Review - Scorched

Scorched by Mari Mancusi

Read: January 1st 2014

Find it on Goodreads

Rating: 3.5/5 stars




Trinity
Don’t leave me here... It starts with a whisper. At first Trinity thinks she’s going crazy. It wouldn’t be a big surprise—her grandpa firmly believes there’s a genuine dragon egg in their dusty little West Texas town. But this voice is real, and it’s begging for her protection. Even if no one else can hear it...

Connor
He’s come from a future scorched by dragonfire. His mission: Find the girl. Destroy the egg. Save the world. 

Caleb
He’s everything his twin brother Connor hates: cocky, undisciplined, and obsessed with saving dragons.

Trinity has no idea which brother to believe. All she has to go by is the voice in her head—a dragon that won’t be tamed.


My Review:

With a crazy grandpa obsessed with mythical creatures and a crumbling Museum business, Trinity Foxx has a lot going on. Things only worsen when he brings a beautiful egg he believes belongs to the last of the dragons home. This leaves the two of them with next to no money and Trinity with quite a bit of anger.

This book just barely missed being four star worthy. A number of its aspects got on my nerves.

• Trinity Foxx - The name Trinity gets on my nerves enough by itself, but Trinity Foxx sounds like some preppy girl who thinks she's above everyone else. Her character was also a bit too dependent on others for my liking. Even though she kept the museum business alive and helped her grandpa with his financial problems she still let herself rely on Connor and Caleb throughout the majority of the novel.  For someone depicted as so strong she should have been more willing to make her own decisions.

• The dialogue - These characters are supposed to me in their late teens and they go around thinking and saying things like "I'm the good guy," he wanted to add. "The one they sent to save your world" and "There were men," she said at last. "They barged into my house. I freaked out and ran here to hide before calling 911. I think one of them might still be in the house." The dialogue also indicates that the author is a beginner and not the best author in the over use of "said bookisms." There were way too many she demanded, he muttered, she hissed, and she joke type dialogue tags as opposed to just saying she/he said, a technique that would have made the book seem more professional. Instead it seems like the author thought the "said bookisms" were necessary and in turn it made the book less interesting, and the characters sounded even younger than they would have with just the more simple dialogue.

Despite its many faults Scorched had a number of characteristics that made up for it's faults. The number one thing that made me like it was the dragons. I'm pretty much incapable of resisting dragons and these ones were cute (especially Trin's dragon who we saw most of) and I enjoyed their playful mannerisms. Also Fred the female dragon amused me to no end.

Caleb and Connor also had me constantly entertained. Unlike Trinity they kept me guessing for the majority of the book - with Trin it was more of a fifty/fifty chance she'd follow what either one said - they interacted with the world with much more intuition than Trinity seemed capable of.

Between the dragons and the twins I mildly enjoyed this book. Though it was much too simple for my liking as I was hoping it would do better to mentally engage me in the story. But oh well. If you are in fact looking for a quick easy read with dragons and romance then you will more than likely enjoy this book.