Saturdays in Books

Solidly plotted and filled with interesting characters, but goodness gracious does this manuscript need a serious copy edit.

The cover and title describe a standard portal fantasy novel, but rather than starting with our heroine falling into a magical world, getting through the portal is the goal. And rather than adventuring to eventually find out how she is tied to this world through some blood relations, she's traveling there with her knowledgeable grandmother. 

I like so much about this book. All the characters are pretty great, evil or good. The gender swapping shape shifter is a bit of scene stealer, though. Overall, a fun adventure. Bonus points for a black heroine gracing the cover.

And then there is the plethora of typos. Most are simple things. Like when Amber's luggage is "backed to capacity," or when she "looked tapped" a taxi driver on the shoulder. A few times later in the book, the wrong character name is used. They both start with B. Very confusing. 

The Kindle edition includes a credit for an editor, but my paper 1st edition does not. I do hope that means the most egregious errors have been corrected.

I am seriously debating taking a red pen to this copy before gifting it to my niece.