|REVIEW| Shadowlands by Kate Brian

SHADOWLANDS (#1)

By: Kate Brian 

Review by: Kaede

Release Date: January 8th, 2013

Publisher: Hyperion 

Pages: 328

 

Rory Miller had one chance to fight back and she took it. Rory survived and the serial killer who attacked her escaped. Now that the infamous Steven Nell is on the loose, Rory must enter the witness protection program. Entering the program alongside her, is her father and sister Darcy. The trio starts a new life and a new beginning leaving their friends and family behind without a goodbye.


Starting over in a new town with only each other is unimaginable for Rory and Darcy. They were inseparable as children but now they can barely stand each other. As the sisters settle in to Juniper Landing, a picturesque vacation island, it seems like their new home may be just the fresh start they need. They fall in with a group of beautiful, carefree teens and spend their days surfing, partying on the beach, and hiking into endless sunsets. Just as they’re starting to feel safe again, one of their new friends goes missing. Is it a coincidence? Or is the nightmare beginning all over again?

Some of the hardest books for me to review are not the ones that I hated so much I'd rather forget the ever existed, or even the stories I loved to the point where I can't form coherent thoughts out of my fangirling, but rather the ones that fall right in between. SHADOWLANDS is one of them. 

A story like SHADOWLANDS should be exciting, and maybe just a little bit scary. However, what I got was what was to me a cast of flat characters that provided me with little but a want to reach the end as quickly as I could. 

To be fair, it isn't as if SHADOWLANDS is a terrible book. Because it isn't. But even going into it with the mediocre expectations that I had, I still found myself disappointed. The first few chapters were steady and interesting enough that I was curious to how the rest of the story would play out. But once Rory and her family were relocated to Juniper Landing, I started to feel my interest leaving. It made no sense because that was when the story was suppose to grip me, with a killer on the loose and all that. Instead I just found myself unconnected with the new characters. 

There were parts where I felt that SHADOWLANDS had potential, and the most interesting parts came from the short chapters where we hear from the killer. It wasn't a giant struggle to finish the book, but for the most part I didn't find anything that would set this apart from others of it's genre except the ending. Some will certainly be floored by it in a good sense, but others may be angry that the same ending feels too much like a ploy to ensure that you read the next book. Or you could be me who went into the book already knowing the ending.

I probably would have had a different experience reading this book if I had not known the ending, and maybe I would've enjoyed it a little bit more because of the shock factor. But it still would not have done anything for my disinterest in most of the characters, and the characters and their development are often a main reason why I love a book. 

Interestingly enough, if I had to choose a medium to experience the story in, I would've chosen movie. I felt that as a whole SHADOWLANDS could have been expressed better as a film, with aspects like the mysterious fog added as a creepy factor that raised suspicion of just how safe Juniper Landing is. Having mysterious fog described to me was a bit odd, and I think it would've had more impact if the audience could have been allowed to discover it themselves, which isn't possible in a book because you have no clue it exists unless someone mentions it. 

SHADOWLANDS was an alright book. I don't regret reading it, and eventually I'll check out the sequel. The writing was good enough that I could read through all the way. This is one of those books that I'd say that it can't hurt to try, since the result will be different for everyone. Quite a few of my friends enjoyed SHADOWLANDS, and a few did not. So I'd love to see what you think of this young adult thriller mystery!

2 and ½ coffee cups!

~♥~

BUY THE BOOK:

AMAZON | BARNES AND NOBLE

~♥~

Contact Kaede: 

Email: kimberlyho75@yahoo.com

Goodreads: Kaede
Twitter: Kami178xx

ARC Review of The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Title: The Naturals
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Review by: Sarah
Release Date: November 5th, 2013
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Pages: 304
Format: E-ARC
Source: Netgalley

 

Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want.  But, it’s not a skill that she’s ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI come knocking: they've begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie.   What Cassie doesn't realize is that there's more at risk than a few unsolved homicides—especially when she’s sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own. Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms close. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive. 
Think The Mentalist meets Pretty Little Liars—Jennifer Lynn-Barnes’ The Naturals is a gripping psychological thriller with killer appeal, a to-die-for romance, and the bones of a gritty and compelling new series.

Another case of: Is this a series? The blurb on netgalley led me to believe so, but all I can say is, if it's a standalone, I will be angry for the rest of my life. 

