Second Chances

Travelers.  Gypsies.  The Rom.  You can’t get much more exciting than that; at least not to a gaje like me.  So you would think I’d eat it up.  And you would be right:  this time around.  But I didn’t at first.  

I actually came across Wanderlove on my Kindle the other day waiting for my daughter at the dentist.  I couldn’t really remember anything about it even when I opened it and tried to pick up where I left off.  So I went back to the beginning and started over.  This time it really captured my interest... so much so that when I finished it (at 10:45 that night) I went straight to the computer and bought its sequel Foretell to read the next day.  

So why did I not really like it the first time around?   Well… a lot of Wanderlove is SO predictable.  Malory gives way too many clues to the reader and it really seems like everything should have been laid out for Lola.  She really seems incredibly dense when she doesn’t figure out what is going on right away. 

These books are really into reincarnation, but it didn’t bother me the way it did with Burden of the Soul.  I think that’s mostly because they don’t preach at you, and only the gypsies can remember their past lives (which in my mind equated to they are the only ones who have them).  Anyway, when people start seeming really familiar to a gypsy who is the only one she knows who can’t remember her past lives, wouldn’t you think that she would immediately clue in that maybe she knew this person in a past life.  DUH!  As a reader it’s obvious, but apparently, Lola is just that dense. 

However, don’t count these books out just yet!  (like I did the first time around)  They actually get really good.  Once Lola starts remembering there’s a whole flash-back section (I expected a couple of scenes but this was about a third of the book) then it really starts getting good.  Still a little predictable at times, but it gets better and better.  You really can’t predict much by the time it gets to the last part….

And then there’s the second book:  Foretell!  Awesome!  I really was sad at first when it changes POV away from Lola (despite her density I had grown to like her) to Estelle (Essie).  But I quickly fell in love with Essie.  She’s spunky and despite having lived a very sheltered life, she really has a good head on her shoulders.  I think we can really see Malory’s evolution as a writer if we compare this to the first book.  There is so much more depth to her characters and less predictability of plot. 

Overall, these really did turn out to be a good read.  I loved the characters, and as time went on, the plot became fascinating as well.  I guess this just proves you can always give a book a second chance (not all of them deserve one, but this one definitely did).