Book Review: Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon

Dead Beautiful, by Yvonne Woon
Release Date: September 21, 2010
Publisher: Hyperion
Pages: 455
Received: Library
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars 
Author's Page
Amazon Page 
Goodreads Page

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This review contains NO spoilers!

Summary

After discovering her parents murdered in the woods, Renee’s grandfather sends her to the prestigious Gottfried Academy to keep her safe. Within the confines of the boarding school, Renee beings to adjust to life without her parents. She makes friends, but the most compelling student is the enigmatic and reclusive Dante Berlin. The two are drawn together instantly, but secrets surround Dante and Renee is left wondering whether she can trust the beautiful boy she finds herself falling in love with. As she learns more about Dante and Gottfried, Renee is confronted with the possibility that the tragedy of Dante’s past may be connected with the deaths of her parents…a connection that may be dangerous to Renee as well.

Review

What do you get when you mix a dash of Hogwarts, a sprinkle of Anastasia Hopcus’s Shadow Hills, a hint of The Body Finder, and a liberal dose of Twilight? Why, Dead Beautiful, of course!  All through reading this book I was reminded of other books. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and in this case there were enough unique parts that it didn’t bother me so much (except, holy crap, can we please stop having the love interests bond in science class? Science classes should just be blotted out of YA fic from now on. I know it really is very trivial, but nothing sends me hurtling back into Twilight like a nice I-Hate-You-I-Love-You, He’s-So-Wow-At-Science episode. Okay, okay, I'm okay now. Really. I'm not even a huge Twilight fan).

While Dead Beautiful lacks the sheer awesomeness of Harry Potter (I’m mostly reminded of HP because of the horticulture class), it does succeed in creating a boarding school rich in atmosphere and heavy with details. Gottfried came alive in my mind. All of the little details: the way the grounds looked, the layout of the buildings, the clothing of the students, the history of the school, and the little traditions of the school— it all felt entirely real. I loved following Renee as she uncovered the secrets of the school’s history, but I also just loved following her as she walked along the grounds.

The relationship between Dante and Renee also felt familiar, but not in a good way. More in the, “Gee, I’ve already read this relationship fifty different times, and I’m still groaning” kind of way. The two fall so instantly and completely in love with one another that they’re both willing to die for the other after only a few short months. I mean that literally. Die. I can see why they like one another in the “Well, neither one is particularly annoying” kind of way, but I’m just not buying why they’d DIE for each other. Even after the big reveal, I get it, but I don’t buy it.

I also never felt connected with Dante beyond the surface, so I’m really not feeling the whole, “I’ll die for you Dante” thing Renee had going on. There was nothing unique about him to separate him from all of the other interchangeable “dark, brooding, handsome” paranormal guys who only have eyes for our main character (over) populating YA lit. The most stand out part of Dante is his name, which I can’t decide whether I think it’s super lame or actually kind of cool. I mean, say it out loud. It has a nice balance and feel to it. But, seriously, Dante Berlin? Even the characters make fun of it in a way I can’t help but find funny. At least the author had fun with this and didn’t beat us to death reminding us what color Dante’s hair is and comparing it to something found in a spice rack. I actually don’t even remember the color of his hair.

Renee, on the other hand, was a pretty decent character, if sometimes a little slow on the uptake. Looking at her objectively, I guess she was a little self-absorbed and way too irrationally hung up on Dante, but she was a good narrator and I felt connected to her. I just liked her. She seemed a lot more “real” to me than Dante. I did want to beat her over the head a few times for being so dense about Dante’s “secret.” The fact that he was a paranormal entity of some kind was pretty obvious early on (but he isn’t what you’re thinking!). Though, in her defense, if I ever met a hot guy whose skin is cold, my first thought wouldn’t be “OMG HE’S TOTALLY A VAMPIRE!!!” I probably would believe his poor circulation explanation.  

Dead Beautiful has all the makings of an enjoyable book, even if the relationship aspects are a little eye-roll-inducing. The mystery was enough to keep me interested in finding out what was going on and the details of what happened weren’t overly obvious. The mythology was actually fairly unique and I enjoyed learning about it. I’m not sure the whole explanation actually works and makes complete sense, but it makes enough sense for me to be satisfied. I have to say, I was totally expecting this to be yet another same old, same old YA vampire book (and that would have been fine), but it wasn’t at all. Thank you, Ms. Woon!

