Book Review: Alien Enemy Box Set by Ashley L. Hunt

Alien Enemy by Ashley L. Hunt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I got this box set of books from Instafreebie with no idea as to what to expect from them.

The first think that I would say is that would be better off being considered as a book, singular, rather than books plural, as it only tops out at 400 pages (100 pages per book approximately).

From what I can tell, this is the first thing that the author published (please do correct me if I'm wrong here), and I think it shows a bit. Now that's not to say that I didn't like and enjoy reading this, because I did. I think that the idea and concept behind the story is good and interesting, it just seemed to read more like a first draft to me. Reading this, I kept feeling like it could do with being fleshed out a little bit more. I also think that the lack of 'fleshy-i-ness' also created some pacing issues with the story; not enough for you to have no clue as to what is going on, but enough for it to take a second for you to catch up to where the characters are.

We first meet Luke's character, when he comes into the diner, where Candice is working, with the Carnival Of Lost Souls, and everything its set up in such a way that he could have been made to be very mysterious and the development of the attraction and relationship between Luke and Candice could have been a real slow burner and been amazing. I personally feel that everything between them went way too fast. From him walking into to diner, and them getting along and the relationship beginning seemed almost instantaneous. There was little to know build up, no getting to know each other stage. Now, it is entirely possible that this could be down to the pacing issues that I mentioned. I feel that there was a bit of a missed opportunity with this; you have this carnival that has come to town, where all it's members are not quite what they seem, and this could have been a really wondrous and mysterious setting, and it wasn't.

I would liked to have seen Luke perhaps have tot explain things a bit more to Candice, as she seemed to just except everything that was thrown at her, no questions asked. I would also liked to have found out some of Candice's back story, as it is implied that something happened or that she made some bad choices before coming back to Sun Valley for her Parents funeral. On the whole, I liked her character, even if she seems to accept that aliens form another galaxy exist (and that she is the key for of them in particular to be able to get back there to fight a war) a little too easily. I do have some mixed feelings about Luke's character. It's abundantly clear that he loves Candice, and yet he can be very demanding and controlling of her; it's like he's having mood swings that would give you whiplash. One minute I'd like him and the next not so much. I would like to have seen more of the other carnival members and found out more about them. I'm also not sure we ever found out why Luke was cursed in the first place, but maybe I'm just being forgetful.

For a (I think) first published works, this was pretty good. I do feel that it could be developed a little bit more in places, because this could have been absolutely fantastic. The actual concept was very original I think. As much as this did have it's flaws it's worth reading as a quick read. I do have a couple of other box sets by this author, that I am looking forward to reading. I think this author has the makings of a really awesome sci-fi writer, so I'll be watching this space.

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