If I Speak True

I loved it!

ARC kindly provided by Jessica L. Brooks in exchange for an honest review.

Review
First thing you should know about ‘If I Speak True’: it was a MAJOR attention grabber. I mean, who doesn’t love dreamy princes from different worlds? You can even see it in the blurb! And if you haven’t guessed by now, I ABSOLUTLEY LOVED IT. As in her debut novel, ‘Pity Isn’t an Option’, Jessica L. Brooks delivered and I know this because this is my SECOND novel by her.
Quick fun fact: the yellow flower you see on the cover is actually a dahlia, so Dahlia Kennedy is named after a FLOWER!
The first thing that absolutely thrilled me was EVERY DARN TIME that Dahlia Kennedy starts dreaming about her prince, Rowan Rochfort, I get this really weird sense of satisfaction which flows through me. The whole time I was reading the novel, I just COULDN’T WAIT till the part she meets him again. I stayed up till 1 am (which is pretty late for me as I tend to be a zombie in the mornings if I don’t get enough sleep)!! There was also this whole mystery going on in the novel that made my heart beat slightly faster; especially when it is just Dahlia and Rowan. *swooooooons*
Ok, so there was a point in the book when I seriously questioned whether this book might be a bit like Beauty and the Beast, but I don’t know if it’s just me. You’ll know what I mean when you get to the part. I remember thinking, if it was, I would jump into the air and just plain out SQUEAL!
The second thing that stood out about ‘If I Speak True’ was it’s really good plot. I loved the whole idea that surrounded it. Of course this might be a bit of a drawback for some people, but, yes, the novel did have clichés. For me, I loved having the clichés in the book. They just made the book, enticing, somehow…
Dahlia, Rowan and all the other characters were really sophisticated and well established. I loved their variety and how they weren’t archetypical as well as their dynamic characteristics.
Talking about Dahlia and Rowan: I loved, Loved, LOVED that they didn’t experience instant-love like sooooooooo many characters nowadays, but they actually FELL in love. Whoops, spoiler alert! But you guys knew that they were going to, anyways.
This novel is written in first-person, so if you have anything about ‘the unreliability of seeing the world through first-person narration’, this one is not for you. I felt like it brought me closer to Dahlia, but maybe that’s just me. It really helped me visualize her world.
Sadly, there were a few typos here and there, but only a couple. The grammar was EXCELLENT though, and so was the spelling. Unfortunately, you sometimes see poor grammar in some independently published novels – but not in this one!
Congratulations to Jessica L. Brooks on independently publishing a novel – can’t wait for more of this series!

Rating Plan
1 star : Strongly did not like the book, writing and plot was bad. Idea of the book was against my liking.
2 star : Didn't like it, didn't find it interesting or gripping. Seemed to drag on to me.
3 star : An average book. Wasn't bad or good. Everything else was well done. Original idea.
4 star : Like a 3 star but has potential to it as a series or the book grew on me as it progressed and certain scenes captured me. I Enjoyed it and read it in one sitting.
5 star : I LOVED IT! I stayed up late until 3 am. Author is a genius, characters, plot, idea, development, EVERYTHING was EXCELLENT. Nothing else can possibly be said except that its 5 STAR!