My biggest complaint is the pacing of the story. I call this “Twilight Pacing Syndrome” where the first ¾ of the book is a slow journey through the monotonous details of the protagonist’s life with only a few actual events to keep the story moving. I guess the point of this is to establish the characters and setting, but this could be done just as well with a fraction of the length. Then, BAM! The last ¼ or so of the book picks up and I’m fully invested in the story.

That is exactly what happened here. The book is a massive 455 pages long, but it could have easily been half that length. The first 200 pages are pretty uneventful and include a bunch of details and events that really add very little to the story (like Renee’s friend in California). These pages fly by quick enough thanks to Renee’s easy narration style, but really they could have been shortened considerably and nothing would have been missed. To put things in perspective, this is a paranormal romance/mystery and after her parents’ deaths in the very beginning, the paranormal and mystery events don’t even really happen until around page 170.

From that point on the plot is a lot more engaging and we learn more about the mystery. Still, this part continued to be longer than necessary. The climax was good, but ultimately less than I was hoping for, especially the connection to Renee’s parents’ deaths. I was really hoping there would have been more of a connection than there was. The book ended much too abruptly. It pretty much ended right at the close of the climax. It was just CLIMAX!--The End. I really could have used a little more, just to tie up the story and give me a little time to process what had just happened. A climax can be hard hitting and stun you while still giving the reader a bit of a gentle let down (see Saundra Mitchell's The Vespertine for an excellent example of a slap-you-in-the-face climax).

It doesn’t have to be much (I’m not asking for a Harry Potter epilogue here), but just a few lines or maybe even a very short epilogue. Something to give me a little closure and not feel like my copy suffered a printing error and is actually missing the final chapter. The emotional impact of what happened was lost on me because I was just so stunned that that was it. This was frustrating from a storytelling standpoint, but was especially jarring given how drawn out every other part of the plot was. Twenty pages just to say, “Renee arrived at school” and yet we’re unceremoniously dumped off the ride at the climax. I just gave 455 pages of my life, and to get booted like that? That was cold, Ms. Woon. I need to be let down more gently than that.

Dead Beautiful is Yvonne Woon’s first book. I heard through the grape vine that this book will have a sequel, but it also works just fine as a standalone book (UPDATE: there will be a sequel titled Life Eternal, coming February 2012). I do recommend this book because, for what it was, it was decent. I was entertained while I was reading it, even if I wasn’t blown away. It may sound like I’m complaining a lot, but I really did enjoy a lot about this book. The supernatural mythology was inventive. I especially liked her writing style. It flowed well and was very evocative. If Ms. Woon publishes another book, I will read it.

 Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

Looking for similar books? You might like: 

Immortal, by Gillian Shields
Shadow Hills, by Anastasia Hopcus

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Book Review: A Match Made in High School by Kristin Walker

A Match Made in High School, by Kristin Walker
Release Date: February 4, 2010
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 277
Received: Library book
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars 
Author's Page
Amazon Page 
Goodreads Page

Summary

Fiona's high school takes marriage education to the extreme when the principal introduces a mandatory year-long project where students pair up with their assigned spouses and learn how to balance their budgets and compromise. To her horror, Fiona is paired with popular guy Todd. Todd isn't any happier, and the two proceed to prank and humiliate one another. All goes well until Fiona begins to realize shemay not hate Todd as much as she thought she did.

Review

As a die-hard fan of YA click flicks, I adored the premise of this book. She's All That, Ten Things I Hate about You, what can I say, I'm a sucker for a good social group crossing, "I hate you but really I love you" romantic comedy. A Match Made in High School was a match made in heaven for me.

Except, it wasn't. Not exactly. There were parts I really enjoyed. It was a lot of fun watching Fiona and Todd one up each other with their pranks. I also loved the scenes with Fiona's adorable babysitting charge Samantha. And then, of course, the premise rocked. It was executed well and made for some truly laugh out loud moments.

So what's my problem? Fiona. I just didn't like her. She seemed incredibly self-absorbed and judgmental. She does grow throughout the book, but not enough for me to ever really like her. I also didn't love her best friend (who does something decidedly un-best friendish).

