The String of Fate

Giving out one star reviews is no fun, I'm not trying to be mean spirited - but this read as a first draft of a fan fiction or a middle school fantasy. It just didn't cut it for me. Some people may be into that kind of thing, but not me. Sarah Gibson met the love of her life at just fourteen years old. He moved away and they don't see each other again (why they couldn't talk on the phone or email or catch up on social media is never discussed) until four years later on a plane. Sarah has just graduated high school and is trying to find a job after deciding she can't afford college. She gets an email which she thinks may be spam but turns out to be a life changing gift. She has been chosen to represent America (how?!? she is an average teen who plays violin and does nothing else) on a reality television show called The Castle of Challenges in Paris France. When she boards the plane bound for France she runs into Andrew, her true love from four years past. It turns out he is also a contestant on the show and is representing Spain. Why he is on her plane in Indianapolis makes no sense (why would he fly from Spain to Indianapolis to go back to Paris!?!), but there are also other contestants from other European countries on this plane?!? That alone made my head hurt and it only got worse from there. The writing is extremely juvenile and these contestants act like they are middle schoolers rather than young adults (they all appear to be between 18 and 20 but the ages aren't ever really discussed). The challenges are weird, half the time it doesn't seem like they are even on a game show, and the romance between Andrew and Sarah (that is forbidden because of show rules) is so obvious it makes no sense how none of the other characters would ever suspect it. There is also a weird supernatural element that gets thrown in with all the bad nightmares Sarah has every time a contestant gets booted off the show that just doesn't vibe with the whole story. Spooning and kissing turns into "forking" in one off the page sex scene (why?!). And also we are expected to believe that Sarah is a master fighter and can beat up anyone and dodge knives - even though she is just an average teen from Indiana. There were so many plot holes and weird dialogue and it was just overall 100% too unbelievable. There just needed to be a lot better editing.