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very_vero's review against another edition
2.0
Miranda Blackwood's family is cursed, has been ever since the first Blackwood set foot on the island and ever since none of them can leave. But that's not the only secret of the island. Years ago, when the first colonists arrived, all 114 of them went missing. Vanished. Just like that. Never to be heard from again. One day, Miranda wakes up to find 114 people from her town has gone missing too and her dad has been murdered. Together with Phillips, a boy who left the islang years ago, only to come back again to save it, they will try to figure out where the missing people are, and how both their families are tied to the mystery.
I was really excited to start reading this book. It seem like a good mix of history and mystery, but it ended up disappointing me. The characters, Miranda and Phillips were never that likeable, especially Miranda. I just didn't really understand their actions sometimes, they seemed like two kids running aimlessly around a tiny island. They weren't getting any closer in figuring out the mystery or their own family secrets. It all just fell right into the lap at the end.
The story started out good, with the people gone missing and Miranda's dad dead. But then Phillips arrived and he started hanging out with her and mystery fell on the background, and then...poof...the people are back, but not really. I still want to know where their bodies went while missing. Anyways after that, it was all downhill for me. Not much action, besides a chapter at the end. A lot of things happened that I felt were just there so the author would have something more to right about. This could be so much shorter and action packed but it wasn't. So not really something I would recommend.
I was really excited to start reading this book. It seem like a good mix of history and mystery, but it ended up disappointing me. The characters, Miranda and Phillips were never that likeable, especially Miranda. I just didn't really understand their actions sometimes, they seemed like two kids running aimlessly around a tiny island. They weren't getting any closer in figuring out the mystery or their own family secrets. It all just fell right into the lap at the end.
The story started out good, with the people gone missing and Miranda's dad dead. But then Phillips arrived and he started hanging out with her and mystery fell on the background, and then...poof...the people are back, but not really. I still want to know where their bodies went while missing. Anyways after that, it was all downhill for me. Not much action, besides a chapter at the end. A lot of things happened that I felt were just there so the author would have something more to right about. This could be so much shorter and action packed but it wasn't. So not really something I would recommend.
booksofamber's review against another edition
1.0
Bad start to September, eh?
After reading Lies Beneath and finding it completely dull, I was hoping I wouldn't come across another novel like that any time soon. As you do. I picked up Blackwood because I received it for review, and I feel pretty much the same way about this book as I do about Lies Beneath. Just without the creepy male protagonist and the idiot female who falls in love with a stalker.
The premise was so, so intriguing; I was excited to pick this up because of it. I'm a HUGE fan of the TV show Supernatural, and there are a couple of episodes in which the Croatoan colonists are mentioned. I love unsolved mysteries, and this is one that fascinates me. Where did they all go?! Needless to say, I was really looking forward to reading this because it sounded like something the Winchester brothers would investigate. But, unfortunately, it fell flat.
Like I said, the premise was intriguing, but I think I was put off by the writing style. I can't pin point exactly what I disliked about it (being a terrible book reviewer and all), but I just couldn't get sucked in no matter how hard I tried.
I don't even have any strong feelings about the main characters, because I honestly felt nothing for them. Miranda did, however, have a nice collection of DVDs, which I appreciated. The references to those were funny.
Give this a go if you think the storyline would be your cup of tea, but read some other reviews first because I wouldn't want you to go into this thinking it's awful. It's just not something that could captivate me.
After reading Lies Beneath and finding it completely dull, I was hoping I wouldn't come across another novel like that any time soon. As you do. I picked up Blackwood because I received it for review, and I feel pretty much the same way about this book as I do about Lies Beneath. Just without the creepy male protagonist and the idiot female who falls in love with a stalker.
The premise was so, so intriguing; I was excited to pick this up because of it. I'm a HUGE fan of the TV show Supernatural, and there are a couple of episodes in which the Croatoan colonists are mentioned. I love unsolved mysteries, and this is one that fascinates me. Where did they all go?! Needless to say, I was really looking forward to reading this because it sounded like something the Winchester brothers would investigate. But, unfortunately, it fell flat.
Like I said, the premise was intriguing, but I think I was put off by the writing style. I can't pin point exactly what I disliked about it (being a terrible book reviewer and all), but I just couldn't get sucked in no matter how hard I tried.
I don't even have any strong feelings about the main characters, because I honestly felt nothing for them. Miranda did, however, have a nice collection of DVDs, which I appreciated. The references to those were funny.