Todd turned out to be a pretty likable guy, but it was hard for me to reconcile his earlier behavior with who he was toward the end of the book. It didn't seem so much that he had grown, but that Fiona just learned to accept him as he was and so she looked at him differently. Only thing is, I'm still not sure if I can accept his earlier behavior.

Then there was the romance. There are two parts to a romantic comedy--romance and comedy--and both parts need to be satisfying. A Match Made in High School was fully satisfying in the comedy department, but the romance didn't work for me at all. I didn't like the ultimate pairings, and so the magical, "They finally got together!" ending that *makes* romantic comedies wasn't there for me at all. What a let down.

I've seen mostly glowing reviews for this one, and I can understand them. This really was a fun read. If it were a movie, I would probably adore it. As a book, though, it let me down with the the "unique" (but still predictable) ending and characters I just couldn't respect or connect with. Give it a try though. If you like Fiona, then you'll probably love this book.

 Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

Looking for more books with a love/hate relationship? You might like: 

The Ghost and the Goth, by Stacey Kade
My Fair Godmother, by Janette Rallison

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Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus

 
Shadow Hills, by Anastasia Hopcus
Release Date: July 13, 2010
Publisher: Egmont
Pages: 391
Received: Library book
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Author's Page
Amazon Page

Mourning her sister’s recent death, Phe is doubly plagued by strange dreams of her sister and a spooky boarding school. When an acceptance letter from the same school arrives for her deceased sister, Phe feels drawn to attend herself. Hoping to find answers to her strange dreams, Phe finds herself instead draw in into the paranormal mystery surrounding the sleepy town of Shadow Hills. As she gathers clues—a graveyard filled with people who all died in the same year, a hospital filled with far too young dementia patients, students with abnormal abilities, a secret council, a ghostly ancestor, and a murder—Phe finds herself in the middle of a centuries old conflict.

I enjoyed this book, though not as much as I was hoping I would. Phe is a likable character with a good attitude and an inquisitiveness that is both endearing and helpful in moving the story forward. I really could have done without the constant asides about her musical preferences, probably because I didn’t know or care to know any of the bands she mentions (I also wonder if this will hurt the book’s staying power in years to come). Phe’s love interest is a nice guy, but he struck me as a little too perfect. I didn’t really buy into his character or their rapid romance, he was kind of bland, and his unbelievable “goodness” rubbed me the wrong way.

Unlike so many books, the “good” secondary characters don’t feel like afterthoughts and instead have fully-formed personalities (I really liked Adriana). I wish they had more page-time and were more involved in solving the mysteries. Unfortunately, this character strength didn’t hold true for the “bad” characters. While most were given plausible explanations for their behavior, their actions and personalities were pretty “generic bad guy” and so the explanations rang a little hollow for me.

The plot was equally conflicted for me .On one hand, the plot ideas were great. We finally get a paranormal book that doesn’t have werewolves and vampires running around (though I do love them). Instead, Shadow Hills has a completely unique (and scientific!) paranormal occurrence. Hopcus also weaves in more traditional paranormal elements of ghosts and witchcraft. I found myself equally drawn to these two paranormal mysteries and I sped through this book primarily hoping to learn more about these aspects.

While I really liked the plot ideas, they weren’t fleshed out very well and I really didn’t like the pacing of the plot. Too many mysteries are introduced but not enough time is spent on unraveling these secrets. Instead, some of the answers and clues are left disappointingly sparse to the point where they only make surface level sense, whereas others are answered too rapidly and with unbelievable convenience. Events are also doled out with excruciating slowness, and then all of a sudden a bunch of things are dumped on the reader.

The main mystery is solved in this book, but there are tons of questions still left unanswered (presumably waiting for a sequel). I want to find out the answers to those questions, so I will read the next book when it comes out. I’m pretty sure Shadow Hills is the first book Hopcus has published, and while it is uneven, it does show a lot of promise that I hope will be realized in future books.

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key

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Book Review: The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade

The Ghost and the Goth (Book 1), by Stacey Kade
Release Date: June 2010
Publisher: Hyperion
Pages: 281
Received: Library book
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Author's Page
Amazon Page

Summary:

Alona Dare was the queen of the school until she accidentally stepped in front of a bus and died. Though that would seem to be the end of the story, it is only the beginning. Alona wakes up as a ghost and soon discovers Will, a boy she always wrote off as strange and not worth her time, can actually see her. Pushy and assertive, Alona convinces Will to help her figure out why she hasn't crossed over yet. In exchange, she offers to manage the cacophony of ghosts vying for Will's attention and help protect him from a particularly malignant spirit. A troubled friend, a mysterious accident, and parental issues help flesh out this light and sweet story.

