Book Review: RoseBlood

Release Date: January 10, 2017
Author: A.G. Howard
Publisher: Amulet Books
Length: 432 pages
Source: Gifted ARC

In this modern day spin on Leroux’s gothic tale of unrequited love turned to madness, seventeen-year-old Rune Germain has a mysterious affliction linked to her operatic talent, and a horrifying mistake she’s trying to hide. Hoping creative direction will help her, Rune’s mother sends her to a French arts conservatory for her senior year, located in an opera house rumored to have ties to The Phantom of the Opera.

At RoseBlood, Rune secretly befriends the masked Thorn—an elusive violinist who not only guides her musical transformation through dreams that seem more real than reality itself, but somehow knows who she is behind her own masks. As the two discover an otherworldly connection and a soul-deep romance blossoms, Thorn’s dark agenda comes to light and he’s forced to make a deadly choice: lead Rune to her destruction, or face the wrath of the phantom who has haunted the opera house for a century, and is the only father he’s ever known.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Rune Germain is possessed by music. As a child, she loved to sing with her father as he played the violin, but since his death, the music has drained her after every performance. Her mother wants her to cultivate her talent, but Rune just wants to be free of the compulsion to sing nearly every female sung aria she hears. When her mother sends her to RoseBlood, a French arts conservatory, Rune is afraid to get close to the people, but there's someone watching Rune, someone who can help her overcome her possession and master the music, but this person has a dark past and a connection to the infamous Phantom, who has his own plans for Rune. On the whole, I really liked Rune. She's a mostly flawed and broken character who has the best of intentions. Over the course of the story we see her come out of her shell and grow both in her talent, and also in her self-confidence and social skills. One of the things I really enjoyed about Rune's character development was how she discovers parts of herself alongside the reader helping to really bond her and the reader together.

Romance: This, the romance, is the only real downside of this story for me. The things that truly sucks, though, is that I really like both Rune and her love interest, Thorn, and in fact, even though it took me a while, I really like them together. The part of this romance that I absolutely despise, is the circumstances that lead to their romances, particularly the tropes associated with it that I either hate, have become bored with, or I felt weren't utilized correctly. There's a lot of telling when it comes to the romance and while there is some showing it's few and far between. I felt like the author was hinging everything on a soul mate storyline for the two, and so there was a lot of reiteration that they are soulmates and they have this incredible unbreakable bond without every really backing that up with seen evidence. Like I said, I did get around to rooting for this couple and whenever the narration would go on and on about how destined the two lovers are I'd start to skim, but still the romance could have been handled a lot better.

World Building: I've never read or seen The Phantom of the Opera. I know it's iconic and, going into this retelling/spin-off/continuation, I had a basic idea of the premise, but because of how much this story is steeped in the lore and real-world inspirations for the tale, I decided to look up the plots for both the book and the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical online, and I'm so happy I did that. While I could see myself enjoying the story regardless of if I'd looked up the plot of the source material or not, I feel I have a deeper understanding than I would have if I hadn't. This story incorporated so many fantastic elements from the original story while weaving a new paralleled tale. I greatly enjoyed the author's spin and expansion of the story and how she incorporated outside elements (I feel I have to be vague to avoid spoilers) to deepen the world building and story even more.

Predictability: I have a love/hate relationship with the amount of foreshadowing in this book. On the one hand, I love it because it shrouds many elements of the story and the characters in a layer of mystery and never really supplies substantial clues as to what's going on so when those reveals come they hit you with a full force. On the other hand, I hate it because I felt like I wasn't teased enough and with me already not enjoying the romance as much as I wanted to there were a couple of times when I contemplated taking a long break from the book, possibly never coming back to it. (Not because I'd DNF it, but more because I'd get caught up in another story and eventually forget about it.)

