Book Review: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (Montague Siblings #1)

Release Date: June 27, 2017
Author: Mackenzi Lee
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books
Length: 513 pages
Source: OwlCrate Book

Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions—not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men.

But as Monty embarks on his Grand Tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.

Still it isn’t in Monty’s nature to give up. Even with his younger sister, Felicity, in tow, he vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.

    

Review:

Protagonist: After getting thrown out of boarding school, Henry "Monty" Montague is preparing to go on his Tour of the Continent. When he comes home his life will be different, he'll have to take over the estate from his abusive father, his best friend who he might love will be going to Holland for Law School, and even his sister who he doesn't always get along with won't be there to pester him since she's off to finishing school. Monty hopes this tour will be a yearlong journey of debauchery before his life changes, but when Monty stumbles into some trouble, everything snowballs out of control. I love Monty so much, so many times in this story I just wanted to hold him and tell him he's worthy of happiness, his father has messed him up so much, and he does so much to hide it. Monty is by no means perfect, he's selfish and entitled, he's reckless and a bit of an alcoholic, but the best thing about this story is how he changes and at what rate. All the character development for not only Monty but all of the characters felt very natural and authentic, and the authenticity really lends itself to telling this complex tale.

Romance: As I mentioned above, Monty feels he's in love with his best friend, Percy, and while the romance didn't progress as quickly as I'd like the pacing does fit well with the overall tale so I'm not upset. I really love how Monty's sexuality was explored. At the start of this story, Monty knows he's bisexual, though they didn't have a word for that in the 1700s, and I love how well that's established, as someone who's bisexual, I love seeing that represented so wholly, we see Monty flirt and canoodle with both men and women and how he explains his feeling to his sister later in the book felt so freaking relateable I almost cried. Then there's the Percy of it all. From the start, Percy is the light of Monty's life, though since Monty's not so great with feelings or expressing them, Percy is unaware. They're best friends who've known each other since they were young and with that comes a very special relationship that I love seeing evolve into a romance. While Monty and Percy's romance comes with a whole lot of drama and a little miscommunication, I just love it and really enjoyed the ride.

World Building: First off, I love that this story doesn't take place during a specific year, it just takes place in 17--, which for someone like me who isn't all that interested in history and specific dates but gets swept away by romanticized historic time periods, this was perfect, and the time period isn't even romanticized, well maybe a little bit, but this story shows a harsher side of history, there's racism in this book, slavery, abuse, homophobia, etc. This isn't a story where the setting is perfect and beautiful, but as with great characters, I'd rather have realistic over idealistic. The settings are fantastic, as our group travels across Europe we see a variety of settings and I was swept away but the imagery and locales, I've always wanted to travel around Europe so I loved doing it vicariously, even if it's 1700s Europe. Going into this book I had thought there were no speculative fiction elements and I guess to some degree this isn't speculative fiction depending on what you believe, but when the story gets started the plot seems to move in a bit of a speculative direction and while I wasn't prepared for that, I ended up really enjoying the plot and how it fed into the subplots of this book.

Predictability: When it comes to the story on the whole, since I pretty much read this book in one sitting, there wasn't a whole lot of time for me to do speculating beyond what I pretty much go into any book understanding, characters are introduced, shenanigans happen, it ends happily. I did do some speculating about the spot of trouble our Touring group finds themselves in, and I was way off, I was also trying to figure out how this story will end, besides happily, and I'll get to the ending in a second, but pretty much right up until the end of this story, I had no idea how everything would play out. This book caught me off guard so many times and I loved mostly just following the story along as we Toured Europe.

Ending: I have so many favorite scenes from this book, but one of them is how this story comes to a close. The final climax is awash with action, adventure, shocking revelations, and devastating choices. As I said I wasn't sure how this story was going to end, but how everything is resolved blew me away, and there's something a bit poetic about something specific that happens to Monty that I'm still a little shook by. There is also a bit of an epilogue portion of this book that gives a small view into the future of our heroes, one of whom has an adventure of her own coming soon, and wraps the story up very nicely.

Rating:

As you can no doubt tell by my gushing, I love this book so much, from the bisexual representation to the fact of a male protagonist, something that's a bit rare in YA stories, to the dazzling settings and the complex characters, I love this story so much and cannot wait to read Felicity's adventure soon!