Review:

Written in chapters alternating between Will and Alona's perspectives, readers get to know the characters' inner thoughts, feelings, and fears. Alona and Will have distinct voices and while Alona is supposed to be a mean girl, both characters are ultimately sympathetic and likable. There is an overarching supernatural problem that builds throughout the story, as well as real-world family and interpersonal issues the characters must deal with along the way. The supernatural problem is also a bit of a mystery, with numerous clues dropped through the story as to what is happening and who is behind it. The plot kept my attention, but the strength of this book lies more in the two main characters (their personalities and their chemistry) than in the plot.

The romance in this story is there, but it is very light and grows at a much more natural pace than the cheesy "undying love at first sight" that is becoming increasingly common in the YA genre. The framework of getting to know one another is laid in this book and I imagine their relationship will be explored more deeply in the sequel. While there is a sequel (Queen of the Dead), the conflicts of this story are neatly ended and there isn't any cliffhanger.

Heavier issues like parental alcoholism, the mental health system, stereotypes, guilt, death, and personal growth are also explored, making this book deeper than meets the eye. The real accomplishment here is that the book never feels bogged down, depressing, or overly serious. Instead, the author manages to maintain a light and sweet tone throughout the book without diminishing the importance of these issues. Nicely done.

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key

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Book Review: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Hex Hall (Hex Hall 1), by Rachel Hawkins
Release Date: March 2010
Publisher: Hyperion
Pages: 323
Received: Library book
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Author's Page
Amazon Page

Summary:

After botching a love spell and blowing her cover as a witch, Sophie finds herself sent to a boarding school for rule breaking witches, warlocks, vampires, fairies, werewolves and shape shifters. Once there, Sophie engages in typical teenage situations, including sparring with the mean girl clique, crushing on a super-cute popular boy, and making friends. Sophie also discovers the web of secrets her family has been keeping from her as she delves deeper into understanding her powers. Complicating matters further are mysterious deadly attacks on the popular girls, and Sophie's best friend seems the most likely suspect.

Review:

While the "regular girl" aspects of the story are cute, they don't stand out as particularly fresh in any way. Sophie and all of the secondary characters, while easy to like, are interchangeable with a dozen different casts across the genre. The paranormal aspects are equally trite, with Hawkins offering nothing new or interesting to the genre. As a result, while I wasn't annoyed with the book, I was bored and unengaged for the first 100 pages.

Due to all the positive reviews, I decided to keep reading and I'm glad I did. Hawkins slowly drops clues to a greater plotline, and as the story progresses, Sophie uncovers more and more secrets and questions. The multiple mysteries kept my attention, and as I pieced together the clues and discovered questions that led to deeper mysteries, I finally found myself feeling that rush of excitement and *need* to read more. While a few of the "big reveals" were obvious well in advance, Hawkins did manage to throw me a few curve balls. Allusions to Sophie's ancestors and their involvement with secret societies set the stage for the next book and, at this point, I'm dying to know what happened in the past and how that will affect Sophie in the present.

Despite a rocky start, Hex Hall is a good addition to the paranormal YA genre. Light and sweet, this first book in the series hints at darker events in future installments, which will hopefully bring more depth and excitement to the stock cast and setting. As far as cliffhangers go, the central mystery about the attacks on the students is answered in this book, but there are a ton of questions still left unanswered that readers will have to remember for when Demonglass (book 2) comes out in March. 

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key

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Book Review: Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

Hunger, by Jackie Morse Kessler
Release Date: October 2010
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages: 174
Received: Net Galley 
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Author's Page
Amazon Page

Summary:

Teenager Lisabeth Lewis is anorexic, and she is also Famine, one of the famed Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. As she fights against coming to terms with her eating disorder, Lisabeth travels around the world as the Black Rider using her scales to grant and withhold food from people. Each of the Four Horsemen make an appearance, while Lisabeth's mother, father, boyfriend, and two best friends round out the story in Lisa's human life.