Give this a go if you think the storyline would be your cup of tea, but read some other reviews first because I wouldn't want you to go into this thinking it's awful. It's just not something that could captivate me.
volatilesublime's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed most of the book, both wanting to race through it and savor it as I was reading. The characters are engaging, but there are some plot developments/ leaps of in-story logic during the climax of the story that I felt didn't really make much sense. With more length, a bit less hand-waving and more explanation, the book would have been better.
tigerb99's review
3.0
I really enjoyed this book, except...
...I felt like the author didn't give us enough chance to know either Miranda or Phillips, the two main characters. By splitting the viewpoint between them, we were shorted. Unlike other reviewers, I am not surprised by Miranda's confused reaction to her father's death, because children of alcoholics often are very conflicted about such things. But I was confused by some of her reactions to Phillips. I wanted to understand better where she was coming from... and their painful miscommunications, while realistic, didn't help me. I wanted to give it more stars, but I couldn't. Lots of interesting plotting, but too much re-explanation, not enough letting the characters express themselves.
...I felt like the author didn't give us enough chance to know either Miranda or Phillips, the two main characters. By splitting the viewpoint between them, we were shorted. Unlike other reviewers, I am not surprised by Miranda's confused reaction to her father's death, because children of alcoholics often are very conflicted about such things. But I was confused by some of her reactions to Phillips. I wanted to understand better where she was coming from... and their painful miscommunications, while realistic, didn't help me. I wanted to give it more stars, but I couldn't. Lots of interesting plotting, but too much re-explanation, not enough letting the characters express themselves.
dontsaycat's review
1.0
Scialbo e trito. (Approfondirò più avanti.)
###
Review.
It failed to capture my attention from the very beginning: first the exposition on the history of Roanoke Island, then a short glimpse of Miranda, the main character, in a chapter that really comes alive only when the black ship appears (before we've even got to care a little bit about the character, since we're just told a few facts about her, and nothing is shown), then a short chapter in italics told from other point of views that introduces the disappearance of people from the island. (The presence of those three little chapters in italics didn't really make sense at all, actually.) Confusing and ultimately uninteresting, sadly.
As a whole I found this novel to be trite and uninspired: it employed every stereotype I could think of (the alcoholic father who loves his daughter, the historian/scientist/researcher who believes in the supernatural, the stupid FBI agents) and it really made no effort to put these characters in new, different situations. Most of the plot felt old (asking the historian for help, visiting the graveyard for comfort, the evil overlord boasting about his evil plan...), and at one point it became very predictable, and while it did not stall, some parts didn't really work (the accusation of murder from the stupid FBI agents was so unfounded - they got the only person on the island who had a strong alibi and no previous contacts with his alleged accomplice - that it resulted completely unbelievable. I get that it helped the plot moving along, but come on).
The worst thing was that I couldn't connect with the characters. Miranda was not very interesting: I'm glad her status as an outcast didn't make her an angst-ridden character, but for the most part I found her to be just a vehicle for the plot. Her reaction to her father's death wasn't just weird (as the stupid FBI agents said), it was actually almost absent: I get she may not want to see the body, but at least she could've give it a thought, instead of forgetting it until it became important to the plot. A parent's death is not just any plot device; here it just felt meaningless. Of course people have different reactions to death of loved ones, but this was even a murder! And still just a few hours later Miranda can only think about making out with her newfound love interest. It may certainly happen in real life, but that doesn't automatically make the narrative interesting or believable.
Phillips, just like Miranda, served the plot without being more than the hero type character. He was first introduced as a boy who had a really bad reputation, but after a few pages it was like the rumours about him being a criminal never existed. Instead, we get this golden boy who is ready to break the rules to protect his loved ones (first Miranda and then his mother), and that really doesn't feel right when you think he's just spent three years of his life away from the island to save himself from the voices in his head. Then he sees Miranda on tv and he just decides he has to give in to his irrational side, without a second thought, without fearing for himself and his sanity. (He just acknowleledges that, but it doesn't stand as a conflict to the story.) I'm sorry, but I don't buy it.
In the end, a not so enjoyable read. I wish luck to this new imprint, though, in the hope I will like one or more of their future publications.
A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley.
###
Review.
It failed to capture my attention from the very beginning: first the exposition on the history of Roanoke Island, then a short glimpse of Miranda, the main character, in a chapter that really comes alive only when the black ship appears (before we've even got to care a little bit about the character, since we're just told a few facts about her, and nothing is shown), then a short chapter in italics told from other point of views that introduces the disappearance of people from the island. (The presence of those three little chapters in italics didn't really make sense at all, actually.) Confusing and ultimately uninteresting, sadly.
