What the Storyteller Brings

by: Robin Y. Demby

Published by: Booklocker.com, Inc.

Reviewed by Jill Stovall

What the Storyteller Brings kept me in a state of constant confusion. I paged back and forth to pick up the time frame and relevant details, and this detracted from the flow and my immersion and acceptance of what was happening in “real time” and in “story time.”

A high school girl tells weekly stories to her close-knit group of misfit friends. Students that the girls are jealous of, or have crushes on, begin to have similar experiences in real life. Many of these experiences are deeply disturbing as they include violence, sexual encounters, a Columbine-like scene in the school cafeteria, kidnapping by a sect that only wants virgins (they are murdered if found to be otherwise), and a drive-by shooting. Discrepancies in the setting and characteristics and emotional reactions of the teenagers were a drawback. Believability was always an issue.

Then by way of a time machine the story segues into another confusing fantasy world composed of many of the people that populated the original stories. The author often comes across as pedantic and the cover of the book is disturbing. Text font was equally distracting to me.

Armchair Interviews says: This book would have benefited from professional editing for flow, content and accuracy.