 So let me quickly set the scene for you. Cassandra 'Cassie' Hobbes is a young girl living with the Italian side of her family as her father is in the Air Force, and her mother was murdered when she was young. Cassie feels odd and out of place in this family, as she looks so much like her red-headed mother, and finds it hard to truly connect to these people. (Side note: I loved Cassie's nonna, and if this does turn out to be a series I do hope there is more of her and the family. ) The other thing Cassie takes from her mother is her uncanny ability to read people and their behaviors and make scarily accurate assumptions about them from thus. Her mother was so good at this she made a living from it, posing as a psychic. And Cassie is so good at it the FBI tracks her down to be recruited into a secretive program for Naturals (aka kids with almost-inhuman abilities that would be of use to the FBI, be it profiling, lie-detecting, statistic memorization, etc.) So Cassie, hell-bent on finding her place in the world and ravenous for answers about her mother's unsolved murder, immediately hops on board. And after shakily getting her overprotective extended family to agree to this, Cassie sets off to start her new life as a Natural Profiler (as in, profiling serial killers) and aiding the FBI in solving cold cases. 

 Now, obviously, this is a book you have to really suspend your disbelief for. To enjoy it, I think you have to really put yourself in the mindset of 'this is a story'. Because a lot of what happens is unrealistic and plot-convenient. I see this being a love it or hate it type of book and whether you love it or hate it will most likely come down to if you are able to quickly latch onto the characters or not. At first, unfortunately, I was not. I found Cassie to be a likable enough heroine, but the character I assumed to be her love interest did nothing for me, and the slow burn of the beginning had me putting down the book often and forgetting about it. But being a big fan of JLB's writing, I thought, I've got at least stick it out to 100 pages. And I'm very glad that I did. 

 As soon as the other Naturals came into play, I was hooked. I adored their clashing personalities and the dynamic between all of them. I loved the fact that even though they're 'special kids' working for the FBI, they're all still very much teenagers and get up to very teeny hi-jinks. I would love to have some bits from the other Naturals POV, especially Lia (Natural lie-detector), who is an absolute enigma. Sloane (Natural with numbers and probabilities) was adorable. I have a soft spot for tropey 'computer-brain' type characters. And Michael (Natural emotion reader), though I didn't find him as swoon-worthy as Cassie seems to, is indeed a very interesting character.

 And then, of course...there's Dean. Dean Dean Dean.

 

 I feel like I don't want to say too much about Dean as it ruins the fun of readers getting to know him for themselves. So just know that he is *fangirl noise*. I can't believe I almost put down this book for good without meeting him. That would have been a travesty. 

 Another interesting thing I'd like to touch upon is the fact that every few chapters the reader is treated to The Killer's POV. Now, I've read a few serial killer-esque books in my day, and I've noticed that a lot of the time the writer seems to take The Killer's POV too over the top. Extremely dramatic ~serial killery~ prose that almost makes you laugh rather than cower. This book doesn't have that problem. JLB has perfectly captured the just-creepy-enough tone of The Killer to make their POV really, really uncomfortable to read. I salute her for that. 

 This book was something new and refreshing. And though it did come across as a bit cheesy and 'well what are the f#%&!*g chances' at some bits, the plot is still great. I tore through it in a matter of hours. And the characters are even better. I need more of these characters! Like, I NEED THEM. I feel like I'm going to die if I don't get more. I need more about Cassie's family, about her mother, about Michael and Sloane and Lia and DEAN. And their lives before the Natural program. I just need it. The world needs it. And you need to read this book so we can all cry together. That is all.

3 and a half coffee cups!

ARC Review of Broken by A.E. Rought

by: Sarah
Release Date: January 13th, 2013
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Pages: 384 pages
Source: ARC provided via Netgalley

A string of suspicious deaths near a small Michigan town ends with a fall that claims the life of Emma Gentry's boyfriend, Daniel. Emma is broken, a hollow shell mechanically moving through her days. She and Daniel had been made for each other, complete only when they were together. Now she restlessly wanders the town in the late Fall gloom, haunting the cemetery and its white-marbled tombs, feeling Daniel everywhere, his spectre in the moonlight and the fog.
When she encounters newcomer Alex Franks, only son of a renowned widowed surgeon, she's intrigued despite herself. He's an enigma, melting into shadows, preferring to keep to himself. But he is as drawn to her as she is to him. He is strangely... familiar. From the way he knows how to open her locker when it sticks, to the nickname she shared only with Daniel, even his hazel eyes with brown flecks are just like Daniel's.
The closer they become, though, the more something inside her screams there's something very wrong with Alex Franks. And when Emma stumbles across a grotesque and terrifying menagerie of mangled but living animals within the walls of the Franks' estate, creatures she surely knows must have died from their injuries, she knows

