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samdogra's review
3.0
I had read snippets of this book in earlier form and was looking forward to seeing how the story unfolded. Sadly, my feelings about this book are mixed. There are aspects I thoroughly enjoyed, but there was also elements that weren't as strong and detracted from the overall story.
STORY: We follow the journey of Leah as she recalls an earlier part of her life where she was plagued by bad dreams. While the premise isn't exactly the most original, the execution was pretty well done and the ideas that sprung from it were entertaining.
There were times I felt the pacing was too slow and the mystery was dragged on too much, only to be revealed too fast and no consequence or character reaction conveyed. Also, for all Leah's 'questions', she actually doesn't get a single answer, and makes very little effort to get answers either.
The epilogue I felt was totally unnecessary. It dumped far too much information and would have been much better weaved into the actual story.
But for fans of this genre, it won't disappoint in terms of plot.
CHARACTERS: For the most part the characters were well thought out and rounded. However there were time where I felt Leah acted out of character and there didn't seem much rationale for this. Ben is pretty generic and doesn't really have any unique features as a character, and this was perhaps why I felt his relationship with Leah was a little stilted and forced. I also got pretty sick of Leah's self-depreciation but again this seems an expected trait for this genre so I won't look into it too much.
Leah's dad was well done and the twist regarding him was also well portrayed.
SETTING/VOICE: The descriptions are well done and we can picture pretty well the surroundings and what's going on. The voice however of Leah wasn't quite there for me. At times it sounded extremely formal and Leah did have some insights that didn't seem very natural for a character her age.
PRESENTATION: The cover is certainly eye-catching and the pitch reads well. Unfortunately I did come across several typoes in the text and there were several slips into the present tense which I found jarring. The style of writing is generally easy to read and get into.
OVERALL: For fans of the fantasy romance genre who like a staple romance plot with the supernatural thrown in, this is definitely something worthwhile to dip into if you're looking for new books. For me, however, the strong plot did not make up for the elements I found lacking. If you want something a little more ground-breaking, look elsewhere.
STORY: We follow the journey of Leah as she recalls an earlier part of her life where she was plagued by bad dreams. While the premise isn't exactly the most original, the execution was pretty well done and the ideas that sprung from it were entertaining.
There were times I felt the pacing was too slow and the mystery was dragged on too much, only to be revealed too fast and no consequence or character reaction conveyed. Also, for all Leah's 'questions', she actually doesn't get a single answer, and makes very little effort to get answers either.
The epilogue I felt was totally unnecessary. It dumped far too much information and would have been much better weaved into the actual story.
But for fans of this genre, it won't disappoint in terms of plot.
CHARACTERS: For the most part the characters were well thought out and rounded. However there were time where I felt Leah acted out of character and there didn't seem much rationale for this. Ben is pretty generic and doesn't really have any unique features as a character, and this was perhaps why I felt his relationship with Leah was a little stilted and forced. I also got pretty sick of Leah's self-depreciation but again this seems an expected trait for this genre so I won't look into it too much.
Leah's dad was well done and the twist regarding him was also well portrayed.
SETTING/VOICE: The descriptions are well done and we can picture pretty well the surroundings and what's going on. The voice however of Leah wasn't quite there for me. At times it sounded extremely formal and Leah did have some insights that didn't seem very natural for a character her age.
PRESENTATION: The cover is certainly eye-catching and the pitch reads well. Unfortunately I did come across several typoes in the text and there were several slips into the present tense which I found jarring. The style of writing is generally easy to read and get into.
OVERALL: For fans of the fantasy romance genre who like a staple romance plot with the supernatural thrown in, this is definitely something worthwhile to dip into if you're looking for new books. For me, however, the strong plot did not make up for the elements I found lacking. If you want something a little more ground-breaking, look elsewhere.
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