Title: A World in Blue
Author: Danni Maxwell
Publisher: NineStar Press
Length: 64 Pages
Category: Contemporary
At a Glance: A World in Blue is an adorable little story and a promising debut from this young author. It wasn’t perfect, I would absolutely recommend it as a fun, quick read!
Reviewed By: Jules
Blurb: At just eighteen years old, Oliver was offered a publishing deal. The very same day, he lost his mother to suicide. Two years later, he encounters a tall, dark, and handsome stranger. Never thinking he would write again, he is inspired once more.
Just as Oliver is launched into fame from the success of his book, the handsome stranger comes back into his life. His name is Blue and he happens to be flirting with Oliver.
Review: This one was cute, you guys. I want to quickly point out a couple of things, though. First, the book is categorized by NineStar Press as New Adult. Which, I guess since the characters range in age from eighteen to just over twenty, it technically is. But, to me it read much more like a YA book. It was much more innocent and sweet and, basically, sex-free, if that’s important to you, than most books that are tagged as New Adult. It wasn’t an issue for me; I absolutely love YA books. But, I know some folks just don’t read them. So, there’s that. And, second, I have just a tiny little niggle with the blurb. The blurb insinuates that Oliver’s encounter with the tall, dark, and handsome stranger is what inspires him to write again, and makes it sound like some super significant chunk of time passes before he sees him again, but that isn’t actually how it happens in the book. Not a huge deal, but I thought a bit misleading.
Since this is a short story, I’m going to say very little about the storyline. Oliver’s first experience as a published author came about when he was only eighteen and was not a good experience, to say the least. He was totally taken advantage of, and he couldn’t wait to turn in the final book owed the publisher and not have anything to do with writing ever again. He can’t help but be a writer, however, and secretly completes several manuscripts but keeps them hidden. Eventually he’s found out, of course, and becomes a published author once again. But this time Ollie is surrounded by people that genuinely care about him, and it makes all the difference.
A World in Blue by Danni Maxwell is an adorable little story and a promising debut from this young author. It was a little melancholy in places—Ollie loses his mother at the very beginning of the story, and keenly feels her loss throughout—but mostly it was very sweet and quirky, and made me smile. Also, I had mixed feelings about the length, to be honest… On the one hand I felt like the characters could have been a bit more developed, and that the relationship between the MCs definitely could have been fleshed out more. But, on the other hand I feel like, as a short story, it did exactly the job the author wanted it to do. I connected with Oliver on some level, I cared about what happened to him and was rooting for him the entire way. And, I have nothing but hearty eyes for Blue. I loved him bunches. The story wasn’t perfect; it was a bit repetitive at times (I get that it’s important that the eyes were blue, but…), and I really do think I might have enjoyed it even more if Ollie and Blue were given a bit more depth as a couple. But, I would absolutely recommend it as a fun, quick read!
You can buy A World in Blue here:
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