A good idea that was executed horribly. While I can understand every author has a vision of how they want their story to be told, there's still some things that just don't work. In this book's case, the writing was just all over the place with its tone. Sometimes it would delve into a darker gloomy prose and I'd think okay we're finally getting somewhere, but mostly it was just all shallow word vomit, complete with slut-shaming, subtle sexism, and awkwardly phrased ~*teen talk*~. Now I know the argument to that is always, "but that's realistic though because that's how teens actually are!!!!!!!!!!" Yeah, I'm aware of this, I was a teenager once upon a time, and I know that young people are capable of this type of behavior, but that doesn't mean EVERY teenager is like that. I think there are many other ways for an author to convey HEY! MY BOOK IS ABOUT TEENS! Sometimes playing the every character is vapid card can work, if the author is a talented enough writer to make the reader connect with non sympathetic characters. The writing in this book is not on that level. I found it nearly impossible to care about Emma whatsoever. Yes she's a young girl going through a painful time but her characterization was shite. If the writing had been on point then her horrid personality would have been interesting and even relatable, but it wasn't, so she was just an annoying brat.

Now, as for the plot, like I said before...good idea, bad execution. The meat of the book is basically just Emma having random cliche interactions with Alex and mooning/brooding over how much he reminds her of her dead boyfriend, Daniel. Aside from that nothing really happens. The romance was actually embarrassing to read.

And I quote:
“It does fracture the illusion.” His velvet tenor sends chills racing over my skin. 

“What illusion?”

Alex’s grip tightens, hugging me to him, squeezing the air from between us. When I look up, I see his eyes smoldering behind his mask. He leans closer, the ties of his shirt brushing my bare skin when he whispers, “That you’re a dream come to life.”

I giggle. What else can I do after a compliment like that?

THIS IS AFTER DAYS OF THEM KNOWING EACHOTHER.

Next, I click on Alex’s text: Why can’t I get you out of my head? You’re my dream, Emma, and I don’t ever want to wake up.

You've got to be fucking kidding me.

There were odd, vague mentionings of Daniel's death a few times that aren't expanded upon until about the last third of the book, but it didn't really build mystery or suspense the way it was written, it just confuses the reader. The "mystery" surrounding Alex was obvious from the first page he entered the story. With lackluster characters and a dull, painfully predictable plot there was just nothing about this book that made me want to keep reading. I stuck with it just in case the ending would somehow wow me but no. The end was overly dramatic and unbelievable. I just think there was so much about this book that could have been good but the writing was just. so. bad.

There's not much else to say. I'm very disappointed as this book was toted as being a "modern spin on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein". Yeah, as someone who knows Frankenstein like the back of their hand, no no no no no it is not. It barely has anything to do with it at all. There are a few half-assed allusions to it and there's the obvious aspect of bringing the dead back to life, but other than that this book is just another poorly written, dull, teen "romance".

1 out of 5 coffee cups

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Review also appears on goodreads
Contact me: sarah.harlan@hotmail.com

Review of The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

by: Sarah
Release Date: June 12th, 2012
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 418 pages
Series: Bloodlines #2
Rating: ★★★☆☆/ 3 out of 5

Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.
Sydney would love to go to college, but instead, she’s been sent into hiding at a posh boarding school in Palm Springs, California–tasked with protecting Moroi princess Jill Dragomir from assassins who want to throw the Moroi court into civil war. Formerly in disgrace, Sydney is now praised for her loyalty and obedience, and held up as the model of an exemplary Alchemist.
But the closer she grows to Jill, Eddie, and especially Adrian, the more she finds herself questioning her age–old Alchemist beliefs, her idea of family, and the sense of what it means to truly belong. Her world becomes even more complicated when magical experiments show Sydney may hold the key to prevent becoming Strigoi—the fiercest vampires, the ones who don’t die. But it’s her fear of being just that—special, magical, powerful—that scares her more than anything. Equally daunting is her new romance with Brayden, a cute, brainy guy who seems to be her match in every way. Yet, as perfect as he seems, Sydney finds herself being drawn to someone else—someone forbidden to her.
When a shocking secret threatens to tear the vampire world apart, Sydney’s loyalties are suddenly tested more than ever before. She wonders how she's supposed to strike a balance between the principles and dogmas she's been taught, and what her instincts are now telling her.
Should she trust the Alchemists—or her heart?

