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hjswinford's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars. I enjoyed this a lot actually. Did not reinvent anything, but it was a fun story with a cute ghost-hunter-falls-for-the-ghost thing going on. I didn't really know it was ya going in, and it definitely was, but I enjoyed it all the same.
notsogreen's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This is the kind of horror I get really into. Not too gory, not disgusting, just creepy. I had a great time. 4.5/5
efactorygirl's review against another edition
3.0
3.5*
This was better than okay but not great.
It started getting pretty interesting once I got past the halfway point of the book.
However, I felt the characters were pretty flat.
The secondary characters were almost completely forgettable.
The "love" story in this was so odd too, it felt completely unbelievable and that's saying a lot seeing the type of world this story takes place in.
I did like that this story had a male protagonist because that isn't seen as often in YA books.
I really enjoyed the lore and horror aspects to this novel as well.
Over the story kept me entertained enough that I'm looking forward to picking up the second book.
This was better than okay but not great.
It started getting pretty interesting once I got past the halfway point of the book.
However, I felt the characters were pretty flat.
The secondary characters were almost completely forgettable.
The "love" story in this was so odd too, it felt completely unbelievable and that's saying a lot seeing the type of world this story takes place in.
I did like that this story had a male protagonist because that isn't seen as often in YA books.
I really enjoyed the lore and horror aspects to this novel as well.
Over the story kept me entertained enough that I'm looking forward to picking up the second book.
jen85's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
dappeltje's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
befsk's review against another edition
2.0
I really didn't get along with this book. And I saw so many 5 star glowing reviews! And excited fans ranting about movie adaptation news! It just didn't live up to the hype.
Let's start with what I was promised and what I got:
- Scary. Scary? What are you, a pre-teen? I am easily scared. I readily admit that. This book was not scary. I thought maybe we were onto something early on in the book (after slogging through Cas' internal bragging about how much better he is than all of his classmates at his new school) when we first met Anna. I was excited! Nearly 100 pages of crap to wade through (25% of the book) and the action finally picks up! Only to drop that shit immediately. And there was nothing else to be afraid of. No other characters or events even tried to be scary until near the end when the big bad appeared. And the big bad didn't scare me because he turned up more than 300 pages in. He turned up in the last 50 pages and acted like he was supposed to be scary . I just wasn't impressed, with so little of the book left to develop him as a big bad and a scary figure.
- Romantic. I mean, really? Really? Over 250 pages in is when the romantic subplot is properly introduced. 100 pages to go and the author decides to cram that in there. Because we can't have a YA paranormal book without romance. Even if it is really, really creepy. Which it was. Obviously, it was hinted at earlier in the novel, but I chose to ignore the hints because it was way too icky.
- Un-put-down-able. Or whatever word sums that up better. I read nearly 50 pages and put the book down for over a month and couldn't bring myself to pick it back up again. As previously alluded to, the pace of this book was awful. Nothing happens for large chunks of it. And when things do happen, it's 10 pages of shit's-going-down followed by 50+ pages of talking and going to school and attempted character development. It took me a month and a half to read this book.
So, other than being disappointing, there were some other things that bugged me.
If you've seen the first season of Supernatural then you'll understand when I say Wendigos? Really? As if the comparison wasn't clear enough, with the phantom hitchhiker (S1EP1, S2EP16) turning up on the first page of this book. And Cas' snarky attitude (which, might I add works a lot better in Dean's case because Cas' direct brain snarking just came across as bratty and pretentious to me), not to mention the name Cas itself (though that one is a little tenuous given that the book mainly rips off earlier seasons of Supernatural).
Voodoo ghost man has dreadlocks and talks in a Jamaican accent. I mean, yes, voodoo was mainly a Caribbean thing, blahblah, but when he's the only black character in the book, well...
Also, the other character we get in the book is a stereotypical angry European traditionalist mother, who practices magic and thinks culture and reputation are everything.
Mistakes. There were a few; punctuation, spelling, grammatical or just sense-lacking errors (a few of which I pointed out in status updates).
It just felt very much like a typical YA-with-subgenre book. The characters weren't memorable, the plot wasn't memorable, and there were a fair few YA stereotypes present, including insta-love and 'witty' teenage characters. Although there was a hell of a lot of swearing for a YA, sometimes unnecessary, sometimes justifiable. And honestly, at least it didn't make me angry or bore me to death. I guess I'll give the next book a shot.
