Book Review: Human Blend

Escaping from them had been difficult enough, now Laney needs to keep hidden. All she wanted was to be on her own. Laney is not like other girls… she has very special abilities that set her apart from others. How or why she came about these abilities is a mystery she has yet to unfold.

Haunted by memories and flashbacks of the suffering she endured at the hands of her captors, she changes her appearance and hides out in a small town. Ignoring her own warnings, she begins a relationship with a local boy.

–See more at Goodreads

Cover Inspection:
The cover is interesting, although it looks to me more like the cover for a horror story.

First Thoughts:
Laney (Julie) seems interesting enough!

***

My Review:
Human Blend was one of those books that caught my attention early on. Laney, or Julie as she is known as most of the book, was an endearing character who chose to use her special abilities for good. On the run from men who want to use her abilities for their own devices. When I first met Laney I was drawn in by her sweet disposition, and the way she seemed to mesh so quickly with everything around her. Although her past was dark, she was determined to start anew.

The unfortunate part about Laney’s personality though, is that she is torn. There is the girl who wants to start anew and let people into her life, and then the girl who remembers her dark past and is afraid to trust. I was a little thrown off sometimes at how often these two parts of the same character seemed to switch back and forth. For instance Laney seems to have absolutely no issue with allowing Austin into her life and falling almost instantly for him. However she also doesn’t seem to want to share herself with them. I don’t know, it all seemed a bit too convenient to me how they met and fell for one another so fast.

In fact, people seem to flit in and out of Laney’s life with the greatest of ease in this book. You know in a movie when there is a window conveniently nearby as soon as the actor needs one? That is Laney’s life. As soon as she needs someone to be there, they happen to appear. Just when I was reading and confused as to what exactly was going on in her life, someone appeared to explain it to me. It’s not that I wasn’t intrigued by the way that Pescatore implemented Laney’s gift, I was. The author shares just enough information to keep you reading, and then lets on as to just what the characters are towards the middle. It was a nice way to keep me reading. I just felt that I never really got to know Laney fully because she was constantly being overshadowed by the other characters and their abilities.

My other issue with this book was simply the typos. I realize that this is a self published book, but it was extremely distracting to find those. As a person who edits papers as a job, they popped off the page at me and made it hard for me to read on. Just as I was immersed in Laney’s world and starting to feel a part of the story I’d notice a typo, or a massive change in the tense of the sentence, and be pulled right back out. I suppose that is a testament as to why editors are so very important.

I’ll end here. The fact remains that I did enjoy Human Blend in terms of the premise and the abilities that are shared with the reader. However the romance aspect and the typos made it difficult for me to fully get into. I think with a little more polishing, Lori Pescatore’s book has the opportunity to become a real gem. If you can look past the surface you’ll find yourself immersed in Laney’s world, and it’s not a bad place to be.

Book Details
Title: Human Blend
Author: Lori Pescatore
Publisher: Self-published
Pages: Paperback; 234
Source: Received for review.
FTC Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.


Final Rating: 3 Keys to My Heart