Flow of the Book and Development of Characters

Use this forum to discuss the June 2019 Book of the month, "Cynthia and Dan: Cyber War" by Dorothy May Mercer.
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heatherashley7
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Icon Flow of the Book and Development of Characters

Post by heatherashley7 »

Admittedly I am only on Chapter 6, but is anyone else having a hard time with the flow of the book and the development of characters? So far I feel as if the author is jumping around in the plot. She is not providing enough back story or detail to really make me vested in the outcome. The character of Sky is very disappointing to say the least. One minute he sounds like a proper english gentleman, the next just your average guy looking to sleep with someone. Am I the only one who feels like this?

Hopefully this book will get better! :?
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Post by maggi3 »

I agree. This book is part of a series, so maybe there’s more back story in the previous books, but I was also disappointed when I read it. You’ll understand Sky more at the end. I still didn’t connect with his character, but maybe you will.
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Post by Ruba Abu Ali »

I won't rush into conclusions. But I hope I'd relate more to the characters as the book goes on. Not having read the rest of the series may play a role in my feeling there's more to the backstory than what's presented.
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Post by heatherashley7 »

Well I have finished the book and I was disappointed as a whole. I felt this book did not flow at all, it was very choppy with the transitions. At one point it seemed to skip days at a time for one plot but then reverse it self for the second plot.

Speaking of the plots I felt there were two major plots competing for attention, the actual Cyber War and then Cynthia's love life. Although the author attempted to intertwine them, it was poorly done.

You guys might be right about needing to read the rest of the series for the development of the characters, but in this book there was no development in my opinion.

At times I was unsure if the setting took place in England, with the "darling", "dear", and "dearie", or America since it was based around Washington, D.C. It also bothered me how one minute Sky was the perfect gentleman and than the next was more like a childish teenager. Example, calling himself "sugar daddy", and then upon meeting again in Glenn's office rushing to her and kissing her hands. I'm not sure about you but that does not scream manly, much less someone of high importance in the military.

Overall this book seemed like a good read for a teenager, minus the whole pregnancy and miscarriage.

What are your thoughts on Sky's multiple characteristics?
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Post by maggi3 »

heatherashley7 wrote: 01 Jun 2019, 17:08 It also bothered me how one minute Sky was the perfect gentleman and than the next was more like a childish teenager. Example, calling himself "sugar daddy", and then upon meeting again in Glenn's office rushing to her and kissing her hands. I'm not sure about you but that does not scream manly, much less someone of high importance in the military.

Overall this book seemed like a good read for a teenager, minus the whole pregnancy and miscarriage.

What are your thoughts on Sky's multiple characteristics?
I wonder if the childish characteristics were intended to make him more relatable to younger people. It didn’t work out that way, though. I thought he came off as creepy and a bit obsessive to be honest.
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Post by heatherashley7 »

I completely agree with that! It also made him sound a bit weak in my opinion, I'm not sure if that makes sense.
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Post by cpru68 »

I was disappointed with the entire story. I kept waiting for it to get better and it never did. I don’t read a lot of fiction, but I went ahead and read this one for the discussion of it. I couldn’t wait until I got to the end. The story and characters seemed fake to me throughout. It just wasn’t for me.
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Post by Stephanie Elizabeth »

heatherashley7 wrote: 01 Jun 2019, 10:14 Admittedly I am only on Chapter 6, but is anyone else having a hard time with the flow of the book and the development of characters? So far I feel as if the author is jumping around in the plot. She is not providing enough back story or detail to really make me vested in the outcome. The character of Sky is very disappointing to say the least. One minute he sounds like a proper english gentleman, the next just your average guy looking to sleep with someone. Am I the only one who feels like this?

Hopefully this book will get better! :?
I agree! I am also on the same chapter and I am having a hard time connecting with the characters. Cynthia seems to be making irrational choices and I don't know anything about Sky's past.
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Post by BuzzingQuill »

I've finished the book in less than a day because I honestly found my self skimming through quite a lot of it. I honestly felt that the author focuses so much on stating what happens from scene to scene, we are prevented from engaging with character thoughts and feelings, I wish I could say this gets better as the book moves along, but it doesn't
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Post by briellejee »

I wish I could say it improves, but I don't think so. Up until the very end, I still didn't develop any attachment to the characters, and Skys personality is inconsistent that I hated it.
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Post by Julie Petitbon »

heatherashley7 wrote: 01 Jun 2019, 10:14 Admittedly I am only on Chapter 6, but is anyone else having a hard time with the flow of the book and the development of characters? So far I feel as if the author is jumping around in the plot. She is not providing enough back story or detail to really make me vested in the outcome. The character of Sky is very disappointing to say the least. One minute he sounds like a proper english gentleman, the next just your average guy looking to sleep with someone. Am I the only one who feels like this?

Hopefully this book will get better! :?
I totally agree. The characters are not overly likable, and the transitions are very choppy. It is hard to get through a book when you can't relate to, or at least root for, one of the major characters. I didn't love Cynthia, and Sky's character is all over the place. I am more than halfway through the book and am hoping it will get better!
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Post by DC Brown »

maggi3 wrote: 01 Jun 2019, 12:38 I agree. This book is part of a series, so maybe there’s more back story in the previous books, but I was also disappointed when I read it. You’ll understand Sky more at the end. I still didn’t connect with his character, but maybe you will.
I still didn't understand Sky at the end. He turned out to be this super smart guy who knew all kinds of technology, but he was such a weirdo when dealing with Cynthia. I would've been creeped out if someone I'd just been with brought me contraceptives.
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Post by DC Brown »

Julie Petitbon wrote: 04 Jun 2019, 19:48
heatherashley7 wrote: 01 Jun 2019, 10:14 Admittedly I am only on Chapter 6, but is anyone else having a hard time with the flow of the book and the development of characters? So far I feel as if the author is jumping around in the plot. She is not providing enough back story or detail to really make me vested in the outcome. The character of Sky is very disappointing to say the least. One minute he sounds like a proper english gentleman, the next just your average guy looking to sleep with someone. Am I the only one who feels like this?

Hopefully this book will get better! :?
I totally agree. The characters are not overly likable, and the transitions are very choppy. It is hard to get through a book when you can't relate to, or at least root for, one of the major characters. I didn't love Cynthia, and Sky's character is all over the place. I am more than halfway through the book and am hoping it will get better!
I've finished the book, so I don't want to put any spoilers out there, BUT the best characters in the whole book were the computer nerds. IMHO.
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Post by DC Brown »

briellejee wrote: 03 Jun 2019, 22:49 I wish I could say it improves, but I don't think so. Up until the very end, I still didn't develop any attachment to the characters, and Skys personality is inconsistent that I hated it.
So glad to see you say that. I didn't like most of the characters. In fact, I thought the computer nerds and Glenn were the only characters that weren't all of the place, personality-wise.
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Post by briellejee »

DC Brown wrote: 05 Jun 2019, 10:27
briellejee wrote: 03 Jun 2019, 22:49 I wish I could say it improves, but I don't think so. Up until the very end, I still didn't develop any attachment to the characters, and Skys personality is inconsistent that I hated it.
So glad to see you say that. I didn't like most of the characters. In fact, I thought the computer nerds and Glenn were the only characters that weren't all of the place, personality-wise.
True! Glenn, compared to Cynthia, was more likable and fit well to the story. Cynthia was like that character who loves to get everybody's attention that she became annoying.
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