I wanted to make a post drawing attention to my novel’s Amazon reviews.
I also have separate blogs about my paid reviews.
So, here we go-
First is one written by a family friend who bought the book when it first came out. For the longest time this was my only review:
The story is an interesting take on a character suffering from chronic illness. In the same class as ‘Fault in our stars,’ this is a story that has to do with many different types of strife, and the such in those people lives found inside the book. The most central strife in the story is the main character who suffers from an incurable disease that will eventually claim his life after going through a lot of pain. But also, as the main character goes through his journey and trials try to live his life to the most. He learns that as bad as his life may be at times it can be worst for others, as those in his life also find that they too aren’t immune to fate deal out a few forms of strife for each of them to have to deal with on their own journeys. All the while he and his sister try to discover a way to make sure his short life is filled with everything that it can be, and they are helped by many along the way.
Next was from a friend that I made on twitter once I started to come out of my shell:
Dakota son is a romantic fiction established in Dakota. It featured a romantic relationship between Sean who suffered from cystic fibrosis and a Jane. Dakota son highlights symptoms of cystic fibrosis the way the author described the struggle of the patient symptoms was amazing and informative. I liked the romantic relationship between Sean and Jean, and it enriched the plot and the novel in so many ways. The Dakota son wrote by Mary Ramsey, an American author from California. Dakota son was her first novel, and she did very well crafting it.
I like the dialogue it was realistic and reasonable, easy to believe and suck you inside the story it was used much time to unveil much info indirectly. The show do not tell evident and richly used during the story, the way she described the environment with each scene and styles was beautiful also.
The way she described the struggle was realistic and the symptoms of the cystic fibrosis were portrayed well; it shows the author made proper research while writing the Dakota son, which give it enormous credibility, reality and make it more emotional. I liked it and touched my feelings from the first page. The amount of detail the author mentioned the procedures of treating cystic fibrosis was impressive too. And the way she described the struggle of the patient himself with each step was phenomenal.
The style and language of the Dakota son were simple and almost with no grammar and spelling errors free. The plot structure was solid and smooth, with no plot holes in general. The plot was fast paced which make the Dakota son a page-turner despite lengthy chapters; I did not like the chapter length. However, it has many dialogues and scenes I found them the lengthy some time, and I wished many chapters were shorter or at least divided.
I have to agree, even though I really thought my chapters were of average length at the time. 😛
Speaking of length:
Somehow I got this review by a Top 100 reviewer:
California author Mary Ramsey served in the United States Air Force and has a BA degree in Cinema and now is a blogger, artist, and writer. Her characters are grounded in her fondness for unique superheroes—underrepresented minorities, LGBTQ, abuse victims, and so on. Mary lives in San Francisco.
Mary is one sensitive author – and person – and she shares that treasured trait with her readers in this deeply touching novel. She understands the implications of serious chronic illness and how life under constant stress affects not only the victim but also those surrounding the victim. She also champions the endurance and strength of the human spirit and how that factor can draw out the best in others as well as provide faith in the victim.
The primary character, Dakota son, is Sean Foster, a North Dakota teenager who lives with cystic fibrosis, a disease that permanently damages the lungs. He copes with his illness and constant hospital visits with the help of his sister, Sara, and his girlfriend, Jen. While Sean battles with cystic fibrosis and is a heroic figure, he is also very flawed and fights against the self-pity that consumes him as he copes with his illness and the aftermath of being bullied at school. Sean is devastated when his true love, Jen, and her disabled military veteran father, Diego, who is abused by his wife, move to California. Sean decides to defy his mother and follow Jen to California, which changes Sean’s life in ways he couldn’t imagine. Add the character of Remy, Sean’s holistic nurse with a talent for healing wounded souls, and the story takes on a spiritual, near supernatural twist.
Written in eloquent prose, DAKOTA SON is a superb novel by a fresh and very gifted writer. Highly Recommended.
Next, this one is my current favorite since it really describes what I was going for with Dakota Son (much better than my AuthorHouse blurb…)-
Dakota Son by Mary Ramsey covers a lot of ground and a lot of different topics. Chronic disease, LGBTQ issues, ghosts, and a host of other issues and difficult familial situations. All of these things are rolled into an interesting tale that follows Sean Foster who has cystic fibrosis. Living with a chronic illness all his life, you may think that Sean doesn’t have an exciting life, but that certainly changes in this book when he meets and falls in love with Jen. Jen has a complicated family history, one which Sean can’t help but get involved in. From there the story expands to include overcoming all kinds of adversity, not only from a horrible disease, but in Sean helping out a desperate situation in Jen’s family. This is a well written, emotionally thoughtful book that will appeal to YA audiences, along with science fiction fans, paranormal fans, and LGBTQ. The author has done a great job of creating memorable and realistic characters, along with a plot that moves solidly along. Highly recommend.
This latest one that appeared just this month:
I found this book very interesting considering that my daughter and son in law both carry the cystic fibrosis gene and my grandchildren could have very well had the disease. The story is interesting and provides the reader with look at how Sean suffering from chronic illness, self-pity at times, learns to deal with his illness, and his struggles of living with cystic fibrosis and eventual death. The story highlights the character journey and how he live his life. The reader learns that as bad as his life is other may have it worse. The story provides the reader with a look at how the Sean his sister, and Jenn try to discover a way to make sure his short life is filled with everything that can enhance his life and we see the people that helped along the way. The story reveals Sean’s struggles with his mother over going to California and how he deals with life, bullying and love. I found the structure of the story solid and smooth. The story was well paced which make the Dakota son a page turner in spite of lengthy chapters.
Check them all out on Amazon:
