in this genre.

#adult #contemporary #romance #LynnetteKraft #Christian