Dumb Blonde

This review originally appeared at Red Adept Reviews.

(Note: What detracts most from the overall score are formatting issues. The author has since contacted me to say she'd been unaware of the issues, and that they'd since been corrected. I can only review the copy that I read, but I want to put this information out there for people who might be interested in the story except for this issue. The overall rating is 3.5 stars, and I have to round either up or down for the Amazon stars. I'm choosing to round up based on her assertion.)

Overall: 3 ?? Stars

Storyline/Plot: 4 stars

I like the premise - a lot. This love probably comes from being a “Buffy” fan since the concept behind the show was for the little blonde girl in the dark alley to “take back the night.” One of the themes of the show was how, because she was tiny and cute, she was continually underestimated. Anyone who is a blonde, or knows some capable ones, will appreciate the inherent humor and girl power message here.

I liked that there was a sly sense of humor here, an acknowledgement of the horror/suspense tropes being paraded through the story. Missy is fully aware that she has found herself in the middle of a slasher movie scenario.

As always, short stories are not to everyone's taste, and I don't think this story will be the one to make you a fan of this length if you're not currently.

I enjoyed this story overall, while feeling that it could have been a little punchier and saucier to lead up to - what I consider to be - a pretty darned good last line.

Characters: 3 ?? stars

I liked Missy well enough, as well as enjoying the portrayal of the secondary characters, but I think a page or two more to develop her would have made the story all the stronger. Because the story is short, because the plot is pretty straightforward, I think for Dumb Blonde to be really good that it had to excel as a character piece - and it didn't quite get there.

What I like is that Missy, as expected, is smarter than the stereotype. What I really like is that, realistically, she is still not exactly a Rhodes Scholar, and the reader can play backseat driver on what she should do.

Writing Style: 3 3/4 stars

The author got the job done, and the result was a nifty little story. I would read more by the author, and I'm actually curious to see what she could do with a novel, but... well, see editing score. There was something here that felt ... unpolished. Still, the effort was a good one.

Formatting: 2 stars

The formatting is seriously off here, with paragraphs running together. I emailed the author to tell her about this - and mentioned that the samples of her other books had the same issue. I requested she email me to let me know when this was resolved. I have yet to hear back, so I have to assume this is the same. We don't normally contact authors on these things, but I thought it was so big of an issue, yet something that could be a simple mistake, and so - in this case - I'd play Good Samaritan. Other than that, no other issues with editing, but this one took away from my enjoyment.