Well isn't this EMBARRASSING. When I finished Bloodlines I was left underwhelmed with the characters and unimpressed with the writing. Now I'm shaking as I type because SYDRIAN. It was apparent within the first few pages of The Golden Lily that the writing had improved considerably. I don't know what happened during the first book to be quite honest. Maybe Mead was just rusty or tired or simply had used up all her fucks to give when that book was written. Because in my humble opinion the writing in that book was a hot mess. However, the writing throughout this book was much more crisp, coherent, and engaging. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it flowed heaps better than its predecessor and annoyed me a lot less. One major problem I had with Bloodlines was that there seemed to be just way too much going on. This may because I jumped into it without reading all of the Vampire Academy books, but with all the characters and their separate dramas going on I was just like what what what what. With TGL, there's even more characters thrown into the mix, but the way it was written was much easier to follow and reminded me of why I love a great ensemble of characters! Previous characters from Bloodlines who I found to be one-dimensional and useless -like this Trey fellow, for instance- were fleshed out this time around and I was pleased. As far as our mains go, I am glad to see that Sydney is growing. She has started acting more like a heroine and less like 

Oh, Sydney. You know how people sometimes latch onto to these deeply troubled, brooding male characters in YA and just want to squeeze them and take their pain away? Yeah, I think that's how I feel about Sydney. I've got a hopeless crush on her I just want to kiss her stupid face and say GIRL GET IT TOGETHER WE'RE ALL COUNTING ON YOU. She's still got her flaws, but I was pretty impressed with her character development and the way it was written. There were still some pitfalls, though. Such as one of Sydney's main traits is that she's petrified by seeing vampire magic in action and when Adrian tried to do harmless things in Bloodlines like heal her or talk to her in a dream she went into a full blown panic attack yet in this book when he compels someone right in front of her (which personally I think would be the scariest of all vampire powers???? I mean...mind control hello?) she just sort of proverbially slaps him on the wrist and says Oh, That Darn Adrian! I get that she's slowly getting used to it but that seemed shockingly out of character for her.

 I liked Adrian a lot better this time around. In Bloodlines I rolled my eyes at everything he said and couldn't stand the way he was playing the victim all the time. I love a devil may care bad boy type as much as the next girl but I just found him to be generic and blaahhhhhhhhh. I have been told that he got his little heart trampled on in Vampire Academy but I didn't see that firsthand so I didn't have the same amount of poor bb feels for him going into this series the way most people probably did. All that being said, there was enough information about him in this novel that had my poor bb feels going berserk. And his chemistry with Sydney was snowballing into shipping territory. There were some really great scenes between them. The dialogue, the body language, it was all on point. However, I still think it was wildly inappropriate and not even a little bit cute the way he ~called Sydney out~ on not just her eating habits, but her body in general. I'm sorry but I just simply cannot with a man telling a woman what her body should look like. I understand completely that he meant well and that Sydney is down an unhealthy path and it came from a place of compassion, but the way that scene was written was just nope nope nope. He should not have said what he said. Dems da breaks.

 Jill is still a stupid idiot. But I try to give her a break because she is quite young. Still, homegirl needs to get it together almost more than Sydney does. Eddie is still...there. He was more interesting to me than in the first book when he could have quite literally been replaced with a jar of peanut butter and I wouldn't have noticed, but I actually managed to almost care about his relationship woes this time around. And Angeline seems feisty, she could do great things maybe probably won't but maybe.

 The way this series handles plot is with the old hey this is nothing but actually it's really something. It's like something odd will happen and all the characters will go 'Oh that's just an irrelevant foreshadow don't mind it' and then once you've forgotten all about it it springs up to say HEY REMEMBER ME! THAT WEIRD THING/FEELING/STRANGE ENCOUNTER? NOW I'M A PLOT TWIST IT'S GOOD TO BE HERE. Mead doesn't pull off this type of writing flawlessly, but it's good enough to keep you wanting more. Even though I didn't particularly enjoy Bloodlines I was still interested enough to read the sequel and see what was going to happen. And look at me now. I'm dying to know what's up with Sydney's blood. And I can't wait for shit to hit the fan when The Alchemists realize how friendly she really is with all these vampires. This is how they getcha, YA readers....this is how they getcha...

