Out of Sync

by A. Bin Juran

I’m a magical misfit
I won’t let it define me
A bolt-zapping disaster magnet
But at least I’m still trying
The guy I like asked me out
I hoped my luck was changing
Then my coven trials began
...they’re harder than I expected
Now my life hangs in the balance
I don’t know what I’m doing
But I do know
I’m not going down without a fight

405 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 22, 2014

About the author

When not immersed in books — be it writing or reading them — Ainat can usually be found nestling a cup of coffee in the company of her husband and twins.
A former fast-food employee, T-shirt seller, and glorified secretary, Ainat eventually found herself with Bachelor’s and Master's degrees in law and working as a lawyer.
A few years later, listening to a catchy pop song about dream fulfillment, Ainat decided to buy a clunky little laptop and get to work. Ten novels and a much better laptop later, she came to the realization that hitting the double-digit mark meant it was time to publish and start consuming coffee (though not necessarily in that order).
When she isn’t writing, editing, or mothering, Ainat enjoys reading promiscuously, watching political dramas and sci-fi series, and taking embarrassing memos-to-self complete with accents and dramatic pauses that should never be unleashed, ever.

Reviews

[Star]

OUT OF SYNC embodied its title. While I enjoyed the writing style and Bree’s humor when the chips are down, the plot itself seemed disjointed and the reader isn’t given a solid foundation on which the story is built. This made it difficult at times not to put the book down. I was intrigued by the book description expressing the pluckiness Bree tended to show, but I wanted more. I would have liked to have seen a bit of history of this magical world the author built before dropping us in on current events. There wasn’t steady character growth, the characters were very quixotic changing from chapter to chapter, and there were many questions resulting from the plot which didn’t seem to be answered clearly. Perhaps they’ll be addressed in the next book. I do think the author has a good style and I hope the characters get a little smoothed out and plot gets tighter in future books.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a copy of this from the author in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't entirely sure what I was getting into with this book. The description is really vague, but something about it caught my attention. And I was willing to give it a shot.

I suppose the best way to describe it would be ok, but not really good. The writing style is actually really funny. If it hadn't been for that, I probably wouldn't have finished it. I liked the snark that seemed to come out whenever Bree was upset.

The story itself needs some work. I was really concerned in the first few chapters because the characters weren't acting like real people. The plot was rushed. Bree is described as clumsy and almost a social pariah, yet suddenly the hottest guy in school is talking to her and clearly taking an interest for no discernible reason. That confused me. Also, the climax of the story has no build-up. No suspense. Normally, you can suspect what's going to happen. A major battle, some kind of face-off, something. Not here. The climax didn't tie in with the rest of the story at all. There wasn't any kind of flow to connect the events in the story.

I kind of became frustrated with this book at times. Characters when from nice to mean in less than a chapter with no explanation, plot events came out of nowhere, and questions weren't really answered. Really, the only truly redeeming point it had was the writing style/characterization of Bree's narration.

I really wish I had liked it more. It wasn't exactly a chore to get through, but I wasn't gripped to it either.