A Review for Dirt by K.F Ridley

Posted by Guest Reviewer Melanie
Release Date: December 25th, 2012

Finished Date: December 3rd, 2012

Publishers: Self-Published
Source: ARC, For Review 

Format: Kindle

Pages: 4203

From another world, they came for her blood.

Up until now, my life has been simple,
uncomplicated, but because of what I am,
everything is about to change.

In fact, things are about to get deadly.

Faeries are real and they want my blood. To make matters worse, I'm falling for one of them.

In a mythical and magical world, I'm about to discover the secrets of my past and the truths of my existence. 

At least, that is, if I can survive.

The Review: 4.5 stars! 

Well, what a surprise this turned out to be…from the cover, I had assumed this book was going to be quite slow and dreary, possibly dystopian but that wasn’t the case at all and to be honest, a new cover would definitely benefit this book although I do get it, it goes hand in hand with the title and a little part of the book but it is so much more than that and I’m afraid the cover does not do the book justice.

Ashe has just entered college and is studying Art, she leads a simple life and has pretty much brought herself up because her oddball father is so dedicated to his scientific research in a lab under their house, where he occasionally resurfaces to dig and bury stuff in the back garden or give her the medicine for her unknown condition. One day, on her way home, she realises she is being followed by a black camero and speeds off, luckily the car turns in a different direction… this time…. But he comes back, again and again and eventually makes contact. Just who is this man ‘Rowen’ and why is he following her around? It’s usually her best friend Taylie who get attention from the boys. That isn’t the only odd thing to happen to Ashe though, but it starts a chain of events that will change Ashe’s life completely, leaving her to wonder just who she is… until Rowen takes her somewhere in the name of protection and she finds out, the thing is, they want her blood……and they want her dead!

As I said, this book really surprised me and I love it when a book does that! The story is not original in one way but in another it is and I loved how it all came together. It started off by giving the impression that Ashe had a stalker and he was the bad guy but that quickly turns into something else. It was hard to categorise at first because there are things going on that make you think that it’s going to have a certain thread but then that isn’t really happening and it leaves you scratching your head - so when things really get going and we discover some things about Ashe, then that’s when the book takes on a fantasy feel. I suppose the first part of the book could be deemed as mysterious, we have a mysterious stalker, her Father’s mysterious experiments, the mystery of why he insists she take her medicine and the mysterious occurrences that follow the appearance of the stalker which then blends in the danger factor as attempts to destroy Ashe’s life start. When we start to get answers it becomes more fantasy like but more with the danger and life threatening situations, leading Ashe to find out who she really is and what that means not only to her but to everyone, for she is rather rare. This brings about an action packed book, full of secrets, twists and turns and a nice helping of romance….the pacing is great, revelation after revelation, jumping from one situation to the next which lead to more than one showdown and it was quite unpredictable as to where it was going next and I loved it! My only grumble is that it felt a bit stilted in some places but it didn’t affect the story and that’s what matters most. To be honest I really don’t think I can do this book justice with my review either, it’s one of those books where you need to read it to appreciate it… so I encourage you to take that chance and let it surprise you the way it did me.