All that Glitters is not Gold: Reviews by jonbrain

In 27 Days, by HonorInTheRain

So, here's a work that I never would have read at all a few years ago. Here's the concept; enigmatic Archer Morales, our hero's (or in this case, heroin's) high school antisocial loner commits suicide. For reasons she doesn't completely understand, Hadley Jamison, daughter of a successful New York lawyer and a businesswoman/entrepreneur mother, is completely shaken by his suicide. But she wasn't expecting Death himself to find her at Archer Morales's funeral a few days later. And she certainly wasn't expecting him to offer her a dreadful mission. Death gives her the chance to travel back in time twenty-seven days to prevent Archer Morales's suicide. If she succeeds? She saves a life. If she fails...well, he doesn't go into details, but we assume it's bad; this is Death himself, after all.

Why 27 days, you might ask? Because that's how long it took for him to decide how to kill himself.

Now, that's an interesting concept, if I ever heard one. A chance to reverse fate, to save a life, given to you by the person of death? That's cool. It almost sounds like a Greek drama, although thankfully it isn't, or else about a dozen extra people would probably commit suicide along the way (spoilers: that doesn't happen). But I've never been one for romance. And yes, if you haven't guessed by now, this is a romance. A couple years ago, I would have stopped reading this the moment I realized that that was the case, but I've matured since then, so let's see where it went with this.

When Hadley wakes up, she realizes that Death actually has turned back time and there she is, almost a month earlier in time, and there's Archer as alive as he had been at the time. And the only outward sign of her brush with Death? Other than the time travel, that is? A grizzly number 27 cut into her flesh just below her hand.

As Hadley gets to know Archer, she encounters a man with a bad attitude and worse manners, whose first instinct is to try to shun this "rich girl" who seems to be suddenly intruding on his existence. But, of course, Hadley is on a mission from above (or below, depending on how you look at it), and she finds him super hot anyhow, so she's not about to let his acerbic attitude stop her from saving his life. As she continues to press, he slowly lets her into his life, his heart, and his family, who immediately adopt her as one of their own. Archer's mother Regina, his grandmother Victoria, and his three half sisters (triplets called April, May, and June) fall in love with Hadley instantly, to the point where they invite her to Thanksgiving dinner with the entire extended family, a lovable set of Italian Americans with an equal love for Hadley. It's only then that Archer himself starts to fall in love with Hadley, and she admits to herself that she's beginning to fall in love with him.

Is it that simple? Of course not. Murders abound in the pages of this book. The more Hadley learns about Archer, the more determined she is to save him, and the less sure she becomes that she can. As she learns, Death himself makes a lot of these deals, but only one was ever successful. Oh, and did I mention that there's another semi-divine being at play here? When it starts looking as if she might just succeed, she meets a man called Havoc. Death has upset the laws of nature by letting her do this, and if she doesn't stop, she'll pay the consequences. Havoc is at play. Will even her death be enough to stop what's about to happen? Who can tell?

In 27 Days is a well executed work with a lot of weight behind it, from themes of suicide and death, to self-worth, to family and self sacrifice. If you're new to Wattpad and you're looking for a fine work to start off with, In 27 Days is a good one. I certainly enjoyed it a lot, and there were a couple of nights that I spent unable to control the urge to click "Continue Reading." According to the author, it's also going to be available in paperback form, which is good, because I've never been fond of screens.

That isn't to say that it's without flaws. It isn't. Love is a tricky thing to write about, because nobody really understands it completely, much like quantum physics or Star Wars VIII. It's very easy to appeal to the very basic understanding of love that we've been fed by Disney for years, the distilled romance that we all want at heart, and then serve us nothing but that. Here's what I mean, and here's a genuine spoiler warning if you want it; Archer kisses Hadley before he asks her out. I'm a guy, in case that wasn't already clear, and in my experience, there's a reason that we're supposed to ask girls out before we start getting physical with them in any way. It's because when you ask out a girl, you're not just trying to get physical with her; you're genuinely telling her that you have recognized something good in her, and you are asking her if she sees the same in you. When you ask a girl out, your intentions should be absolutely clear; you are not after a stolen kiss, a minute or two of enjoyment and nothing more, you are looking for a connection that lasts and grows into something more. When Archer kissed Hadley for the first time, it felt like he was trying something out, not offering something. The knowledge that he was planning to kill himself in a few days confounded this feeling. For me it made it feel like a meaningless fling rather than love, a young man saying to himself, "what do I have to lose," and then acting accordingly. Hadley and Archer's relationship feels like this the whole way through. They make out constantly before he even asks her on a date of any sort, or before they decide that they are, in fact, dating. That's not commitment of any sort, or even the hope thereof; it's just fun.

Besides being a pet peeve of mine, I think that this flaw deadens the impact that the ending should have had. Again, spoilers for this entire paragraph: Archer lives. And it's because of Hadley, and probably their love, that he chooses not to end his life. But I never saw the change take place. Archer is as acerbic in the end as he is in the beginning. He opens up a little throughout, but there was no crisis point. There should have been a point where he had to choose, actively, between Hadley and himself. That point never came. It was a very gradual change that began with stolen kisses and continued as he realized that Hadley was genuinely worried for him and wanted what was best for him. But again, we didn't see it. From the perspective of the reader, he seems like the same guy who was supposed to kill himself at the end of the book, but didn't because...what, now he's able to make out with his secret crush? And why was he going to kill himself anyway? You get clues about him, and his past, that make you understand why he was considering it. But let me put it another way; I never saw him planning suicide. So at the end, when he doesn't do it, I'm left wondering if he was ever planning it in the first place.

That being said, I liked virtually everything about this book. Hadley and Archer are compelling characters with good chemistry, and I fell thoroughly in love with them. I can say the same thing about every character in the cast, with the exception of Death, who seems both sinister and sympathetic when the book requires him to, and Havoc, who seems derivative (who the heck is he supposed to be anyway? I don't remember a myth of Havoc anywhere).

The writing style, though perhaps uninspired, was interesting and engaging. I wished Hadley would stop expressing surprise at her own actions, but that was about the worst of it. Descriptions were clear and words flowed freely; I never got the impression that the author was searching for words or forcing them to come, which is important to me. Dialogue was well thought out and fit each character well. I think Hadley was particularly well done in this respect. You could tell when it was her speaking, and Archer and Regina were equally clear. My one complaint was the little kids. I had an idea that the author might not know little kids that well, but that could be me misreading them.

Despite my earlier complaint, too, I think that Archer's depression was well handled. Depression is as hard to write about as love, and I think all things considered, the author portrayed it as well or better; again, I just wanted to see more of it.

Overall, I give In 27 Days four out of five stars. I'd recommend it fairly highly; if you're not in the mood for anything too challenging or dark, this will be a good one for you to try. An adorable couple is always nice to see, and these two were pretty adorable. So while maybe not the objectively best thing out there, it was a good read, it was fun, and it left me with a nice, warm feeling.

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