As a whole I found this novel to be trite and uninspired: it employed every stereotype I could think of (the alcoholic father who loves his daughter, the historian/scientist/researcher who believes in the supernatural, the stupid FBI agents) and it really made no effort to put these characters in new, different situations. Most of the plot felt old (asking the historian for help, visiting the graveyard for comfort, the evil overlord boasting about his evil plan...), and at one point it became very predictable, and while it did not stall, some parts didn't really work (the accusation of murder from the stupid FBI agents was so unfounded - they got the only person on the island who had a strong alibi and no previous contacts with his alleged accomplice - that it resulted completely unbelievable. I get that it helped the plot moving along, but come on).
The worst thing was that I couldn't connect with the characters. Miranda was not very interesting: I'm glad her status as an outcast didn't make her an angst-ridden character, but for the most part I found her to be just a vehicle for the plot. Her reaction to her father's death wasn't just weird (as the stupid FBI agents said), it was actually almost absent: I get she may not want to see the body, but at least she could've give it a thought, instead of forgetting it until it became important to the plot. A parent's death is not just any plot device; here it just felt meaningless. Of course people have different reactions to death of loved ones, but this was even a murder! And still just a few hours later Miranda can only think about making out with her newfound love interest. It may certainly happen in real life, but that doesn't automatically make the narrative interesting or believable.
Phillips, just like Miranda, served the plot without being more than the hero type character. He was first introduced as a boy who had a really bad reputation, but after a few pages it was like the rumours about him being a criminal never existed. Instead, we get this golden boy who is ready to break the rules to protect his loved ones (first Miranda and then his mother), and that really doesn't feel right when you think he's just spent three years of his life away from the island to save himself from the voices in his head. Then he sees Miranda on tv and he just decides he has to give in to his irrational side, without a second thought, without fearing for himself and his sanity. (He just acknowleledges that, but it doesn't stand as a conflict to the story.) I'm sorry, but I don't buy it.
In the end, a not so enjoyable read. I wish luck to this new imprint, though, in the hope I will like one or more of their future publications.
A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley.
dulcief7d5f's review
2.0
I had great hopes for this and was pretty disappointed at every turn. Bond's next novel has such a great premise, I hope it lives up to it!
bmartino's review
3.0
3.5 stars. Not awful, just not really as gripping as I like my YA scifi/fantasy/paranormal stuff to be.
meeners's review
2.0
picked this up because an author i like had talked it up on her blog, and because i have always been fascinated by the mystery of the lost colony of roanoke island. for some reason i had been under the impression this was a time-travel novel wherein our intrepid heroine gets transported back to the original lost colony, but it turns out i was completely wrong. XD (this has been happening to me a lot. perhaps i should start paying more attention to the back cover blurbs...)
though the book does attempt to put forth a (paranormal) explanation for the lost colony, it mainly focuses on paranormal baddies appearing in the contemporary world, with our somewhat-less-than-intrepid heroine and obligatory-love-interest hero coming together to try to save the day. some surprising dark notes made this a shade more memorable than the average YA paranormal fare, but i would have preferred those dark notes even darker; as it was, the characters' emotional reactions felt at odds with the actual plot, and the eventual resolution rather unearned. the stilted writing, combined with some obvious MFA quirks (like those sentences that use a comma and repetition to try to convey a sense of Weighty Portent, but more often feel like they're got a case of the hiccups: "She needed to get to Phillips, get through to him that they didn't have much time left"), didn't help either.
in all, an easy and diverting read - but not something i'd necessarily recommend to others.
though the book does attempt to put forth a (paranormal) explanation for the lost colony, it mainly focuses on paranormal baddies appearing in the contemporary world, with our somewhat-less-than-intrepid heroine and obligatory-love-interest hero coming together to try to save the day. some surprising dark notes made this a shade more memorable than the average YA paranormal fare, but i would have preferred those dark notes even darker; as it was, the characters' emotional reactions felt at odds with the actual plot, and the eventual resolution rather unearned. the stilted writing, combined with some obvious MFA quirks (like those sentences that use a comma and repetition to try to convey a sense of Weighty Portent, but more often feel like they're got a case of the hiccups: "She needed to get to Phillips, get through to him that they didn't have much time left"), didn't help either.
in all, an easy and diverting read - but not something i'd necessarily recommend to others.
kribu's review
3.0
Not the sort of book to blow me away in sheer awe, but not a bad one by any means.
I thought the "fannish teenager" side of the main character was pretty well captured, and the plot was okay enough, although a little thin at times.
I thought the "fannish teenager" side of the main character was pretty well captured, and the plot was okay enough, although a little thin at times.