Ending: I always hate saying that the ending is my favorite part because I feel as though I'm saying I'm happy the book's over, however, that's most definitely not the case here. Most of the really juicy mysteries of this story aren't revealed until the ending, before the final climax, and this ending really delivered a lot of shocking moments. As we got closer and closer to the final climax things just kept getting more intense. The final climax itself wasn't exactly what I expected, but it was still enthralling all the same. As for how the story ended, without giving away spoilers, I'm happy with how it ended. There is a trope in the final chapter I'm not a huge fan of, but I'm willing to overlook it since I did enjoy the rest of the epilogue-esque ending that ties up pretty much every loose end.

Rating:

Even with how much I DESPISED the romance for a good long portion of this story, by the end, I was debating whether or not to give this book either four or four and a half stars. I decided to go with four since my lack of interest and loathing of the romance did significantly affect my enjoyment of this story, however as for the plot itself, leaving out my feelings on the romance, I'd give this book five stars all the way!

Blog Tour Book Spotlight: Useless Bay

Release Date: October 18, 2016
Author: M.J. Beaufrand
Publisher: Amulet Books
Length: 240

A gritty, psychological thriller about a mythic set of sixteen-year-old quintuplets searching for a young boy.

On Whidbey Island, the Gray quintuplets are the stuff of legend. Pixie and her brothers have always been bigger and blonder than their neighbors, as if they were birthed from the island itself. Together, they serve as an unofficial search-and-rescue team for the island, saving tourists and locals alike from the forces of wind and sea. But, when a young boy goes missing, the mysteries start to pile up. While searching for him, they find his mother’s dead body instead—and realize that something sinister is in their midst. Edgar-nominated author M. J. Beaufrand has crafted another atmospheric thriller with a touch of magical realism that fans of mystery and true crime will devour.

Buy Links:

    

About the Author:

Mary Jane grew up in Gresham, Oregon. She’s a graduate of Wellesley College and has an MFA from the Bennington Writing Program. Currently, she lives in Seattle with her husband, two children, and dogs. In the eighties, she had a bad perm.

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Goodreads

Giveaway:

Giveaway Details:
3 winners will receive a finished copy of USELESS BAY. US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

10/10/2017- The Autumn Bookshelf- Interview

10/11/2017- Zach's YA Reviews- Spotlight

10/12/2017- The Alchemy of Ink- Review

10/13/2017- Bean's Bookshelf and Coffee Break- Review

10/14/2017- Curling Up With A Good Book- Interview

Week Two:

10/17/2017- Michelle4Laughs: It's in the Details- Excerpt

10/18/2017- In a bookish world- Excerpt

10/19/2017- The Bookworm Central- Review

10/20/2017- Eli to the nth- Review

10/21/2017- Owl Always Be Reading- Excerpt

Book Review: The Architect of Song (The Haunted Hearts Saga #1)

Release Date: August 15, 2016
Author: A.G. Howard
Publisher: Golden Orb Press
Length: 425 pages
Source: Review Copy from Author

A lady imprisoned by deafness, an architect imprisoned by his past, and a ghost imprisoned within the petals of a flower - intertwine in this love story that transcends life and death.

For most of her life, nineteen-year-old Juliet Emerline has subsisted – isolated by deafness – making hats in the solitude of her home. Now, she’s at risk to lose her sanctuary to Lord Nicolas Thornton, a twenty-seven-year-old mysterious and eccentric architect with designs on her humble estate. When she secretly witnesses him raging beside a grave, Juliet investigates, finding the name “Hawk” on the headstone and an unusual flower at the base. The moment Juliet touches the petals, a young English nobleman appears in ghostly form, singing a song only her deaf ears can hear. The ghost remembers nothing of his identity or death, other than the one name that haunts his afterlife: Thornton.

To avenge her ghostly companion and save her estate, Juliet pushes aside her fear of society and travels to Lord Thornton’s secluded holiday resort, posing as a hat maker in one of his boutiques. There, she finds herself questioning who to trust: the architect of flesh and bones who can relate to her through romantic gestures, heartfelt notes, and sensual touches … or the specter who serenades her with beautiful songs and ardent words, touching her mind and soul like no other man ever can. As sinister truths behind Lord Thornton’s interest in her estate and his tie to Hawk come to light, Juliet is lured into a web of secrets. But it’s too late for escape, and the tragic love taking seed in her heart will alter her silent world forever.