Review:

The idea for this story is phenomenal, but the execution is uneven. The real life part of the story where the reader is taken through Lisabeth's daily routine struggling with the Thin Voice is written exceptionally. The Thin Voice Lisa hears in her head constantly criticizes her and urges her deeper and deeper into anorexia. The inner torment Lisa goes through, combined with the effects her eating disorder is having on her body, is described in a searing and brutally honest manner. Any glamour or control associated with eating disorders is stripped away, leaving behind only the ugly truth. Lisa's friend Tammy's experiences with bulimia are equally vivid and horrifying.

As a novel about eating disorders, Hunger is top notch. I would even go so far as to say this is the most honest and accurate portrayal I've seen of both the physical acts, and, even more importantly, the psychological torment a person with an eating disorder of this magnitude experiences. The author's note at the end of the book explains the author's personal experiences with eating disorders, and this explains the notable honesty and accuracy in the book. This alone is an achievement and makes Hunger a significant book.

Unfortunately, the rest of the book is not up to par. The fantasy elements are poorly developed and, as a result, the plot is convoluted. I'm still not completely sure how the power of the Four Horsemen work, what makes a person suitable for their roles, what their roles are, and how they work in the world. Are they forces of good, evil, both? The personalities of the other Horsemen are equally vague and inconsistent. In many ways, the three other Horsemen are extreme caricatures, which doesn't line up with Lisabeth's personality if she, too, is a qualifying Horseman.

Death, the most fleshed out of the remaining three Horsemen, is a strange mix of modern and old, which could make sense if he didn't feel so gimmicky. His speech was contrived and irritated me. He sounded to me like the creation of a teenager's: over-done and trying much too hard to appear "totally cool." The allusions to a certain angsty deceased grunge rock star made this character especially cheesy and eye-roll inducing for me. He just didn't work for me at all.

The other weak point of the book is the constant messages. The fantasy elements are used to help Lisabeth come to terms with her eating disorder, but because the fantasy elements are so weakly defined, the metaphors fall flat. Despite the tenuous connections, the messages are obvious, *too* obvious, and are really beaten to death. Ultimately, the points are made (and they are good points), but they are not made subtly or effectively.

I wish the author had spent as much time and effort on the fantasy elements of the story as she did on the realistic eating disorder parts. If she had, then this book would have been amazing and a true achievement. Instead we get a superb vignette surrounded by a mediocre and amateurishly written story. I hope the author puts more effort into developing the fantasy aspects in future installments of this series.

This is the first book in a series of, presumably, four books. Even though it's a part of a series, this book can easily be read as a standalone book.

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key

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Book Review: The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

The Replacement, by Brenna Yovanoff
Release Date: September 2010
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 352
Received: Library book  
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Author's Page
Amazon Page

Summary:

Mackie Doyle is a changeling, or, as they're referred to in this book, a replacement. In a town gifted by fairy folk, occasionally a human child is stolen as a tithe and a sickly fay child is left in its place. Almost all of these creatures die in their infancy, but Mackie Doyle survived. Now Mackie is a teenager and the death he avoided as a baby is catching up with him. Living in a world riddled with iron, Mackie's body is giving out on him. Desperate to save him, his sister makes a deal with a fairy that succeeds in fending off death, but comes with some pretty serious strings. As Mackie treads deeper in the morally ambiguous world of the fairies, he finds himself entangled in a moral conflict of his own: Assist his classmate in locating and saving her baby sister being held as a sacrifice by the fay, or comply with the demands and sacrificial traditions of the fairy world in order to save his sister and himself.

Review:

I'm having a difficult time reviewing this book. I was originally drawn to it because of the cover. I know, I know, but what can I say? I'm 100% a judge a book by its cover kind of girl. The perambulator is gorgeous and evokes all kind of Gothic vibes, and the sinister crib mobile and ominous clouds promise a story with a high creep-factor. In that sense, the book completely lived up to its packaging.

The fairies were just as intricately described and spooky as the cover. Their appearances were a perfect blend of strange, scary, and still on some level understandable. Most notably, I could completely believe that they were otherworldly creatures in their cores and not just their appearances. Oftentimes authors write about non-human characters in a very human way. This makes them easier to relate to, but it lacks a certain authenticity. Yovanoff didn't do this at all, and her book is stronger as a result. I could sympathize with and even like the fairies, but their actions were decidedly not human and this made their immoral actions easier to accept without poisoning the characters for me. They aren't human, and it is wrong and dangerous for Mackie, and we the reader, to expect them to behave as moral humans would behave.