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Review also on goodreads

Review of Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

by: Sarah
Release Date: August 23rd, 2011
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 421 pages
Series: Bloodlines #1
Rating: ★★☆☆☆/ 2 out of 5

Blood doesn't lie...
Sydney is an alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of human and vampires. They protect vampire secrets - and human lives. When Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, at first she thinks she's still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. But what unfolds is far worse. Jill Dragomir - the sister of Moroi Queen Lissa Dragomir - is in mortal danger, and the Moroi must send her into hiding. To avoid a civil war, Sydney is called upon to act as Jill's guardian and protector, posing as her roommate in the last place anyone would think to look for vampire royalty - a human boarding school in Palm Springs, California. But instead of finding safety at Amberwood Prep, Sydney discovers the drama is only just beginning...

Oh, Richelle Mead.



My feelings


They are mixed.


I know when you see 2 stars you immediately think oh they hated it, but in this case I literally do mean "It was okay". Not particularly good, just okay. 

I'm not super familiar with the Vampire Academy series (I only read one of the books) so I appreciated that this book takes time to recap and explain some shit that went down in that series, though it wasn't very cleverly threaded in. I could see how people know the VA series would find it really annoying having all this stuff retold. 

The writing in this book was...odd. It felt very amateurish. There was a lot of repetitive description. I think someone said something "dryly" a million times. There was also a lot of rapid time progression. I mean like literally there would be 5 word sentences that glossed over events that should have been fully fleshed out paragraphs. Also, not to mention this sort of nonsense:

“Okay,” I said, standing up. “Let’s go.”
In the car, Adrian turned to me.

I'm glad Sydney and Adrian were able to teleport from the middle of one scene to the next. 

There were several other incidents of this sort of writing which is just really fanfictiony and strange. A lot of the storytelling just felt kind of flat, there were some really great scenes scattered throughout but overall it was just so...meh.

Now, character-wise...I think this might be bad but, I liked Sydney? I mean, she's a very flawed character and I'm pretty sure she made all the mistakes but I don't know what it was about her...she had some good moments (and some dumb as hell ones) and I just felt her I'm sorry if this is an egregious offense but I felt her.  I think she has the potential to grow and develop into a really amazing character. I'm holding out for this. 

Adrian was...honestly I don't even know if I can put my feelings for him into words. He pissed me off a lot and most of his lines were just straight up dumb (but I did love some of the Sydney/Adrian banter) and his victimy bullshit wore on my patience like no other but I don't know you guys I just don't know the scene between he and Sydney when they're being all dynamic duo in the tattoo parlor it was just cute okay please leave me alone. And of course I liked that there's no romance-romance between them (not yet, anyway). That's always refreshing in YA.

This book has frazzled me. There was so much about it I found bland and shallow but the story itself was interesting and entertaining to me. I really like this world! It's one of the more interesting takes on vampires in YA I've come across. Although I don't come across a lot of vampire stories at all so maybe you shouldn't take my word for it.

EDIT: If you loved Bloodlines and I just offended your whole life, please forgive me! And take comfort in that in the time between writing this review and posting it I have read The Golden Lily and enjoyed that one much more. Will post my review  for that soon. 

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Review also on goodreads

Review of Team Human by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan

by: Sarah
Author Website/Goodreads/Amazon
Release Date: July 3rd, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 352 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆/ 3 out of 5

Just because Mel lives in New Whitby, a city founded by vampires, doesn’t mean she knows any of the blood-drinking undead personally. They stay in their part of town; she says in hers. Until the day a vampire shows up at her high school. Worse yet, her best friend, Cathy, seems to be falling in love with him. It’s up to Mel to save Cathy from a mistake she might regret for all eternity!
On top of trying to help Cathy (whether she wants it or not), Mel is investigating a mysterious disappearance for another friend and discovering the attractions of a certain vampire wannabe. Combine all this with a cranky vampire cop, a number of unlikely romantic entanglements, and the occasional zombie, and soon Mel is hip-deep in an adventure that is equal parts hilarious and touching.

Pretty simple set up here. Girl meets moody vampire. Moody vampire realizes girl is very very very very special. They want to be together 5ever. She must become a vampire immediately because of reasons. Except, in this story, the main character is not the very very very very special girl, but her fiercely protective best friend who is not buying any stockholm syndrome today.