International and NYT bestselling author, A.G. Howard, brings her darkly magical and visual/visceral storytelling to Victorian England. The Architect of Song is the first installment in her lush and romantic Haunted Hearts Legacy series, a four book gothic saga following the generations of one family as - haunted by both literal and figurative ghosts - they search for self-acceptance, love, and happiness.

  

Review:

Protagonist: Juliet, who at a young age grew deaf after a terrible illness, now feels the fresh grief of losing her mother, and to make matters worse some viscount has his eyes set on her family home without any clear reason. Soon after her mother's funeral Juliet, overcome with grief and something unexplainable steals a flower from a grave simply marked "Hawk" upon returning home she finds that but touching the flowers petals she can see and, miraculously, hear the ghost of the man who's headstone is labeled "Hawk." Hawk remembers nothing of his life, only that he is in some way connected to Lord Nicholas Thornton, the man who seeks to by Juliet's home. In search of the truth of what happened to Hawk, Juliet grows closer to Lord Thornton and learns more about him and his connection with Hawk, her world, and her heart, will never be the same. I really, really liked Juliet as our narrator. She's a strong and intelligent girl and while she's a bit shy and reclusive at first as the story develops she comes out of her shell and grows into someone who's not afraid to show who she is to the world.

Romance: I am very split on this romance. It doesn't start as a love triangle at first, though there are clear markers in the story that practically scream at you that one is on the way, and while Juliet and Hawk stay more or less sequestered from the world their romance is incredibly compelling. Their chemistry is very well written and described and because they aren't tied down by societal expectations, Hawk being a ghost and whatnot, their romance blooms quickly yet, gratefully, still believably. Then Juliet follows Lord Thornton to his holiday resort to gain more information about hawks past and things really start to blur. Lord Thornton, a man, who in Juliet's eyes, only wants her estate, is shown to be kind and caring, while her spectral lover grows more and more jealous and possessive. I won't say who Juliet ends up with, but I will say that, despite all of my aggravation over this love triangle, by the end, I actually came around to why certain things had to be the way they were.

World Building: Going into this story I was fairly blind to the plot. I knew that it had some paranormal aspect to it and that is was a New Adult story by A.G. Howard so, having enjoyed her Splintered series as much as I did, I was all in. First off I love the historical aspect of this story. A gothic Victorian love story filled with ghost, secrets, and vengeance is more than enough to entice most readers. I love how vividly Howard can bring a world to life and on top of that it's a world virtually without any sound. One thing I kind of have to bring up is that I kept forgetting that Juliet is deaf since she is so adept at reading lips and can hear her spectral visitor it doesn't come up as often as I expected so during the times it does I usually found myself forgetting her deafness. Finally, if I have one large complaint about this book it would be it's pacing. It's not that the book is boring or anything, it's more that there are stretches where things could have gone smoother or faster. Things that could have easily been condensed. I found it hard to read the book as quickly as I normally do spending nearly five days just getting through the first half and after that, it did pick up though if I wasn't trying to get this review up by today I may have taken longer breaks every six chapters or so.

Predictability: There are surprisingly so many mysteries in this story. First is the most obvious which is what happened to Hawk that led to his premature death and what is his connection with Lord Thornton? The latter question we actually get answered within the first third or so of the book, though there are unseen mysteries attached to various parts of the stories. It's funny though early on in the story I had a theory of sorts, one completely and overly complicated, that explained something that wasn't even a mystery, more a general wondering, and funnily enough I was right, though the answer was much more simplistic than my convoluted theory. There were things though that I never quite caught onto and that gave me a great and wonderful shock to discover.

Ending: While this is the first in a series, it's not a traditional series. This is a series of companion novels tied together with a similar thread. That means that this book, for the most part, wraps everything up by the end of the book. Whenever I come across a book that wraps the story up I often consider the idealism in the ending, or lack thereof. While this book doesn't exactly have the most idealistic ending, I'd say that there were a few things that I felt were just a little too idealistic for my tastes, though I will say since this is a paranormal novel nothing's really impossible.