Book Review: Stolen Secrets

Release Date: September 19, 2017
Author: L.B. Schulman
Publisher: Boyd Mills Press
Length: 304 pages
Source: ARC from Publisher

When Livvy's mother abruptly moves the family across the country to San Francisco, sixteen-year-old Livvy is shocked to find that she's been lied to. Instead of working for a bakery, her mom is actually taking care of Adelle, Livvy’s grandmother who she thought was long dead. Suffering from Alzheimer’s, Adelle begins to shout strange things, mistake her own name, and relive moments that may have taken place in a concentration camp. When Livvy and her new friend, Franklin D., find journal entries from the Holocaust in Adelle’s home, Livvy begins to suspect that her grandmother may have a shocking link to a notable figure-Anne Frank.

This intriguing book has gut-wrenching plot twists and a strong heroine, making this a compulsively readable mystery.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Livvy Newman has always been the "responsible" one in her household. With her mother having been an alcoholic for as long as Livvy can remember, she's taken up the more parental role, however, when her mother moves them across the country with the promise of a great job, Livvy can't do much about it. Upon arriving in San Fransisco, Livvy notices her mom acting a bit off and soon discovers one family secret after another. On the whole, I liked Livvy, she's a fairly complex character, someone who prefers fact to fiction and needs order to her life. She's a bit flawed though not in a totally off putting way. She can be selfish and distant to people, but those are the things that get worked on over the course of the story.

Romance: I'm going to just level with you, I didn't care one bit about this romance. It wasn't that it was an offensive or aggravating romance, I just didn't care for it. I never felt romantic chemistry between Franklin D. and Livvy, and yes I said Franklin D. because manic pixie dream boy that he is he needs his middle initial acknowledged every time you speak his name. The thing is, he really grated on me in the beginning of this book, he was way too over the top quirky, he came on way too strong, acted kind of stalkerish towards Livvy, all while feeling like the manic pixie trope without the air of mystery that makes it so compelling. To tell you the truth he grew on me, but only as a platonic friend to Livvy. I felt the romance was forced and completely unnecessary.

World Building: The main plot of this story is fantastic! I mean, it's a multigenerational story of three women and their struggles with each other, mixed in with deeply kept family secrets relating to World War II and the Holocaust, that tells a compelling narrative of how one woman's attempt to hide who she really is affected not only her daughter but her granddaughter as well. I was a bit apprehensive of the author writing fiction that would incorporate as historic and important a figure as Anne Frank, but I had faith that she would provide a well and a sensitively crafted piece of historical fiction and I'm happy to say that she definitely delivered. On the whole, I loved the main plot of this book and how everything ran together. We get flashbacks that help provide context and flesh out who Adelle is, or was, and what led her to make certain decisions. All of that was fantastic but was dragged down by a multitude of superfluous subplots. The romance was only one subplot that I felt was unnecessary, but there were quite a few others. Subplots that would either be dropped only to appear at some random time late in the story and almost instantly resolved, or subplots that would be written away for a while so there would be time to focus on the main plot. Everything felt like a big chaotic mess. Ironically, when it came to Livvy's school everything felt very empty. Sure there would be references to teachers and other students, but literally, the only student we see Livvy have any semblance of a conversation with is Franklin D. We hear how she's friends with his friends, which I think are the only other students mentioned by name and it took Livvy a long time to meet them, and how she does interact with them, but we never really see it.

Predictability: This book could be very predictable, well almost all of the time. I don't think there was a single big twist in this book that I didn't call. There were a couple of small ones I didn't, but the author was quite a bit generous with the foreshadowing, in fact, I was rather surprised when I predicted probably the biggest twist in the story because the author put in one too many pieces of foreshadowing early in the book. Interestingly enough I guessed a smaller "twist" that came near the end of the book after having only been a couple of pages in. I did like how the story unfolded even if I did guess what would happen, and it doesn't really take away from the enjoyment of the book.

Ending: Something I found rather odd about this story was that what would typically be the final climax of this story happened much too soon for it to actually be considered the final climax. The scene was an interesting one, but while it did add a bit to the main storyline of the book, in the end, it was the climax another subplot that just felt superfluous, I understand why the author added it, and I do think it sends an important message, but in the end this subplot, as well as most of the subplots in this story, feel more pinned on than incorporated. After what could have been the final climax comes the answers. The answers to every reader's questions. I felt the author handled this section particularly well. The characters' emotions and reactions felt very genuine and well crafted. The ending can be a bit too idyllic at certain moments, but I still greatly enjoyed it.

Rating:

Overall, I really liked this book and found the main plot of the story to be stunning and entrancing, however, the subplots really detracted from my enjoyment and that coupled with a romance I really didn't care about and felt unnecessary, led to my decision to knock off a star, it was almost two but after finishing the book quite a few things that I dismissed as subplots I was able to connect with the overall plot and gain an even greater appreciation for it.

