GoodRead - The Sparrow

In September, The Returned by Jason Mott is being published. And, to get us readers excited, his publisher is releasing 3 eNovella prequels. The first ePrequel (The First) was published last month (not read my review? Here's the link) and the third and final ePrequel (The Choice) will be published next month in August. The second was released earlier this week. So, this is me trying to review the second ePrequel, The Sparrow. 

As a couple drive home, there come across one of The Returned - people who have died and, yet, have come back to life. This Returned is a girl of ten. The couple take the girl home. As the girl remembers her life in war-torn Africa in 1994, the couple's marriage begins to crumble apart...

Out of the two ePrequels, I prefer The Sparrow more than The First. While both were fast reads and both had the first chapter of The Returned in it, there was something about this story that I related to. Maybe it was the couple - Matt and Heather - and how each of them saw the Returned child. Or maybe it was the Returned child - Tatiana - and how she remembered her life in 1994. Or maybe it was how Jason wrote the two stories to complement each other. But, for a reason I'm not sure I understand, I prefer and related to this story more than The First. 

But, yes, this is a short story that most of you guys will read within half an hour so there wasn't much dialogue or emotional impact. But I now am beginning to see Jason is laying down the foundations to the world he is going to write about in The Returned. My other fear with this is I hope that if you haven't read the ePrequels, you can read The Returned without needing this information or feeling like you're lacking something. 

Wich brings me to my next thought: will I download the third and final question: will I read the third and final ePrequel, The Choice. Maybe... I have been approved to read The Returned from the UK publisher (thank you Mira!) so I might read this before I read The Choice. Or I might just skip it completely... we shall see... 

GoodRead - The First

I thought I would bring my Kindle Month a week early. And when I read this, I thought this would be a perfect start.

So, The First is the first prequel to the novel The Returned by Jason Mott (which should be out in September). And The Returned has already got a bit of hype around it. Brad Pitt's production company won a bidding war to turn it into a TV show and ABC has asked for a pilot (the show will be called Resurrection). So don't get confused over it with The Returned, Channel 4's french zombie thriller.

The First follows Emily. It's been a year since her fiancee Edmund died in a suddenly bus crash. It's been nearly a month since she's taken off her engagement ring. She's trying to move on. Expect one morning, Edmund walks into work like nothing happened...

This is very fast read. It took about half an hour to read the short story and then an extra 15 minutes to read the sample of The Returned. And it did seem to be a taster for the novel to come (and with the fact there is two more eNovellas to come: The Sparrow being released next Monday and The Choice being released on the first of August, which leads to the book's release in September) and, because of that, a tiny part of me thinks this is a very clever advertising campaign. And you can't fault the publishers for doing this, as it's a very smart/clever way to promote the book.

But my feelings on this: it is a short story. There was very little dialogue (which I love) and not much emotion (but this is a short story so what do I expect?). But here's the big question: will I read The Returned? Answer: I'm not sure. I have been rejected by the US publisher to read this on NetGalley (dare I ask the UK?) and while I am very intrigued over this novel, I might have to read The Sparrow and The Choice before I make my final decision.