Rating:

So, because of the slow pacing and slightly too idealistic ending I cannot in good faith give this book five stars, but that doesn't mean this story isn't awesome. If you're a fan of dark mysteries and with a Victorian setting I'd say this is the book for you!

Book Review: The Star-Touched Queen

Release Date: April 26, 2016
Author: Roshani Chokshi
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Length: 352 pages
Source: eGalley via NetGalley

Cursed with a horoscope that promises a marriage of Death and Destruction, sixteen-year-old Maya has only earned the scorn and fear of her father's kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her world is upheaved when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. But when her wedding takes a fatal turn, Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Yet neither roles are what she expected. As Akaran's queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar's wife, she finds friendship and warmth.

But Akaran has its own secrets - thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Beneath Akaran's magic, Maya begins to suspect her life is in danger. When she ignores Amar's plea for patience, her discoveries put more than new love at risk - it threatens the balance of all realms, human and Otherworldly.

Now, Maya must confront a secret that spans reincarnated lives and fight her way through the dangerous underbelly of the Otherworld if she wants to protect the people she loves.

Inspired by Indian mythology.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Maya has lived her whole life under a dark cloud. Because of the horoscope she was assigned at birth, people treat her differently. She's looked down upon by the other women in her father's harem and even by most of her siblings. After a few near fatal series of events she finds herself married to Amar and queen of a country she's never heard of, and has to trust in Amar to tell her things when the time is right. For the most part I really liked the character of Maya, she's strong willed and wise, but she still has flaws. She has trust issues that pretty much are the cause of the main drama in this book. Overall though I really liked her development as a character even if there were times when things seemed to move forward too quickly.

Romance: At first this romance moves fairly slow. Things are handled delicately and I really started to root for Maya and Amar, then pretty much everything went to hell. I don't mind a bit of adversity and hardship in the relationships I read about, in fact I prefer it as it usually makes for a more realistic and enjoyable romance, however the way the adversity of this romance was done really weird. I'll try and explain with as few spoiler as possible, but essentially toward the middle of this book the drama surrounding this romance come to a head before I've definitively decided how I feel one way or another, and then I'm just kind of told what to feel, and it made for a really uneven romance.

World-Building: So I don't know that much about Indian mythology, in fact I'm pretty sure I knew nothing at all before going into this book and I'm not sure how much this is inspired by the mythology or if it actually takes stories and concepts from the mythology itself. Either way though the world building of this book was done really well. The journey Maya goes on, the things she sees, everything just sort of comes together and meshes well. The world is large and vibrant and the mythological spin put on it made this an unforgettable fantasy standalone.

Predictability: So I'd say for about the first half of this book or so I felt like I knew where things wer going, I knew what to expect in terms of twists and turns this book would take. Then things got really cloudy. Much like Maya I had some trust issues with characters, trust issues that weren't completely explained, but I digress. The second part of this book is very different from the first and while it's not hard to predict how basic and vague concepts would go, there were still a lot of smaller things that surprised me going into the end of this book.

Ending: So there's a lot to this ending. First off there's a lot that's explained and questions that have just been festering for a lot of the book finally get answered right before the final climax. The final climax was a bit of let down. Things just happened way too quickly and easily and I would have really loved more of a fight or more a struggle to get there, at least a physical struggle, not an emotional one. Since this is a standalone everything is neatly tied up, though I sort of hope the author returns to this world, there still seems to be much to explore in this world, even if it's not about these specific characters.

Rating:

There's a lot about this book that I loved and if you're looking for a great standalone fantasy novel, look no further than this one. However I wasn't all that jazzed about the uneven romance and there were still a couple of things left a bit unclear by the end.

Book Review: The Prophecy of Shadows (Elementals #1)

Release Date: January 26, 2016
Author: Michelle Madow
Publisher: Dreamscape Publishing
Length: 199 pages
Source: Review Copy via NetGalley

Filled with magic, thrilling adventure, and sweet romance, Elementals is the first in a new series that fans of Percy Jackson and The Secret Circle will love!

