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marahsoore 's review for:
Secrets of the Starcrossed
by Clara O'Connor
I was able to receive an ARC from NetGalley with approval from 'Once More Chapter' an imprint of HarperCollins UK.
To quote the book, 'I felt nothing'.
When I read the description for 'The Once and Future Queen' I was pumped to get a fun fantasy romp with English, Celtic, Welsh, and Irish mythology. What I got was another run of the mill YA dystopia with 'adult' characters. This book reads like a YA but the characters are too old to be in the category. Devyn is 26, and Cassandra is 22. They're full-fledged adults but they both act like teenagers.
I had hoped that this world would have some interesting world-building, giving English myths their own chance to shine. Instead, it felt like a copy and paste of a number of other books that have been out on an already saturated market.
It took me a long time to get into the book, and I never really got attached to anyone. I think the pacing issues stem from the fact that Cassandra has no reason to be doing all the things she does. Her only reason is she has a 'feeling' about Devyn and even then he tells her not to join him but she still does because... 'reasons'. Cassandra gets pulled along and in the end I just didn't care about anything that was happening.
If this is your first attempt to read a dystopian or an older YA Fantasy novel, I would say read the Grishavers, Six of Crows, or Hunger Games and leave this book alone. I hope the writer can continue to grow and learn a bit more about stakes and pacing for the next book of the series, but I myself won't be giving it a shot.
To quote the book, 'I felt nothing'.
When I read the description for 'The Once and Future Queen' I was pumped to get a fun fantasy romp with English, Celtic, Welsh, and Irish mythology. What I got was another run of the mill YA dystopia with 'adult' characters. This book reads like a YA but the characters are too old to be in the category. Devyn is 26, and Cassandra is 22. They're full-fledged adults but they both act like teenagers.
I had hoped that this world would have some interesting world-building, giving English myths their own chance to shine. Instead, it felt like a copy and paste of a number of other books that have been out on an already saturated market.
It took me a long time to get into the book, and I never really got attached to anyone. I think the pacing issues stem from the fact that Cassandra has no reason to be doing all the things she does. Her only reason is she has a 'feeling' about Devyn and even then he tells her not to join him but she still does because... 'reasons'. Cassandra gets pulled along and in the end I just didn't care about anything that was happening.
If this is your first attempt to read a dystopian or an older YA Fantasy novel, I would say read the Grishavers, Six of Crows, or Hunger Games and leave this book alone. I hope the writer can continue to grow and learn a bit more about stakes and pacing for the next book of the series, but I myself won't be giving it a shot.