Hello everybody! How are you today? Thanks for stopping by and checking out Joyful Antidotes. I have a book from an indie author that I’d like to share.

Chasing Rainbows NYC by Eve Wing focuses on Ariella, a writing teacher who is also focusing on her own novel. Ariella has relationships with Jessie and Gael, two men who definitely are not the best catch. One morning, while out on her daily run, Ariella is murdered. The question is: who did it and why?

The most interesting part of Chasing Rainbows NYC, for me, was Ariella. She was a character I couldn’t figure out and that made her intriguing. It is hard to know much about her besides her job, her relationships with Jessie and Gael, and the minor friendships she seems to have. Sometimes I found her to be the figure of an anti-feminist; it is quite obvious that her actions are led by the will of the men in her life and she has a strong need to always be with a man. On the other hand, she seems to like her relationships the way they are. Although she often longs for more from Jessie and Gael, when they get too close she sometimes pushes them away.

The author gives the impression that Ariella is a sex addict happy just having sex with these men. Sometimes I agreed with that but other times I thought there is more to it. There were times that I felt she was depressed and these desires were coming from the need to fill a void in her life. However, the reader never learns enough about Ariella’s life to establish this, bar a small hint that her mother was abused in the past. I felt that the author’s writing style was also designed to keep us at bay from learning more and preventing us from ever truly figuring out Ariella.

Admittedly, it did take me a while to get into Chasing Rainbows NYC and there were times I felt like I was coming off the track. For instance, the first chapter is rather rushed and it takes the next few chapters for the reader to realize that they have entered into flashback scenes. Also, there were times it felt like the skewed. Overall, this book had a protagonist different from my usual and it was interesting to see how she developed. Do you think this is something that would also interest you?

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.