When Nicole Cassidy moves from sunny Georgia to gloomy New England, the last thing she expects is to learn that her homeroom is a cover for a secret coven of witches. Even more surprisingly … she’s apparently a witch herself. Despite doubts about her newfound abilities, Nicole is welcomed into this ancient circle of witches and is bedazzled by their powers—and, to her dismay, by Blake—the school’s notorious bad-boy.

Girls who get close to Blake wind up hurt. His girlfriend Danielle will do anything to keep them away, even if she must resort to using dark magic. But the chemistry between Blake and Nicole is undeniable, and despite wanting to protect Nicole from Danielle’s wrath, he finds it impossible to keep his distance.

When the Olympian Comet shoots through the sky for the first time in three thousand years, Nicole, Blake, Danielle, and two others in their homeroom are gifted with mysterious powers. But the comet has another effect—it opens the portal to the prison world that has contained the Titans for centuries. After an ancient monster escapes and attacks Nicole and Blake, it’s up to them and the others to follow the clues from a cryptic prophecy so that they can save their town … and possibly the world.

    

Review:

Protagonist: So when Nicole moves to New England, the last thing she expected to find at her new school was a homeroom full of witches, what's even more shocking is that according to them she's a witch too! Honestly, I'm not too sure how much I liked Nicole. I mean, she's an enjoyable character, and she definitely has her moments where if I were watching a movie I'd pump my fist in the air, but I felt like a lot of who she is was sucked up by her near obsession with Blake. I'll get to the romance in a bit, but I just wish that I was able to connect with her character better, because, as will probably be a theme with this review, she has so much potential.

Romance: The romance in this book is fairly straight forward, or at least there aren't two guys vying for Nicole's affections. From the moment she sees Blake, there's this instant connection that's hard for her to shake and worse yet, he has a girlfriend. The thing is though while I wanted to like this love story, I really did, I had a hard time feeling any chemistry between the characters, there was no real romantic tension and most of the time I just felt like I was told that they liked each other rather than feeling it for myself. Unfortunately I'm getting bored with the whole bad boy with a heart of gold cliche and since I went into this book knowing that was a part of the story I really only had myself to blame.

World-Building: So, this book held a lot of promise and while I wasn't completely bored or annoyed with it it had a lot of problems, but let's focus on the good for now. The magic system in this book is very unique and while it takes a bit to fully understand the concept behind it is pretty amazing. You guys know I love a book with a Greek Mythology background to it and this book handled it pretty well, I wish that the whole Greek Mythology thing blended with the Witch lore a bit more smoothly, but it still made for a great world nonetheless. However, there were various aspects of this world that were very confusing, not necessarily in an "I don't understand what's going on" way, but more of a "two plus two does not equal five" way. Also things seemed to move by really fast, and not because this book was fast paced, but more that the bulk of this book takes place in one day the second week since Nicole finds out she's a witch.

Predictability: For the most part the foreshadowing in this book was pretty heavy handed. It was easy to find out clues on what would happen next, who would do what, and how things came together. There were a few times that I was genuinely caught off guard, particularly towards the ending and final climax of this story. I have to say I expected more to come out of this book, like the synopsis reveals way to much about the basis of this installment, it's not going to spoil the whole book for you, not by any means, but there is one crucial key piece of information that the characters don't even find out about until very close to the end of the book.

Ending: As for the ending itself, there's a lot that goes down in the final climax of this story. There are a great many things that I'm nearly certain will come back again and play into the story in some way. The final action scene was pretty cool and it shows a great extent of the abilities Nicole has. The very end had that plateaued feel that most first books in series had.

Rating:

I struggled a lot with this rating because while I did really enjoy the story and I'm actually pretty excited to see what's coming next, there's a great deal in this book that falls flat for me. There are moments that I felt could have been drawn out a bit more, the chemistry between Nicole and Blake could have been better, and there were small aspects to the world that could have made more sense. At the end of the day, will I buy this book for myself or a friend? Most likely. Will I buy and read the sequel? Most definitely.

