A review by thebalancedbookshelf
Solita by Vivien Rainn

3.25

 

I think I just wanted something different out of this book. For some reason I thought it would be more romance focused and it really wasn’t. The main character is dealing with a lot of grief and sadness due to her mother’s death and that really is the main focus of this book. We get a lot of descriptions about her pain and suffering. She feels isolated, depressed and confused, which leads to the people around her taking advantage. 

While I appreciate these aspects I felt like I wanted more about the demons and the house. I think there’s a lot of vivid imagery and dream sequences that fill the majority of the book but I needed more plot and characterization past the grief. I feel like there are a lot of unanswered questions as to what is going on and why. I don’t really understand much if anything about this curse and it’s never really explained. Also, why now after 600 years is Lorenzo coming for his brother? I feel like we needed a lot more backstory to make sense of the plot. I also felt there was a heavy religious tone which I’m not the biggest fan of. I understand its relevance but that wasn’t really for me. 

I did like the setting and historical components. I haven’t read too many, if any, books set in the Philippines so I found that to be refreshing. I think for me this book was a little heavy handed and I needed more in other aspects to find this enjoyable.