Book Review: The Witch of Painted Sorrows (The Daughters of La Lune #1)

Release Date: March 17, 2015
Author: M.J. Rose
Publisher: Atria Books
Length: 384 pages
Source: eGalley from NetGalley

Possession. Power. Passion. New York Times bestselling novelist M. J. Rose creates her most provocative and magical spellbinder yet in this gothic novel set against the lavish spectacle of 1890s Belle Époque Paris.

Sandrine Salome flees New York for her grandmother’s Paris mansion to escape her dangerous husband, but what she finds there is even more menacing. The house, famous for its lavish art collection and elegant salons, is mysteriously closed up. Although her grandmother insists it’s dangerous for Sandrine to visit, she defies her and meets Julien Duplessi, a mesmerizing young architect. Together they explore the hidden night world of Paris, the forbidden occult underground and Sandrine’s deepest desires.

Among the bohemians and the demi-monde, Sandrine discovers her erotic nature as a lover and painter. Then darker influences threaten—her cold and cruel husband is tracking her down and something sinister is taking hold, changing Sandrine, altering her. She’s become possessed by La Lune: A witch, a legend, and a sixteenth-century courtesan, who opens up her life to a darkness that may become a gift or a curse.

This is Sandrine’s “wild night of the soul,” her odyssey in the magnificent city of Paris, of art, love, and witchery.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Sandrine is on the run from her husband. After witnessing events that put her in danger and the secrets revealed in her father's suicide note, he now knows with certainty that she can no longer stay with him and flees to her grandmother's mansion in Paris. Once there she begins to see changes within herself as she discovers a passion for painting and for the young architect she has recently met. But darker forces are at work Sandrine's grandmother begins to fear for Sandrine's soul as the ever curious Sandrine becomes more and more ensconced with her history and the legend of their ancestor La Lune with an obsessive appetite. It's hard to say how much of our main character is Sandrine, sure a lot of her is, but her changes in personality happen almost immediately and are no secret that they aren't quite who Snadrine is, however apart from some rather disturbing things Sandrine does that are more or less explained away, I really enjoyed the strong character Sandrine becomes in this book, her passion for art, history, and mythology resonate well with me. Since some of her changes are credited to a certain magical plot device it makes it really hard to discuss how realistic the changes are and the like, but like I said, for the most part she's a really compelling main character and narrator.

Romance: This isn't my first adult novel, but this is my first in a while and my first that has this level of eroticism to it. The romance itself, between Sandrine and Julien, was done very well, it's the first time I've ever seen a character admit their love upon meeting a character that I didn't immediately dismiss the couple and yawn though all the attempts at sexual tension and romantic chemistry. This is because of how it's done, the love isn't immediate, it just seems that way in the narrator's recollection of that moment, the romance takes a while, though not too long after that moment to get started off. Now there are quite a few extremely sexual scenes in this book, the author does a spectacular job of writing scenes that are erotic, but not cringe-worthy. That's most likely due to her beautiful writing style, and how she handles the scenes, there are some specific details, but for the most part everything is described, but there isn't an uncomfortable attention to detail allowing the imagination to do it's job without feeling like it's interrupting something extremely intimate.

World-Building: Can I just say how much I love this author's use of historical fiction, magickal elements, and mythology? I mean seriously it's one of the most engrossing things about this story. The central theme of this book is passion and it weaves it's way through every element of this story masterfully. One of this things I love most about this book is how most of it feels like a realistic historical fiction novel with a theme of eroticism, but then there are these fantastical magickal moments that breathe a different life into the story. The history of the character La Lune, her past and her heartbreak, and who she became, is so compelling. There's a relatively large chunk of the book that details who she was and her history. At first it felt a bit info-dumpy but as the story went on I didn't care. The setting of 1890s Paris comes to life as Sandrine travels through it, learns are, discovers her passions, and tries to figure out her life and who she truly is.

Predictability: See this is why I normally read YA books. With YA books the twists themselves aren't completely predictable, but the way they're revealed is and it's become something I actually rely on pretty heavily. With Adult books, or well more specifically this one, not every secret and action is super important, something that will come back later to blow up in the main character's face. Sometimes there are things that go unanswered and we're supposed to be okay with that. From the twists that there are, most of them were either pretty shocking or terribly predictable, however there is on towards the end that has me more stumped that shocked.