 This is one of those books that as you close it makes you glance up wistfully at the sky and nod slightly to yourself. That is, if you like it. If you don't like it, it will probably just make you roll your eyes a lot. I liked it but I can see how this book could be really annoying to some people. Our main character, Mel, isn't exactly super likeable most of the time. But in my case that's what I sort of liked about her. She's a seventeen year old girl with some good opinions and some cringe-worthy ones, but her character did grow throughout the book and I'm sure she will continue to grow in that alternate universe where all book characters still go about their lives.

 I liked that this book takes place in a world a la True Blood where everyone knows that vampires are real and the trials and tribulations of coexisting etc etc. I find that a lot more interesting and entertaining than the whole vampires are real but no one knows and when someone finds out they are shocked -SHOCKED- even though we are surrounded by vampires in all types of media. I also liked the unique take on how people become vampires and what can happen if a "transition" goes awry.

 High Point: Kit was adorable. It's the usually the male love interest I'm narrowing my eyes at in YA books but in this case I was doing all my eye-narrowing at Mel the whole time so Kit got off easy. It was a cute book with a good message about acceptance and thinking for yourself hidden in there somewhere. Not a must-read, but still enjoyable.

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Review also on: goodreads

Review of Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama

by: Sarah
Author Website/Goodreads/Amazon
Release Date: September 4th, 2012
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Girroux
Pages: 304 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆/ 3 out of 5

Fierce, seductive mermaid Syrenka falls in love with Ezra, a young naturalist. When she abandons her life underwater for a chance at happiness on land, she is unaware that this decision comes with horrific and deadly consequences.  Almost one hundred forty years later, seventeen-year-old Hester meets a mysterious stranger named Ezra and feels overwhelmingly, inexplicably drawn to him. For generations, love has resulted in death for the women in her family. Is it an undiagnosed genetic defect . . . or a curse? With Ezra’s help, Hester investigates her family’s strange, sad history. The answers she seeks are waiting in the graveyard, the crypt, and at the bottom of the ocean—but powerful forces will do anything to keep her from uncovering her connection to Syrenka and to the tragedy of so long ago

This story is divided up into two parts, past and present, with three different perspectives. Hester in the present, Ezra in the past, and Syrenka in the past. Syrenka is a mermaid who is enfatuated with human life and longs to be with a human man. After a thousand years of mishaps, she meets a young man named Ezra and they fall in love. Happily ever after except for the fact that it all goes horribly, disturbingly, Shakesperian-level tragically wrong. Now let's flip to the present. We have a young girl named Hester who isolates herself from people because all the women in her family have been doomed to die in childbirth, including her own mother. Hester vows she will not pass on this mysterious ailment to another baby, not to mention she really doesn't want to die herself. She shuns all physical affection and refuses to let herself feel desire until she meets a mysterious young man on the beach named Ezra who speaks in an odd old fashioned way and seems to be from a different time... I'm sure you can guess what's going on here.

This is the first mermaid book I've taken on, I don't know anything about mermaid lore aside from what I'm sure was very accurately portrayed in Walt Disney's gritty and controversial classic. (That was a joke.) But I'm glad I've started out with Monstrous Beauty, which seems to have nailed it as far as all that goes. I loved reading about the mermaids and how their culture and magic worked. I loved that they were strong and somewhat violent creatures. I loved Syrenka and Ezra's tragic love story and the beautiful way it was written. I loved the history. All of those things are 4 star material for me, but I'm sorry to say Hester and her probz really brought the entertainment value of the book down for me, overall.

Hester wasn't my cup of tea. I understood where she was coming from and I really liked her at first, but the more I read the more she annoyed me. I didn't really buy into her "love" with Ezra. Yes, I understand that spoiler(highlight to read):Syrenka/Sarah's soul was in her so it's technically not insta-love, but it still felt like it. And maybe it's just the fact that the dramatic irony in this book was so strong, being that the reader is privvy to Syrenka and her story and Hester is not, but most of the time she came across as a total dummy one minute and a genius the next. Don't get me wrong, she had her moments, and I really loved the scenes of her underwater with the mermaids, but for the most part I didn't really care about her as a character, I just enjoyed watching the mystery unravel through her point of view.

If you're super into mermaids, you will love this. If, like me, you never really felt one way or the other about them, this book still might surprise you. The storytelling was very strong when it was from Syrenka/Sarah's point of view though it did feel a bit lacking throughout Hester's bits. Still, a quality book and definitely one that lingers. I'm all jazzed up on mermaidy goodness now I'm going to go jam to Poor Unfortunate Souls.

A very rock solid 3 stars.
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Review also on: Goodreads