Book Review: Deadfall (Blackbird Duology #2)

Release Date: June 16, 2015
Author: Anna Carey
Publisher: HarperTeen
Length: 256 Pages
Source: Library Audio Book

In the compelling sequel to Blackbird, Anna Carey delivers a gritty and adrenaline-filled story of a girl desperate to escape her mysterious and terrifying assailants. Told in second person, this heart-pounding thriller puts the reader in front of the target.

A week ago, you woke up in Los Angeles with no memory of who you are. The only thing you knew: people are trying to kill you. You put your trust in Ben, but he betrayed you and broke your heart. Now you've escaped to New York City with a boy named Rafe, who says he remembers you from before. But the two of you are not safe. The same people who are after you are tailing Rafe as well. As the chase heats up, your memory starts to return, but your past cannot save you from the terrifying circumstances of your present, or the fact that one wrong move could end this game forever.

With enemies on every side, and not a reprieve in sight, Deadfall will grab readers and refuse to let go. Perfect for fans of the Maze Runner series and the Legend series. 

    

Review:

Protagonist: I've debated whether or not to use Sunny's real name for this review as we learn it fairly early on in this book and it's not really super spoilery, but I've decided for the sake of consistency I'll refer to our protagonist as Sunny. When we last left Sunny she had been betrayed by a boy she may have loved and run away to find the boy she knew from her dreams who she has no memory of, but he sure knows her. In this book the stakes are higher and Sunny is a much more take charge character than she was in the first one, and she wasn't exactly a slouch there either. As this book unfolds Sunny learns more about why she was on that island and what exactly the AAE corporation is.  

Romance: So there is a love triangle in this book and I found it rather bold for Carey to write a love triangle into a duology, especially since the actual amount of romance is very small in comparison to the vast amount of the main plot. That being said I did enjoy this love triangle when it is mentioned, but I almost had to groan when I thought the author was going to make the ultimate choice a huge cop out that really had no choice in it at all. There is a choice, sort of, but how this book ends is much more unique than I expected.

World-Building: The plot really sparks up in this book, The first book, or what I can remember of it, had a much more contemporary feel to it and really only had those thriller moments begin about half-way through. This book, however, keeps a good thriller vibe most if not all the way through it. There were many times when I wasn't sure how this book could be as short as it is. There is a lot revealed in this book, it really gets to the roots of what's going on, who's behind it, and how to take them down. There are casualties and not everyone's safe, not even you.

Predictability: So I had this feeling throughout the entire book that one big, and very specific, thing was going to happen. I just couldn't shake the feeling. I won't tell you what it was because I will tell you it doesn't happen. It was something that there was really no foreshadowing for, but for whatever reason I couldn't get the idea out of my head, even until final climax. That being said, on whole the book was pretty unpredictable, of course there were those few things I could predict, but they were the completely obvious formulaic things.

Ending: I really didn't expect this ending. I had actually expected an final climax that involved far more trickery and wit than action and suspense. I did like the ending, it was really incredible and definitely shattered some tropes. There is an epilogue, one that really wraps up a lot of things, not quite everything mind you, however this is probably the only time I'll ever say that even though things are left open and up in the air, I'm not counting on, nor do I feel like I need, a sequel or spin off to explain them. They are things better left to the imagination.

Rating:

I LOVED this book. I'm sure there will be people out there that are outraged at the ending or how the love triangle was resolved, but I don't care I loved it all. I can't wait to see what else it up Carey's sleeve for her next novel/series!

Blog Tour Book Review: Forbidden + GIVEAWAY!

Release Date: December 1, 2015
Author: Eve Bunting
Publisher: Clarion Books
Length: 224 pages
Source: ARC from Publisher

In early-nineteenth century Scotland, sixteen-year-old Josie, an orphan, is sent to live with an aunt and uncle on the rocky, stormy northwest coast. Everything and everyone in her new surroundings, including her relatives, is sinister, threatening, and mysterious.

