A review by hello_lovely13
All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O'Donoghue

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

2.75

I am feeling a bit torn about this book, but I think that I will not continue the series.  The magic system is interesting, and I like that the other characters are not afraid to call out Maeve because she definitely needs to be. I don't particularly like Maeve if I'm being honest, but I have already seen some growth in her, which gives me hope. This deals with a lot more political religious bigotry than I was expecting, and it achieves it's intention of making me angry (I am torn about how it's gone about, though, because it does call out Maeve via Fiona in the end about how Maeve views why it's happening (
the rip made by the Housekeeper "causing" more people to be hateful, when Fiona is right, some people are just hateful all on their own
, but I don't like Aaron period (
literally I HATED that he called the Housekeeper his pet; absolutely FUCK HIM; it sucks that a man is taking a powerful female character like that (yes, technically she is an it, and the it is probably a demon or something, but still), and it didn't have to go that way, which infuriates me
).  

IMPORTANT WARNING: Even though it does set it up, there is a scene (multiple, but one that's particularly intense) depicting a hate crime, and it took me off-guard.

 It did a good job keeping the intrigue up, but there were some stereotypical YA aspects that annoyed me. For instance, I don't think the romance was necessarily at all (there were also moments when it went a bit too sexual for YA, which made me uncomfortable). At the very least, if the romance HAD to be there, then it should have been paced better. Their relationship was too sudden (
at least wait for them to get together until the first book; instead it could have gone like this: the attraction could still be there, but more bonding, and the fight could still occur, but instead of a break-up the boundary is just still put in place; maybe they confess towards the end, but it is not necessary or set up well enough yet!
), multiple fights that pop up were too sudden (there would be times where: oh, they brought that up literally out of nowhere), and it does this book a disservice. Hopefully these aspects will improve along with Maeve's character as she goes on (yes, a major character flaw of hers is an inability to accept responsibility for her actions (a major pet peeve of mine) and it influences her every opinion, decision, and how I view her character; keep the character growth coming!)
The continuation of the series should be interesting with all of them having powers and Lily's return (I agree that Lily, though she might eventually, doesn't need to or even should forgive Maeve at this point; Maeve retrieving her from the river is about her own guilt, not about Lily at all, so that's not justification for why Lily should forgive her. She is called on that, which is good. I'm not thrilled to encounter Aaron again, though (not the most interesting part of the book for me, and honestly made me a bit uncomfortable, but I get that's part of the point).
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