Review : Plus One by Elizabeth Fama

Summary (from Goodreads)
 
Title : Plus One
Author : Elizabeth Fama
Publication Date : April 8th 2014
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux 
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

Divided by day and night and on the run from authorities, star-crossed young lovers unearth a sinister conspiracy in this compelling romantic thriller.

Seventeen-year-old Soleil Le Coeur is a Smudge—a night dweller prohibited by law from going out during the day. When she fakes an injury in order to get access to and kidnap her newborn niece—a day dweller, or Ray—she sets in motion a fast-paced adventure that will bring her into conflict with the powerful lawmakers who order her world, and draw her together with the boy she was destined to fall in love with, but who is also a Ray.

Set in a vivid alternate reality and peopled with complex, deeply human characters on both sides of the day-night divide, Plus One is a brilliantly imagined drama of individual liberty and civil rights, and a fast-paced romantic adventure story.

Personal Thoughts

Despite not having read Elizabeth Fama's debut novel, I was quite excited to read Plus One, because her writing had received rave reviews. I went into Plus One, hoping it would blow me away. Unfortunately, that didn't happen and I was left rather disappointed with the story.

Sol started off being a character I truly enjoyed. She was brave and loyal. Her devotion to her grandpa was a quality I admired about her. However, my opinion of her took a sharp turn when she decides to kidnap a baby, run with this baby under her shirt for I don't know how long and then come back home and put him in a kitchen drawer. That just baffled me. I've never had a child before but even I know that can't be safe. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to know that. It's called common sense. My opinion of her didn't really change over the course of the book because she would make some poor choices without thinking of the consequences and she would proceed to repeat the same mistakes again. Now, D'Arcy, on the other hand, I quite liked. He was a sweet love interest who was very much supportive of Sol. I only wish we had gotten to know him on a much more deeper level than just through Sol's eyes. As for the secondary characters, I was indifferent towards all of them and I didn't particularly care about their situations.

While the concept of Plus One is interesting and quite intriguing, with the Day and Night divide, the foundations of the world-building was quite shaky. I didn't feel like it was as complex and detailed as I wanted it to be. The history of how the world came about to be was also wobbly and could have done with some more development. As for the plot, I started out being entertained by the level of intensity the story seemed to have, but as I flew through the pages, I realized how nothing was really happening and how simple and kind of silly the plot was. I also thought everything wrapped rather quickly and I never felt as connected to the story as I probably should have been. The romance, though, was an aspect of this novel I enjoyed because it was sweet and there were some swoon-worthy moments, especially from D'Arcy's side.

In the end, I was left downhearted by Plus One. I wanted to love it, but I didn't. Plus One is most definitely not an awful book, but I think my expectations for it were a little high, leading to my disappointment. While it wasn't exactly the book for me, I hope that other readers find redeemable qualities to it because Fama is a promising author. 

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 2/5
Characters : 3/5
Writing : 3/5

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for the e-ARC of Plus One.