Let's start with what I was promised and what I got:
- Scary. Scary? What are you, a pre-teen? I am easily scared. I readily admit that. This book was not scary. I thought maybe we were onto something early on in the book (after slogging through Cas' internal bragging about how much better he is than all of his classmates at his new school) when we first met Anna.
Spoiler
I mean, she ripped a guy clean in half. With no warning. With graphic detail from the author.Spoiler
Once it turns out that Anna can't/won't/doesn't feel the need to hurt Cas, she became utterly nonthreatening to me.Spoiler
with his flesh-eating habits and sewn-up eyes- Romantic. I mean, really? Really? Over 250 pages in is when the romantic subplot is properly introduced. 100 pages to go and the author decides to cram that in there. Because we can't have a YA paranormal book without romance. Even if it is really, really creepy. Which it was. Obviously, it was hinted at earlier in the novel, but I chose to ignore the hints because it was way too icky.
Spoiler
Making out with a 16-year-old ghost is hot though, right? I guess, at least, on the positive side they didn't bring up the romance when Anna was still nuts and would turn into a deranged killer at any provocation. Which they didn't fix until about halfway through the book. Which does give a reason that the romance was put off until so late, but if that's the case then why make it romantic at all? Fearless ghost-killing self-proclaimed badass falls in love with a ghost? Just seemed unlikely to me.- Un-put-down-able. Or whatever word sums that up better. I read nearly 50 pages and put the book down for over a month and couldn't bring myself to pick it back up again. As previously alluded to, the pace of this book was awful. Nothing happens for large chunks of it. And when things do happen, it's 10 pages of shit's-going-down followed by 50+ pages of talking and going to school and attempted character development. It took me a month and a half to read this book.
So, other than being disappointing, there were some other things that bugged me.
If you've seen the first season of Supernatural then you'll understand when I say Wendigos? Really? As if the comparison wasn't clear enough, with the phantom hitchhiker (S1EP1, S2EP16) turning up on the first page of this book. And Cas' snarky attitude (which, might I add works a lot better in Dean's case because Cas' direct brain snarking just came across as bratty and pretentious to me), not to mention the name Cas itself (though that one is a little tenuous given that the book mainly rips off earlier seasons of Supernatural).
Voodoo ghost man has dreadlocks and talks in a Jamaican accent. I mean, yes, voodoo was mainly a Caribbean thing, blahblah, but when he's the only black character in the book
Spoiler
and he's the big badAlso, the other
Spoiler
'truly evil'Spoiler
, at the expense of her only child's lifeMistakes. There were a few; punctuation, spelling, grammatical or just sense-lacking errors (a few of which I pointed out in status updates).
It just felt very much like a typical YA-with-subgenre book. The characters weren't memorable, the plot wasn't memorable, and there were a fair few YA stereotypes present, including insta-love and 'witty' teenage characters. Although there was a hell of a lot of swearing for a YA, sometimes unnecessary, sometimes justifiable. And honestly, at least it didn't make me angry or bore me to death. I guess I'll give the next book a shot.
groovy_1860's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
frawst_disasta_reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I have never considered myself a person who reads scary books. But over the last year I have been reaching for them more often, especially dark fantasy.
This book came out of nowhere for me. I loved the Three Dark Crowns books and when I saw a special edition of this duology, I decided to read the books.
I am thrilled that I did. I absolutely loved this book. The plot is well done, the characters felt very realistic, and the myriad of emotions left me with quite the book hangover.
This book came out of nowhere for me. I loved the Three Dark Crowns books and when I saw a special edition of this duology, I decided to read the books.
I am thrilled that I did. I absolutely loved this book. The plot is well done, the characters felt very realistic, and the myriad of emotions left me with quite the book hangover.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, and Violence
Minor: Sexual harassment
thenightcourtreader_'s review against another edition
4.5
This book was recommended to me by a friend and I would recommend it to others.
The story is gripping from the beginning, I couldn't help but wonder why Cas was so fixated on Anna, though I had my suspicions.
I don't like giving anything away in reviews but I will say this, this book will make you feel. I went through happy, sad, furious, happy again in between and landed on heartbroken. It actually made me cry.
I finished both of the Anna books in two days.
The story is gripping from the beginning, I couldn't help but wonder why Cas was so fixated on Anna, though I had my suspicions.
I don't like giving anything away in reviews but I will say this, this book will make you feel. I went through happy, sad, furious, happy again in between and landed on heartbroken. It actually made me cry.
I finished both of the Anna books in two days.