Scan barcode
pewterwolf's review
3.0
Review Taken From The Pewter Wolf
Cameron goes to a carnival and, to his shock, meets Wesley, the boy who once broke his heart and left town without so much as a goodbye, performing as a sword swallower’s assistant. But something's wrong. Why did Wesley leave without saying goodbye? Why did he break Cameron's heart the way he did? And who is the strange woman who seems to hold Wesley her prisoner?
Now, I like Jessica Verday's writing style within her "The Hollow" trilogy and this carried through within this short story and the idea of the story was interesting. She also didn't make a big deal about the two characters - Cam and Wesley - being gay. It was just handled the same way she wrote the love story between her main characters, Abbey and Caspian, in her "The Hollow" trilogy. She even stated on her blog that "You don't choose who you fall in love with and you don't choose to be gay" which, to me, makes perfectly true.
And while I sped through the novella (it's 13,000 word novella) within an hour, it is a short story and with that, details weren't really explained. It seemed to skim every now and then, but whether that was how I read the story or how the story was written, I'm not sure.
Another thing that a review on Goodreads is that the book suffers from "Disappearing Parent Syndrome". You see neither of Cam's parents and I get why they were seen nor heard, but surely there was one or two things you would have seen then. Also, the story is very "dated". But that, I mean they are modern reference that, in a few years time, might be out of date. There is mention of Lady Gaga, Kellan Lutz and Google that might get on some people's nerves.
But it was a fast read. And I like it. Not love it, but I like it. It warms me up for the third and final book in "The Hollow" trilogy, The Hidden.
Cameron goes to a carnival and, to his shock, meets Wesley, the boy who once broke his heart and left town without so much as a goodbye, performing as a sword swallower’s assistant. But something's wrong. Why did Wesley leave without saying goodbye? Why did he break Cameron's heart the way he did? And who is the strange woman who seems to hold Wesley her prisoner?
Now, I like Jessica Verday's writing style within her "The Hollow" trilogy and this carried through within this short story and the idea of the story was interesting. She also didn't make a big deal about the two characters - Cam and Wesley - being gay. It was just handled the same way she wrote the love story between her main characters, Abbey and Caspian, in her "The Hollow" trilogy. She even stated on her blog that "You don't choose who you fall in love with and you don't choose to be gay" which, to me, makes perfectly true.
And while I sped through the novella (it's 13,000 word novella) within an hour, it is a short story and with that, details weren't really explained. It seemed to skim every now and then, but whether that was how I read the story or how the story was written, I'm not sure.
Another thing that a review on Goodreads is that the book suffers from "Disappearing Parent Syndrome". You see neither of Cam's parents and I get why they were seen nor heard, but surely there was one or two things you would have seen then. Also, the story is very "dated". But that, I mean they are modern reference that, in a few years time, might be out of date. There is mention of Lady Gaga, Kellan Lutz and Google that might get on some people's nerves.
But it was a fast read. And I like it. Not love it, but I like it. It warms me up for the third and final book in "The Hollow" trilogy, The Hidden.
princess_starr's review
4.0
First off, hooray for Jess Verday for making this available as an ebook (and proceeds to benefit charity)! I heard about this during the Wicked Pretty Things fail, and was really interested in reading it.
This story is down-right creepy. From the moment Cameron meets the Queen of Hearts up until the very end, I couldn’t shake the unnerved feeling of the story. There’s a lot of traditional lore that gets played around with, and I enjoyed seeing how Verday worked everything into the modern setting. I loved Cameron, I liked how he tried to outsmart the Queen of Hearts and manages to hunt down the requirements she needs. I also felt a lot for him in regards to his relationship with Wesley. Cam’s someone who’s been hurt, knows it, and wants to find out the reasons why. The flashbacks of their relationship felt genuine and tender, and, as much as I knew that it wasn’t going to happen, I wanted them to live happily ever after.
If there’s one thing that I didn’t like, it was that I don’t really buy Wesley’s reasoning for binding himself to Faerie. I know there’s only so much room to work within the novella, but his explanation felt out of left field. I can understand why he did it, but a little more insight to his psyche would have helped out a lot. That, and I wasn’t a huge fan of Cam’s friend Len; she only really serves to gossip along with Cam right at the beginning.
Overall, it’s a great little read that managed to creep me out and make me want to hug the protagonists at the same time. Go download this now.
This story is down-right creepy. From the moment Cameron meets the Queen of Hearts up until the very end, I couldn’t shake the unnerved feeling of the story. There’s a lot of traditional lore that gets played around with, and I enjoyed seeing how Verday worked everything into the modern setting. I loved Cameron, I liked how he tried to outsmart the Queen of Hearts and manages to hunt down the requirements she needs. I also felt a lot for him in regards to his relationship with Wesley. Cam’s someone who’s been hurt, knows it, and wants to find out the reasons why. The flashbacks of their relationship felt genuine and tender, and, as much as I knew that it wasn’t going to happen, I wanted them to live happily ever after.
If there’s one thing that I didn’t like, it was that I don’t really buy Wesley’s reasoning for binding himself to Faerie. I know there’s only so much room to work within the novella, but his explanation felt out of left field. I can understand why he did it, but a little more insight to his psyche would have helped out a lot. That, and I wasn’t a huge fan of Cam’s friend Len; she only really serves to gossip along with Cam right at the beginning.
Overall, it’s a great little read that managed to creep me out and make me want to hug the protagonists at the same time. Go download this now.
More...