ekarros

I wanted to love this book as it was written by 2 friends and being a novice writer myself, I hoped to do this someday. In that vein, I gifted the book to my friends. However, I was disappointed by their mediocre reviews. I was still bound to give this book a fighting chance as the movie was coming out and I needed to fill my Twilight void. As the book opens, I thought, this is a really easy, interesting read with southern landscapes, civil war references, and apparitions. Pages were flying. Then, the book sort of lost me about 200 pages in. It's your typical new girl in town, but factor in Mean Girls with old world Puritan Salem Witch trial style ostracism and a hint of Stepford Wives. The story is set in today's time period with current references; so it isn't always easy to swallow i.e, glass window breaks next to new girl, whole town closes down and has assembly court marshaling new girl for this accident. There may be fine lines and liberties between reality and fantasy writing, but this would NEVER happen in America today as there would be hell and enormous legal fees to pay, not to mention countrywide outrage if an under age teen was ever subjected to this mass conviction. It was very Scarlet Letter like. Plus, I picked up on a sense of prejudice that not just outsiders, but Northerners weren't liked and I was uncomfortable reading that in this day and age. The authors would have fared better doing a completely fictitious place and timeline. Then, there's a prom scene, and I burst out-loud, "NO! They did not just go there!" as they completely ripped off the movie, Carrie. Another thing that didn't sit right with me, was the book is written from the teenage boy's point of view; however, he totally sounded like a girl; no teenage boy thinks or speaks like that! Okay, redeeming qualities about the book, the dreams, the songs, the inner dialogue between the star-crossed lovers, the family legends, the girl's weather-control gifts, the Uncle bond, the Southern landscape descriptions, the Civil War stories/ghosts, and the secret passageways. As far as parental guidance, no nudity or profanity, but the lead girl as helpless teen witch always in distress with average Joe-boy always rushing in to save her days aren't good role models. The book includes chicken bone voodoo, vampires, casters aka witches, Latin spells, etc., but honestly not scary at all. There's also a lot of build-up towards major events and then no worthwhile climax. It's disappointing as this book had so much potential with fascinating characters of legend, local lore, and actual historical facts. The meat and potatoes were there, but they just opted for the lazy out on the storyline. I finally understood why my friends didn't find the book engaging. Perhaps, my opinion is also jaded being a JK Rowlings fan. However, I am curious how the rest of the story plays out, but not enough to pursue or pay for any sequels. It's not one of the better teen novels, but it's certainly not one of the worst either.

2023-01-25 04:10