Anew
Once again I find myself in the minority. To be fair, I think this is a “It’s me, not you” situation.
Let me start by saying that for an independent book I thought this was above par as far as writing and editing were concerned and I thought the premise was pretty original. I was intrigued in the beginning, drawn in by the questions the book made me ask myself. Why does it hurt when Tristan is away from Scarlet? Why is she going to die? What is this curse you speak of?
But unfortunately, I quickly became distracted from the plot by the growing checklist in my head. You see, almost everything about this book was stereotypical YA-PR:
• Parents MIA
• Best friend who’s way more fashionable, attractive, outgoing, etc, than the MC.
• MC has a mysterious past
• MC is oblivious
• MC’s looks are never really defined (Thank you Twilight for this trend. She could be anybody! She could be me!)
• New boys arrive in town and seem to hone in on MC. Also, they’re gorgeous (Shocking, I know)
• MC is mysteriously drawn to said mysterious boys
• Boys are mysteriously (I say this because I still can’t figure out what’s so attractive about Scarlet) drawn to her in turn
• BAM! Insta-love
• Love triangle
• Love interest is boring
• You find yourself rooting for the other guy
• Etc, etc, etc
I started to get annoyed when it became blaringly obvious that Gabriel was hiding things from Scarlet and being vague about his past. For some reason this doesn’t seem to bother her. In fact, she chooses to ignore the warning signs because—while she knows nothing about him—she trusts him implicitly. Argh.
Don’t expect too much depth from these characters. This book is definitely geared towards a younger audience and it’s not one of those YA-PRs that can translate to those out of their teenage years (at least not for me). Something about it is too-cute, too…I don’t know what exactly, maybe naïve? The picnic scene by the lake? Über cheesy. “You make me feel precious.” Ack. Gag me with a fucking spoon. Some parts of this were so sugary sweet that I thought I’d crack a tooth.
In short I just couldn’t force myself to finish it. I’m jaded, I’m almost thirty and I need more than what this book had to offer to keep me interested.
Let me start by saying that for an independent book I thought this was above par as far as writing and editing were concerned and I thought the premise was pretty original. I was intrigued in the beginning, drawn in by the questions the book made me ask myself. Why does it hurt when Tristan is away from Scarlet? Why is she going to die? What is this curse you speak of?
But unfortunately, I quickly became distracted from the plot by the growing checklist in my head. You see, almost everything about this book was stereotypical YA-PR:
• Parents MIA
• Best friend who’s way more fashionable, attractive, outgoing, etc, than the MC.
• MC has a mysterious past
• MC is oblivious
• MC’s looks are never really defined (Thank you Twilight for this trend. She could be anybody! She could be me!)
• New boys arrive in town and seem to hone in on MC. Also, they’re gorgeous (Shocking, I know)
• MC is mysteriously drawn to said mysterious boys
• Boys are mysteriously (I say this because I still can’t figure out what’s so attractive about Scarlet) drawn to her in turn
• BAM! Insta-love
• Love triangle
• Love interest is boring
• You find yourself rooting for the other guy
• Etc, etc, etc
I started to get annoyed when it became blaringly obvious that Gabriel was hiding things from Scarlet and being vague about his past. For some reason this doesn’t seem to bother her. In fact, she chooses to ignore the warning signs because—while she knows nothing about him—she trusts him implicitly. Argh.
Don’t expect too much depth from these characters. This book is definitely geared towards a younger audience and it’s not one of those YA-PRs that can translate to those out of their teenage years (at least not for me). Something about it is too-cute, too…I don’t know what exactly, maybe naïve? The picnic scene by the lake? Über cheesy. “You make me feel precious.” Ack. Gag me with a fucking spoon. Some parts of this were so sugary sweet that I thought I’d crack a tooth.
In short I just couldn’t force myself to finish it. I’m jaded, I’m almost thirty and I need more than what this book had to offer to keep me interested.