Ending: This book wrapped up way too quickly. I mean there was barely thirty pages left and the final climax hadn't even started, in fact I'm not sure quite when it happens, but I'm fairly certain it's between ten and twenty pages left which made me very nervous. The final climax, or really climaxes (not a euphemism) were really well done, except the very last one left me more confused than satisfied, but there was one more chapter left. Only that didn't quite answer my questions, in some ways it did, but it posed way more questions than it answered, and while this is technically the first in a series it's meant to be a companion novel series where each book can be read a stand alone, so here's hoping in the next book we'll get at least some semblance of the answers to the questions this novel leaves us with by the end.

Rating:

For the most part I really enjoyed this book, it was a breath of fresh air from the typical YA books I love and usually read. I did have a few problems with the pacing and how things wrapped up too quickly. I know some authors like to leave a lot of things open to interpretation, but I'm definitely not one of those people that enjoys that sort of thing, I crave definitive answers.

Empire of Dust (Blood of Gods and Royals #2) by Eleanor Herman (WOW #16)

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that everyone’s excited about!

In Macedon, war rises like smoke, forbidden romance blooms and ancient magic tempered with rage threatens to turn an empire to dust 

After winning his first battle, Prince Alexander fights to become the ruler his kingdom demands—but the line between leader and tyrant blurs with each new threat. 

Meanwhile, Hephaestion, cast aside by Alexander for killing the wrong man, must conceal the devastating secret of a divine prophecy from Katerina even as the two of them are thrust together on a dangerous mission to Egypt. 

The warrior, Jacob, determined to forget his first love, vows to eradicate the ancient Blood Magics and believes that royal prisoner Cynane holds the key to Macedon's undoing. 

And in chains, the Persian princess Zofia still longs to find the Spirit Eaters, but first must grapple with the secrets of her handsome—and deadly—captor. 

New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman entwines the real scandals of history with epic fantasy to reimagine the world's most brilliant ruler, Alexander the Great, in the second book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.

Empire of Dust releases on June 28, 2016 from Harlequin Teen

So, I'm still not sure about these new covers. The original one for the first book felt so epic fantasy but these new ones, while nice, feel a bit too Historical Fiction, for how epic the series is so far. While I do have characters I couldn't care less about *cough* Jacob *cough* I am really interested to see where all of these characters end up, especially Zofia who's story I sort of felt cheated out of in the first book.

So, what are you waiting for this Wednesday?

Book Review: Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin #2)

Release Date: April 2, 2013
Author: Robin LaFevers
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Length: 385 pages
Source: eGalley via NetGalley

When Sybella arrived at the doorstep of St Mortain half mad with grief and despair the convent were only too happy to offer her refuge - but at a price. The sisters of this convent serve Death, and with Sybella naturally skilled in both the arts of death and seduction, she could become one of their most dangerous weapons.

But her assassin's skills are little comfort when the convent returns her to the life that nearly drove her mad. Her father's rage and brutality are terrifying, and her brother's love is equally monstrous. But when Sybella discovers an unexpected ally she discovers that a daughter of Death may find something other than vengeance to live for...

    

Review:

Protagonist: When we first met Sybella in Grave Mercy she was broken and from what I remember rather cold. In this book we learn so much about her and what went into shaping who she is. At the beginning of this installment Sybella is trying to warn Ismae about the ambush on the duchess from Count D'albret that we saw near the end of the previous installment. She's still a cold and calculating character, but she has a softer side that we see in the first few chapters. As this story goes on she begins to soften up more, while still keeping her killer instinct and sharp edges. I really liked the character of Sybella, she's such a complex and intriguing character, none of which I truly realized until this book.

Romance: Much like the romance in Grave Mercy, the romance in this installment is rather slow burning as well. In fact it's not until the latter half of this book that things start to happen. The romantic tension and quick witted repartee between Beast and Sybella was fantastic. Both these characters have know similar pain in their lives and as they get to know each other, it becomes obvious that they just fit together. They aren't complete opposites, nor are they exactly alike, and because of who they are I could never even conceive of a way that they would not be right for each other. They just work so well together.

World-Building: So Grave Mercy, while still Ismae's story had much more of a historical context to it. This story however deals very personally with Sybella's life and her experience. It's still set against a historical backdrop, it's just that the historical points in this book are much more sub-plotted. What I found really interesting is that while there is a lot of historical basis for this book, it seems that there is also a bit of fairy-tale inspiration as well. At first I thought that there would be a great Beauty and the Beast parallel but other than the fact that the love interest for Sybella is nicknamed Beast there really wasn't any, but there were parallels to the Bluebeard fairy-tale threaded into the plot. They're very slight and at first I thought I was just imagining things, but well, read the author's note at the end for yourself. Anyway, even though we didn't get a wider scope of this world, or a greater historical context as it's background, I was never bored learning about Sybella and her life.

