I Sing No Victim’s Songs by Sara Pintilie : review of a first work

Synopsis

Stuck in the middle of west Texas, Meda wants to carve out purpose in her tumultuous life, but three mysterious strangers arrive and start a deadly chain of events.When the strangers — the posh Ellis, the arrogant Mahir and the elusive Reeves — start meddling in her ex-best friend’s relationships, Meda can’t help but intervene.

However, her ex-best-friend, Ivy, will do anything to keep her away. As Meda searches for a way out of the sleepy town, she also struggles internally with crippling nightmares of an accident she never had.

Review

I Sing No Victim’s Songs is a promising debut with many ideas and possibilities but that needs currently a little more polish 😉

First of all you have to know that the author sent me this book across the ocean which is a rarity as it costs a lot of money to send books from the US to Europe! So a big thank you to Sara!

Second thing maybe superficial for you: I think the cover is gorgeous!!! And it’s one of Sara’s paintings as the woman loves to multitask.

Third important remark: this is a first work for this author.

Fourth thing, very emblematic of Sara’s ethic: when I contacted Sara to tell her that yes, there were many good things in this first work but that it needed some perfecting. My review would not be a four or five stars so what did she want me to do with the review? Post it now? Wait? Something else?
She told me that it was only fair that I post it as it would be my honest opinion and she respected that.

Now let’s get to the book.

The blurb is quite mysterious and vague. That’s also what drew me in.
You will have to wait some time before guessing some of what’s happening.

Meda has had a bad life so far.
She comes from “the wrong side of the track” and her single mom is really a piece of art!
When the book begins Meda is collecting all her possessions on the lawn as her mom had her evicted.
But Meda is resourceful and works her behind off to make a life and have a future!
She has been accepted in London to study and will soon leave her small town in a few months.

Meanwhile, she is taking pictures for the school paper to earn some money.
When her boss asks her to cover her ex best friend’s art show she is very reluctant. Ivy, her ex friend stopped talking to her months ago without any explanation.

When she’ll meet her friend again she will realize that she is constantly angry and furious.

While the ex best friend plot unfurl we also cross path with Mahir, a foreign student who seems to despise Meda. More characters are added to the story, all surrounded by an aura or mystery having odd behaviors and reactions.
Strange things happen, one of them being Meda’s recurring nightmare and you are just wondering all along how these people are connected and what’s the grand scheme behind that story.

The good:
-the mystery you have to solve;

-what the characters will be (no spoilers here);

-Meda’s strength of character;

-the twists.

The “need to be polished”:
-the typo. I read this as I would an ARC that would need one more round of editing. Sara ensured me that she’ll work on it so it should not stop you;

-there is too much of what I’d call “concepts” (for fear of spoiling you ) in this story. They are all very interesting but should have had more room to be introduced and built upon. I would either have made a bigger book either a sequel, leaving people on a cliffhanger;

-the characters are always on the move, doing things etc and I would have loved some time settle down, to just delve into their psyche, know them better and be able to connect on a deeper level.

Conclusion: I think that Sara has all the qualities needed to be a good writer and just needs to polish this story a bit more. But of course this is only my personal opinion and many readers could very well love what I had a problem with (readers looking for a book packed with action for example).

Once again thank you so much Sara for sending this book and for your fairplay!
See? I love authors like these!
It shows that Sara is ready to hone her craft and welcome readers opininon.

Thanks for reading!

Sophie