Subject: review for _When the Bough Breaks_

From: Sean Eric Fagan <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1993 16:37:38 GMT

_When the Bough Breaks_
by Mercedes Lackey and Holly Lisle.
Review by Sean Eric Fagan

WtBB is the third book in the SERRAted edge series (the other two being
_Born to Run_, by Lackey and Larry Dixon, and _Wheels of Fire_, by Lackey
and Mark Sheperd).

I'm not really cut out to review this book impartially; all three books deal
with children who are abused, one way or the other, and this one deals with
sexual abuse, something I can't distance myself from enough.  So I don't
know if my reaction to this book is because of the topic, or because it was
good writing.

But I liked the book.  The second book, WoF, was obviously written largely
by Mark Sheperd, as the writing and story were not something Lackey would
have written herself.  This book, also, may have been largely written by the
junior collaborator (Lisle, in this case), as there are large parts of it
that do not have a "Lackey" feel to it.

I would have to say that this is a recommended book, if you are a Lackey
fan.  It was well worth the few dollars I paid for it today.  There were
times when I could not put the book down; and other times when I *had* to,
because I was getting too worked up.  Like BtR, it's got humour (some
subtle, some slapstick), battles, magic, elves (of course :)), human mages,
fast cars, and chase scenes.  And, of course, the helpful ghost.

And a side note:  the other two forms of child abuse in the previous two
books were not as moving, at least for me, as this book's was, due to a lack
of clarification and detail in the first book, and a lack of talent in the
second book.  This one, however, had me calling a local number for a teen
shelter and donating money to it.  So, in that respect, if no other, the
authors succeeded in their goal.

%T _When the Bough Breaks_
%A Mercedes Lackey and Holly Lisle
%D 1993
%I Baen Books
%P 279 pages
%G ISBN 0-671-72154-2

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