Reviews

I could see what the book wanted to be but it couldn’t get there
The main character kept referring to her town being superstitious despite all the FACTS to the contrary
The love interest and their history was very problematic

odditea773's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

4.5

kathleenfairchild's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I liked how this story came together in the end, tying up the loose ends nicely. Some of it I guessed right, other things surprised me. This story deals with art and the question of what you're willing to sacrifice for your dreams, but also with memory and all that entails. There's also a creepy forest and its inhabitants and an overall nice blend of our world and the fantastical. The relationship between Emeline and her grandfather was really touching. It is revealed early on that he has dementia and we get a feeling how this affects everyone involved. So heart-breakingly and beautifully done. I also liked the romantic element, but can't delve too much into that because it would spoil quite a bit of the story.

The story felt a bit rushed at times. I wished we could have delved deeper into everything but that might just be a me problem. It's still a solid standalone that I would recommend to a friend. I would say this is leaning more towards an older YA audience.

Something that I think might be worth mentioning is that there is an aspect of discovering being the result of an abusive and non-consensual relationship.

cobaltbookshelf's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 stars

This a good story about folklore, the Fae, and a magical realm deep within the forest. I liked the slow-burn, enemies-to lovers aspect and I understood what Ciccarelli was trying to do with her story, just it was predicable. I enjoyed story of a girl going into the wood to save her family.

Cover is stunning and the plot was fun and engaging.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

bekahlou9's review

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I want to start by saying the premise of this story has such great potential. It’s romantic, fantastical, and borderline coming of age and being brave enough to be you in a world that wants clones who can be easily controlled.
Unfortunately, it fell short in what it could have been. Her motivation doesn’t match her actions. She barely spends time with/ talks to/ sees/ or thinks about her grandpa…unless, of course, she has to bring up motive for why she’s doing this… even though 50% of the time she’s doing it so she’ll be able to get home.
So much is happening, but also nothing? It’s not impactful, it’s just busy. We’re not seeing any of the actual plot progression, we’re seeing the time pass and irrelevant details are mentioned in place of the actual story, and it’s repetitive.
The FMC is shallow, and literally her ONLY character trait is having a good singing voice. She is incapable of doing anything or having a logical mind. Of course it took her until the last second to find the missing music sheets because she got distracted and wasted all her time. Each important and tense moment was overshadowed by this weird and unnecessary sexual tension.

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