She's told that Eli, the young man she's attracted to, is forbidden to her, but not why. Spirited, curious, and determined, Josie sets out to learn the village's secrets and discovers evil, fueled by heartless greed, as well as a ghostly presence eager for revenge.

An author's note gives the historical inspiration for this story.

    

Review:

Protagonist: At the beginning of this book Josie, who has just lost both of her parents to Influenza, is on her way to live with her aunt and uncle, who she has never met. Josie was raised to be a proper lady and does the best she can to try and be kind and helpful to her aunt and uncle even though they're both harsh and cold with her. Over the course of this book Josie grows to become a more headstrong character who does whatever she can to uncover the truth about the mysterious goings on of the town. I really liked the character of Josie, she's strong yet flawed and even though her choices aren't the most wise she perseveres through the hard times and doesn't give up on her goals.

Romance: So if I had to have one criticism about this book it would be the romance. Since this book is so short and a great deal of it is dedicated to the main plot rather than the romance, for the romance to move as fast as it did, didn't make sense. I did like the chemistry between Josie and Eli, I just wish we'd seen more of them together in a romantic way, or even bonding because it would make their feelings close to the end of the book make more sense. That being said though I thought that how the romance fit into the story was very well done and added to, rather than distracted from, the plot.

World-Building: This story takes place in 1807 Scotland and that is very apparent in how this book is written and the first-person commentary from Josie. I really enjoyed seeing the small community of Brindle and Brindle Point come to life and the central mystery surrounding the town was really well done. There aren't really any paranormal elements until later in the book, but there's quite a bit of foreshadowing toward that fact, which I'll get to later. Given how short this book is I was surprised at how alive this world becomes, Bunting's writing is both extravagant and concise to offer up a wondrous picture of this world and the characters in it.

Predictability: So I have to say there is quite a bit about this book that I could see coming from quite a ways away, however what I could see was more small details of the story and larger twists within I couldn't have guessed in my wildest dreams. I have to say the central mystery of the town caught me by surprise, the thing is there isn't all too much foreshadowing as to what it is, even in the synopsis, but it's still no more dark than what I had predicted. There is one twist, something that was so blatantly obvious towards the end of the book that I nearly put it together but the part of my brain that likes to think in YA formulas couldn't quite put it together.

Ending: It isn't until the final climax of this book that things really begin to happen, it isn't that the beginning wasn't fast paced, but more that the real meat of the story hadn't been seen yet. As the book comes to a close I was a bit shocked at what happened, though not all that surprised, and the final climax was definitely one to remember. The final chapter is a bit of an epilogue, tying up any loose ends and bringing this stand alone to a close. I'm pretty happy with how the book ended and while it wasn't quite the idealistic ending I thought it would be, was still a great ending to this story.

Rating:

Like I said, my only complaint about this book was that the romance felt a bit rushed, it wasn't quite insta-love but it was close enough. The thing is that Josie and Eli had such great chemistry that if the author had expanded upon it, it wouldn't have felt so rushed. Overall though this is a fantastic book with a dark mystery and a touch of the paranormal.

About the Author:

Also known as Evelyn Bolton and A.E. Bunting.

Anne Evelyn Bunting, better known as Eve Bunting, is an author with more than 250 books. Her books are diverse in age groups, from picture books to chapter books, and topic, ranging from Thanksgiving to riots in Los Angeles. Eve Bunting has won several awards for her works.

Bunting went to school in Ireland and grew up with storytelling. In Ireland, “There used to be Shanachies… the shanachie was a storyteller who went from house to house telling his tales of ghosts and fairies, of old Irish heroes and battles still to be won. Maybe I’m a bit of a Shanchie myself, telling stories to anyone who will listen.” This storytelling began as an inspiration for Bunting and continues with her work.

In 1958, Bunting moved to the United States with her husband and three children. A few years later, Bunting enrolled in a community college writing course. She felt the desire to write about her heritage. Bunting has taught writing classes at UCLA. She now lives in Pasadena, California.

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