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pageb's review against another edition
2.0
This book was sent to me for review. The story idea has great potential but the writing is pretty bad. I can look past a few grammar mistakes -we all make them, but there are a lot of mistakes in this book. Also, the dialogue is unrealistic and inconsistent. Some words are just plain wrong. For example, one character means to say, "You jest," but says, "You gist." Additionally, it took me until I was halfway through the book to understand what the quest or task of the protagonist was. I give the authors points for a fun, magical story idea, but no points for execution.
cthuwu's review against another edition
dnf @ 11% - idk if i ever liked the premise of sad 16-year-old girl whines because her daddy won't let her get her way and date the guy she's OBVIOUSLY in love with even though she's only known him for like a month, but i certainly don't like them now.
i feel kinda sad that this one flopped for me, because the premise of potions that can transport your to different realms and make you invisible etc etc was really promising. however, the worldbuilding felt a little lazy. i don't normally go into that much detail about books i don't finish (especially since i read just over 10% of this book), but i feel like being a little nit-picky today.
the book starts with jennifer finding out that her boyfriend, curtis, drowned as a result of a drunken boating accident. i felt sorry for about .01 seconds. my sympathy ended when i found out he was the one who was drunk and he also refused a life jacket because he "couldn't breath." well, curtis, that's not going to be a problem for you anymore. i also had a little hiccup in this prologue because jennifer takes a moment to remember that, when she was in macy's buying her new itsy bitsy black polka dotted bikini, curtis told her that her boobs looked big in it.
imagine, if you will, that you're sitting in an ambulance on the shore while the coast guard are searching for your potentially dead boyfriend that you all but watched drown fewer than 24 hours ago and all you can think about is that one time in the macy's dressing room that he told you your titties looked nice in your new bathing suit. hm. interesting.
anyways, after curtis dies jennifer joins an organization called "against drunk boating." yeah, that's it. we don't know what against drunk boating, but they sure are against it. the rest of the book starts with jennifer and her little brother traveling to ireland to stay with their aunt and uncle. when they arrive at the house, they offer to take their own bags because they don't feel comfortable with the servants taking them. it's a little thing. but both the servants and their aunt and uncle seem hideously offended by this. their aunt even goes "oh just let them do it, it's their job." that was strike one.
strike two was the aforementioned sad 16 year old girl. her name is keeva and she's the princess of something or other and she's >:( because her daddy won't let her run around and socialize with the peasants. she's also got this guy appearing on her balcony every day that she's Totally In Love with. but she hasn't told him and doesn't until she finds out that he's leaving for good because he's from some other different magical realm or other and he's been stealing the rarest magical potion of them all so he can come and woo her every day--but his dad found out and he can't do that anymore.
i stopped reading after keeva decided that she was going to bribe her dad's head wizard guy, inargram, to get more of that super rare and expensive potion so she can go and meet her fake boyfriend who basically broke into her house and told her she was hot for a few months. killer seduction technique, my dude.
anyways, i am not made for YA novels. at all. so, onto the next.
i feel kinda sad that this one flopped for me, because the premise of potions that can transport your to different realms and make you invisible etc etc was really promising. however, the worldbuilding felt a little lazy. i don't normally go into that much detail about books i don't finish (especially since i read just over 10% of this book), but i feel like being a little nit-picky today.
the book starts with jennifer finding out that her boyfriend, curtis, drowned as a result of a drunken boating accident. i felt sorry for about .01 seconds. my sympathy ended when i found out he was the one who was drunk and he also refused a life jacket because he "couldn't breath." well, curtis, that's not going to be a problem for you anymore. i also had a little hiccup in this prologue because jennifer takes a moment to remember that, when she was in macy's buying her new itsy bitsy black polka dotted bikini, curtis told her that her boobs looked big in it.
imagine, if you will, that you're sitting in an ambulance on the shore while the coast guard are searching for your potentially dead boyfriend that you all but watched drown fewer than 24 hours ago and all you can think about is that one time in the macy's dressing room that he told you your titties looked nice in your new bathing suit. hm. interesting.
anyways, after curtis dies jennifer joins an organization called "against drunk boating." yeah, that's it. we don't know what against drunk boating, but they sure are against it. the rest of the book starts with jennifer and her little brother traveling to ireland to stay with their aunt and uncle. when they arrive at the house, they offer to take their own bags because they don't feel comfortable with the servants taking them. it's a little thing. but both the servants and their aunt and uncle seem hideously offended by this. their aunt even goes "oh just let them do it, it's their job." that was strike one.
strike two was the aforementioned sad 16 year old girl. her name is keeva and she's the princess of something or other and she's >:( because her daddy won't let her run around and socialize with the peasants. she's also got this guy appearing on her balcony every day that she's Totally In Love with. but she hasn't told him and doesn't until she finds out that he's leaving for good because he's from some other different magical realm or other and he's been stealing the rarest magical potion of them all so he can come and woo her every day--but his dad found out and he can't do that anymore.
i stopped reading after keeva decided that she was going to bribe her dad's head wizard guy, inargram, to get more of that super rare and expensive potion so she can go and meet her fake boyfriend who basically broke into her house and told her she was hot for a few months. killer seduction technique, my dude.
anyways, i am not made for YA novels. at all. so, onto the next.
literaryghost's review
2.0
There was so much of this book that was great, but there was also quite a bit I did not care for.
The most compelling thing here was the story of the Kyne brothers- cursed to live as trees for 200 years until they were freed temporarily.
The story of Jessica, the girl who blamed herself for like 2 years because the dumbass she dated for 3 months drowned? The authors completely gloss over her shit ex feeling her up without her permission, and while I can understand the impressionable teenager blaming herself, the authors refuse to free her from this misogynistic spiral where Curtis is somehow this angel.
Also tiring were the forced romances. Why do all 3 Kyne brothers need to conclude their journeys in a love story? Is coming back to human form not enough? And why is what is a perfectly good opportunity for a gay romance shyly hinted at? A waste.
Most of the characters were underdeveloped, and though interesting as an outline, really needed some work. The story telling here was juvenile at best, and would have made a better horror or fantasy-action rather than primarily focusing on the bland character of Jessica and her misplaced blame. This could seriously stand to be rewritten and edited for more than this edition obviously was, but what lies beneath is truly a fun, quick-read of a story and poorly executed but good and interesting concept. Had they stuck to the Kyne brothers, they’d have really had something.
The most compelling thing here was the story of the Kyne brothers- cursed to live as trees for 200 years until they were freed temporarily.
The story of Jessica, the girl who blamed herself for like 2 years because the dumbass she dated for 3 months drowned? The authors completely gloss over her shit ex feeling her up without her permission, and while I can understand the impressionable teenager blaming herself, the authors refuse to free her from this misogynistic spiral where Curtis is somehow this angel.
Also tiring were the forced romances. Why do all 3 Kyne brothers need to conclude their journeys in a love story? Is coming back to human form not enough? And why is what is a perfectly good opportunity for a gay romance shyly hinted at? A waste.
Most of the characters were underdeveloped, and though interesting as an outline, really needed some work. The story telling here was juvenile at best, and would have made a better horror or fantasy-action rather than primarily focusing on the bland character of Jessica and her misplaced blame. This could seriously stand to be rewritten and edited for more than this edition obviously was, but what lies beneath is truly a fun, quick-read of a story and poorly executed but good and interesting concept. Had they stuck to the Kyne brothers, they’d have really had something.
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