Predictability: LaFevers is a master at foreshadowing. As the story progresses there are little crums of information, things that at first seem unimportant, but will eventually come into play later. There are of course the less subtle pieces of foreshadowing that will point to some of the smaller twists in this book. However, even with all the foreshadowing this book has, there are still some twists that come completely out of left field. I mean things that no matter how you analyze the foreshadowing you're never going to see coming. I loved every twist, turn, and surprise this book had even the ones I could predict because everything just fit into place so well.

Ending: So if I have one complaint from this book it's the ending. I mean the story's chugging along and the final climax happens. The final climax by the way is pretty epic. There's a lot that goes on during it and it's super intense and drawn out well. Then, just as we get to what I like to call the cool down phase where things quiet down and loose end are tied up this book just ends. It doesn't even end in a cliffhanger, I mean most everything is tied up well, but with the ending being that close to the final climax of the story without some sort of buffer I was really feeling that something was missing.

Rating:

This book is fantastic and I wish that whole ending thing didn't bother me so much because I really wanted to give this book five stars, I mean this book is probably better than the first one and I can't wait to read the next and final installment. Gah! That end though!

Book Review: These Vicious Masks (These Vicious Masks #1)

Release Date: February 9, 2016
Authors: Tarun Shanker & Kelly Zekas
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Length: 352 pages
Source: eARC via NetGalley

Jane Austen meets X-­Men in this gripping and adventure-­filled paranormal romance set in Victorian London.

England, 1882. Evelyn is bored with society and its expectations. So when her beloved sister, Rose, mysteriously vanishes, she ignores her parents and travels to London to find her, accompanied by the dashing Mr. Kent.

But they’re not the only ones looking for Rose.

The reclusive, young gentleman Sebastian Braddock is also searching for her, claiming that both sisters have special healing powers. Evelyn is convinced that Sebastian must be mad, until she discovers that his strange tales of extraordinary people are true—and that her sister is in graver danger than she feared.

     

Review:

Protagonist: Evelyn doesn't fit into proper Victorian Society, nor does she really want to, but her mother insists on dragging her to every ball and social event trying to finder her a husband. Evelyn shuns this and does whatever she can to foil her mother's insistence, but that becomes all but a small speck of a problem after her sister is abducted in the middle of the night. Now Evelyn runs off to London following a trail her sister left with only the witty and charming Mr. Kent as her company and help. I really enjoyed Evelyn's stubborn character; she's always up for adventure, even if it's dangerous. Over the course of the book she grows stronger and surer of herself as she searches vehemently for her sister.

Romance: So since this is a Swoon Reads title, I knew there was going to be plenty of romance, and while there is quite a bit of romance, it's not a main story line. There is a love triangle in this book and try as I might I cannot dislike either suitor. I mean, they both have plenty of faults and there are many times that I've switched allegiances, but when it comes down to it, I really enjoy both suitors and their chemistry with Evelyn, while different from each other, is done very well. I'm trying to decide if I have a preference but even though one suitor is your typical dark and brooding love interest, he's not as clichéd as all of that. The other love interest is more the witty, charming, always has a fun retort on the tip of his tongue, friendly type of character. 

World-Building: So all I really knew about this book going in was X-Men in a Victorian setting and I have to say in a lot of ways that hold up. There are strange mutant-like powers, manifesting in seemingly random individuals, and I found the explanations for these mutations really interesting. As the book continues we see more and more individuals with powers and see the full range of what some people are capable of. The other side of this world is Victorian Society, now while I always enjoy a book with societal sub-plots I also always find the rules and restrictions of what's proper and improper for a lady to do annoying. I mean, I know this takes place in the past where people were pretty much insane when it came to women's rights, but still, it can get really frustrating. 

Predictability: So this book had the perfect balance of predictable and unpredictable, and some of the less predictable stuff was done in a really cool way. So like, whenever something felt a bit off, or something felt too convenient, there would be an explanation that never felt like the authors were just trying to explain away a plot hole, it felt all very meticulously planned and was full of some phenomenal twists.

Ending: This ending was a wildfire; it was full of some fantastic action and spectacular tension. The final climax was so crazy there were so many times that I was really genuinely worried for some of the main characters, the ones that typically don't die in the first book. The very end of the book, the last chapter, really helps to set up where this series is headed and shows us where a lot of characters ended up after the final climax.

Rating:

 

This book was spectacular! There were times when I had my reservations but as the book continued these authors found a way to turn me around on this story and make me love it to pieces! I can't wait to see where this series goes next!

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.

Website | Goodreads

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