The underlying messages in the book were poignant and well made. Mackie struggles with family issues, his identity and where he belongs, friendship, trust, risk, prejudice, fear and, most notably, acceptance. While all potentially weighty issues, the book never felt bogged down or preachy (though it did feel a little melancholy). Instead, Yovanoff made her points subtly, weaving them seamlessly and unobtrusively into the story. I was left pondering the moral ambiguity of the story, and while I am firmly on one side of the dilemma, the fact that the arguments of the "bad guys" (humans and fairies) made me think is an accomplishment. The relationships she builds between the characters are touching and complex and lingered with me for a while after I finished the book. The story may be about the supernatural, but the cruxes of the messages are completely real.

With all of these positives, why am I so conflicted with my review? I'm lauding the book, and I stand by that, but for some reason I still can't pin down, I had trouble becoming really immersed in the story. The pacing felt slow and I never really felt caught up in that burning desire to see what happens next. The problems of the story were well plotted, but the climax felt a little flat for me. While I liked and appreciated almost all of the characters, I never *loved* any of them or felt any strong attachments. The strongest emotion I felt for any of the characters was for Tate, the girl whose sister was stolen, and that emotion was far from positive. I'm sure I'd be upset, angry, and erratic if I were in her shoes, but as a reader not in Tate's shoes, she irritated me. Her romance with Mackie felt strange, false, and transitory, which fits the story but not the jacket description.

The book was good with some really stunning accomplishments, so I don't think my personal inability to connect fully with the story should impact my rating or recommendation. With all the light and romance-focused YA paranormal books dominating the genre now (which I love), The Replacement really stands out. This book is dark, thoughtful, and while the ending is triumphant, it isn't a happily ever after. Another notable deviation from the genre: The story actually ends! It was so nice to turn the last page and know I wouldn't have to desperately count down the days for the sequel to arrive and finish the story. I look forward to seeing what Yovanoff writes next.

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key

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Book Review: Mistwood by Leah Cypess

Mistwood, by Leah Cypess
Release Date: April 2010
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Pages: 320
Received: Library book
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Author's Page
Amazon Page

Summary:

Isobel is the Shifter, a legendary creature capable of shape shifting and magically bound to unwaveringly protect the life of the king. The book opens with Prince Rokan capturing the shifter in her forest and rebinding her. She submits willingly and accompanies him back to his kingdom where he will be crowned king in a few days. Nothing is what it seems, however, and Isobel soon comes to realize that she is both more and less than the legend that precedes her. Political scheming abound and add conflict to the story that will keep the reader guessing until the very end.

Review:

Making the main character a non-human creature made Mistwood stand out in the fantasy/court genre. As a non-human, Isobel is strikingly different. Her emotions, responses, behaviors, and demeanor are all alien. The author convincingly created a character that is distinctly non-human. Most of the time authors rely on physical differences and a few token cultural differences or strong features to separate their non-human characters. Not Cypess. Her Shifter is fully fleshed out and distinct in ways that are far more believable and integral to the core of her character. That said, the twist relating to this character was both unexpected and yet completely believable. The reader can see the clues building, but won't know quite how to assemble them until the end.

Speaking of twists, the political intrigue in this story is top notch. The reader never knows who to trust or who to root for. Most of the characters are both easy to sympathize with and equally easy to dislike. There are legitimate grievances and claims on both sides, and I'm still not really sure who I would want to see in power.

I really enjoyed this story, though I'm not sure how it would hold up on a reread. The mystery of Isobel and the court keep the momentum high, but once those secrets are known, I'm not sure the characters are strong enough on their own to warrant a reread. For the most part, they were well formed, but it was hard to get close to anyone. Isobel's other-worldliness made her an interesting character to read about, but less easy to relate with. The constant confusion and intrigue made it difficult to allow yourself to let your guard down and get to know any of them very well. Then again, maybe knowing how everything turns out would allow for a more relaxed read.

What I would like to see is a sequel. After what happened in the end, I would be very interested in reading how life went on for the characters. The romance seemed a little forced and obligatorily thrown in at the end, but it has the potential to develop nicely and would face some interesting challenges in a sequel. There were a few loose ends that I just can't believe are the end for some of the characters' stories. I'm looking forward to Leah Cypess' future works.

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key

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