I enjoyed this book; it was an easy read. It was a little different than most Christian books. I enjoyed this debut novel; writing was quite a change from his previous vocation (janitor). Good job, JJ. ( )

I found the beginning quite confusing--it seemed like the plot jumped around and wasn't very clear. Once James and Leigh met and began dating, the plot smoothed out and the read became easier.

I'm glad James (the main character) had so many people in his life who believed in him and encouraged him to continue on. I thought his self-doubts were a bit overdone (I was getting tired of reading the sequence of he's up, no he's down, no he's up again.) though the trials of getting published was realistic (the rejections etc.) When his big break did come, it seemed too contrived. (His debut novel and out of the blue, he gets everything he wanted.) I think most writers will empathize with James's goals and his experience with the publishing world. ( )

I received this ebook through the LibraryThing Member Giveaway program. I started the book not really knowing if I was going to like it or not. Sometimes a book seems a little slow in the beginning and then it just kinda grabs you and doesn't let go - this is what this one did to me. Unconventional is the story of an average Joe named James Frost. He is a school janitor who dreams of being a great writer. It is an inspirational tale of a man's struggle and determination to succeed. It is not everyday that you find a story that is filled with such emotion. I was totally blown away by it.
I applaud the author, J.J Hebert on this beautiful story, and I highly recommend it to anyone. ( )

`Unconventional' by J.J. Herbert was a confusing read for me. Parts of the storylines were gripping and Kindle page turning but others were boring and there were too many story lines for me.

James Frost, the main character is a janitor for a school. He could have gone to college but he passed that up saying that he wanted to be "unconventional". He wanted to be a great writer. His parents divorced and his sister went with her mother to live. He chose to live with his father. But his father is very poor at communicating with his son. His girlfriend broke up with him and is not confident that he will ever find another one. He has no self-confidence, he feels ashamed of himself most of the time. To me, this is enough.

But the author added more story lines, some were interesting but it was difficult going from one to another, the author needed transition. This could have been a romance, a family oriented novel or a religious one. There is a lot of repetition.

At one point, I was tempted to give up. The author also includes great advice on editing but he did not take his own advice. If he had cut some of the story lines out, cut out all repetition, and put in transitions where they are needed, it would be a much better book.

Do I recommend this book? Yes, but I think it is most valuable to beginning writers on what not to do and what to do. If the author wrote one coherent story that was well edited it would be very successful. ( )

"UNCONVENTIONAL" BY J.J. HEBERT

This novel spoke to me, being an aspiring author myself there is so much to learn contained in this one book. It says a lot about positive thinking and that you have to believe in yourself before anyone else will believe in you. It also speaks about the power of faith and how it can change your life for the better. James Frost is a struggling artist, a wonderful writer that is repeatedly rejected by publishing companies and editors that think his story is just not good enough. He goes through multiple re-writes as he moves through life meeting people that inspire and some that try to keep him down.

Coming close to giving up on several occasions he keeps in mind all that he's learned from his mentors Mitch, the father that James' father could never quite be, Arthur, the editor willing to help him muddle through the hard times and offer never ending support and help, Meranda, the adopted grandmother/accomplished writer that has a problem only James can seem to understand, and Leigh, the woman that loves him unconditionally and breaks through the vicious cycle of parental control to stick by the man she loves. This book was simply remarkable one of the best I've read in a long time.

I would recommend this book to everyone, but especially to those that seek inspiration to carry on with their dreams and never give up!

-Kitty Bullard / Great Minds Think Aloud Book Club ( )