Ember O'Dare has a secret. She's a natural born witch. From an early age, she's had a knack for crafting potions and felt and indescribable pull to the ancient bridge in her town of Hallowell. Little does Ember know, the bridge is a gateway to the otherworld, a realm crawling with fiendish beasts. And Jack, the ever-vigilant watchman, is committed to keeping meddlesome mortals away. His task is simple- or it would be, if he weren't falling for the very witch he's trying to keep out.
Undeterred by Jack's warnings, Ember crosses into the forbidden plane and sets off a chase through a world beyond her wildest imaginings. Now Jack must do everything in his power to rescue his true love before both the earthly and unearthly worlds descend into chaos.
Okay so, I waited for months for this book to be released because by the description alone I knew this was right up my alley. Witches, Halloween and a modern twist on the classic The Legend of Sleepy Hollow , I mean come on, what's not to love. I purchased it right before its release date so that it would arrive at my house upon its release. I read the first ten chapters and my life went bananas... literally crazy. Long story short, my dog got cancer, he fought for a couple months until he coul not fight any more and we put him to rest, then I took a part time job doing what I love to do, embroidery, I was in school and then we FINALLY got our transfer out of the crap town we were living in so I had to finish school, work and move with a one year old. Needless to say, reading was and has been on the back burner. In the last few weeks I have been listening to audiobooks like crazy and I saw that this book was available so I purchased it! But I digress...
Now Back to the book... Anyway because we had so much happening, I could not find the want to pick this book up again and every time I did I would get sidetracked or honestly a bit bored. There is a lull halfway through that is full of action and if you are like me you want the storyline to keep moving rather than have fluffer chapters that, in my opinion for this story, did not need to be as drawn out as they were and for me they detracted from the main premise. However I know that they do have their place and I think that most everyone will really enjoy these chapters. I have to say that the best elements of this book were the world building and the character development. It starts in this Sleepy Hollow-esque town called Hallowell that when you read the descriptions you feel like its Halloween in every scene. Then we visit the otherworld that reminded me of a steampunk underworld and by underworld I mean like one from Disney's Hercules. Then we are aboard the The Phanntom Airbus with a crew of monsters and a heated love triangle. By the end we are back in Hallowell which again is absolutely magical.
Then there are the characters. I will only talk about Ember and Jack as I want to limit spoilers as much as possible. Ember is a force! She is what you imagine a young, bright and beautiful witch to be. Imagined her as a Christina Ricci meets Mila Kunis kind of girl. Dark and beautiful but a bit rough around the edges (even if that's not how she is described) :) Then there is Jack. Be still my heart, how I loved Jack. He was dashing, and kind but he was not afraid to fight. He was masculine but not so much so that he was a muscle head (for lack of a better word) I Pictured him as Robert Sheehan with bright eyes, hark hair and Olive skin, of course even if he wasn't described that way.
I just have to say that while I was reading this, I was enjoying it but only at a 3.5/5 stars until the very end. The Epilogue alone made it a 5 star read for me. I wont give anything away, but if you are a history buff like I am then when you read it you will understand why I loved it so much. In fact I listened to it a couple more times after i finished because it was such a great way of tying in history to such a great story.
Like I said I gave this book 5 stars, and I think that it is a story that is appealing to many, especially Halloween/ Sleepy Hollow buffs like myself!
I hope you all enjoyed this review and I will plan on doing another soon!
Bye Friends
No comments:
Post a Comment