I don't have too much to say about this, aside from the fact that I loved it!
It's a nice quick, creepy, and entertaining read whose main character (Anna) cracked me up quite a bit (I fancast Dakota Johnson as her in my head).
I look forward to reading it again, and I can't wait to read more from this writer!
I loved Spells For Forgetting, so I assumed I'd love this too. Boy, was I wrong!
This book started off strong, and I was loving it in the beginning, but once the truth behind the Farrow womens' supposed insanity was revealed it got so boring so fast.
June just coasts through the plot like a sleepwalker. She lets everyone stupidly keep her in the dark about everything she ought to know, without really putting her foot down about it, which only makes things a bigger headache for everyone later on when the plot called for some dramatics. Her romance was dull as dirt, and barely developed on her end, which dragged the story out even more. And to top it off, the murder mystery she finds herself in was no mystery at all.
I had high hopes for this one, due to my enjoyment of the author's Dramoine fic this was a "spiritual successor" to, but it didn't live up to the hype for me.
Veda, the female lead (who insta-hates the male lead, Hiram, just because of the family he comes from, and clings to disliking him for no reason for way too long), is annoying, unlikable, and doesn't really grow much as a character.
The serial killer mystery was interesting at first, but got boring after a while. There's a ton of info dumping amongst the characters to each other about how things in their world works-even though all these same characters already know all that and wouldn't need this stuff explained to them. And the villain, once revealed, was so over the top and cartoonish that I couldn't take them seriously at all.
It didn't help that the author copied and pasted iconic moments from the fic this was inspired by (moments that were earned in that story), only for them to fall flat/feel hollow when inserted into this book because they weren't built up to enough.
She also lifted plot points/themes that felt half-baked in comparison to the fic she lifted them from.
The only saving grace of this book for me, aside from the writing style/prose, was Hiram.
He was 1000 Xs a better father and overall more likeable character than Draco was for 95% of the fic this is inspired by.
Despite my harsh feelings towards this book, I still love the author's style/prose and will buy more books from her if she writes any that don't sound like they're lifting from her other popular fics.
For the most part, I loved this.
Margaret is a fun and interesting character, and I enjoyed reading her growth from the spunky child we meet to the woman and explorer she becomes.
The writing is rich in its descriptions without being long-winded or dull, and most of the characters Margaret meets along the way are interesting.
There are a couple of things that robbed this book of a fifth star:
1.) Willoughby's appearance, and the deviling up of his character, was a little lame to me. Thankfully, his time in the book is brief.
2.) That BS at the end with Edward. WTF was that?!
This was a nice quick read that started off strong, but lost that oomph after the first conversation between the romantic leads.
The book is still an enjoyable enough read after that, but one I found I didn't enjoy enough to want to read again and am glad I got at a very cheap discounted price.
The writing style is great, Dora is such relatable (in her social awkwardness) funny character, and her romance with our broody male lead, Elias, was fantastic!
I find I don't have much else to say without diving into the plot details, which I don't want to do with these quick this-is-how-I-feel-about-it reviews.
I will say that I was thrilled to find out there are spinoff books, and hope to get my mitts on them soon!
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prguitarman
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