{Review} Spindle Fire (Spindle Fire #1) by Lexa Hillyer

Posted by Donna
Release Date: April 11th, 2017
Finished Date: July 27th, 2017

Publishers: HarperTeen
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Source: For Review
Format: eARC

Pages: 351
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo 

 

A kingdom burns. A princess sleeps. This is no fairy tale.

It all started with the burning of the spindles.

No.

It all started with a curse…

Half sisters Isabelle and Aurora are polar opposites: Isabelle is the king’s headstrong illegitimate daughter, whose sight was tithed by faeries; Aurora, beautiful and sheltered, was tithed her sense of touch and her voice on the same day. Despite their differences, the sisters have always been extremely close.

And then everything changes, with a single drop of Aurora’s blood—and a sleep so deep it cannot be broken.

As the faerie queen and her army of Vultures prepare to march, Isabelle must race to find a prince who can awaken her sister with the kiss of true love and seal their two kingdoms in an alliance against the queen.

Isabelle crosses land and sea; unearthly, thorny vines rise up the palace walls; and whispers of revolt travel in the ashes on the wind. The kingdom falls to ruin under layers of snow. Meanwhile, Aurora wakes up in a strange and enchanted world, where a mysterious hunter may be the secret to her escape…or the reason for her to stay.

The Review: Spindle Fire has only been on my radar for a few months after I kept seeing it pop up every now and then over Instagram. I decided to look it up and even though there are quite a few mixed reviews, I was intrigued enough to want to try it. I’m always looking for new retelling stories and with this being a retelling of both Sleeping Beauty and Alice in Wonderland I was immediately excited to see how the author could combine both stories into one but I was honestly just disappointed when I started.

The story is told by two different narratives, Isabelle & Aurora. Isabelle and Aurora are very different. For starters, Aurora is the illegitimate daughter of the king while the other, Isbe is not as she was born out of wed lock and has a different mother to Aurora. Aurora is lost her sense of touch and her voice to faeries as payment, while Isbe loses her sight. I actually really liked this aspect of the story and thought it was unique and interesting. I’ve read a lot of faery books in the past and haven’t come across this as yet so it was definitely something new and fresh. But just this one likable thing couldn’t hold my interest for long.

As the story progresses both of the girls start their own journeys which leads them onto different paths but ultimately trying to reach the same ending. This is where the problem for me lies. Once their journeys start I actually started to lose interest in the story. Each sister is basically telling each retelling, and for me it just didn’t work. I found the stories became confusing and as we get further into the faery world, it didn’t make sense. The girl’s stories were going in completely different situations that once again didn’t make sense – more so Aurora’s story.

I have to admit I’m not a patient reader. If a book doesn’t grab me within the first 100 pages or so then I start to lose interest. And I lost interest very quickly with this book and this why I decided to not finish the book at around 47%. If anything I actually gave this book more time than I normally would.

Thank you to HarperTeen for giving me the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review. 

{Review} And I Darken (The Conquerors Saga #1) by Kiersten White

Posted by Donna
Release Date: July 7th, 2016
Finished Date: May 27th, 2016

Publishers: Corgi Childrens 
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Source: For Review
Format: Paperback

Pages: 498
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo 

 

No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwyla likes it that way.

Ever since she and her brother were abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman sultan’s courts, Lada has known that ruthlessness is the key to survival. For the lineage that makes her and her brother special also makes them targets.

Lada hones her skills as a warrior as she nurtures plans to wreak revenge on the empire that holds her captive. Then she and Radu meet the sultan’s son, Mehmed, and everything changes. Now Mehmed unwittingly stands between Lada and Radu as they transform from siblings to rivals, and the ties of love and loyalty that bind them together are stretched to breaking point.

The first of an epic new trilogy starring the ultimate anti-princess who does not have a gentle heart. Lada knows how to wield a sword, and she'll stop at nothing to keep herself and her brother alive.

The Review: I adore unique stories. I adore them that much that I’m always looking for new books to try and when I stumbled across And I Darken by Kiersten White I couldn’t wait to read it. A re-telling of Vlad the Impaler but changed so it’s a story about a female princess, it sounded amazing. However the premise did not live up to my expectations and honestly it was utterly disappointing. 

I admit the first 100 pages and I was hooked. I didn’t mind the fact the characters were very young for a good portion of the book – 13 and 14 years to start with. It certainly didn’t read that way and I actually enjoyed reading about them being young and how they came to be with their current situation. But, as I read more I slowly starting losing interest and that’s because NOTHING HAPPENS FOR MOST OF THE STORY. I kept waiting and waiting for something to jump out at me but it was utterly boring. I enjoy historical stories but I think this story was so over hyped that I expected so much and instead of getting a badass warrior princess we got a little girl that pretends she a badass, mainly because she doesn’t do any killing in the book other than in self-defence. She’s more talk than action. She trains all day to become a better warrior but doesn’t actually go out to battle. She's not brutal. She doesn't do much at all. 

Lada and her brother Radu were mildly likeable characters but spent more time swooning over the love interest Mehmed who had completely no redeeming qualities about him. The way he treats Lada was shocking. He has wives and children and also a harem of ladies. But then of a night time he’s confessing his love for her while also using Radu’s feeling for him for his own gain. It’s appalling – bearing mind he is only a young lad himself but he was not a male lead I was swooning over. For someone like Lada that tries to be as strong as she can, she is just like a teenage girl with a school crush when it comes to Mehmed. And the same goes for Radu. He’s in love with Mehmed too so Mehmed gets a lot of time on the pages. Every page was filled with both of them thinking of him, or talking to him, or more thinking of him. You all know how much I love romance in books. I can’t live without it but this was wrong. This wasn’t good. It was too much.

As I neared the end of the book I was pretty hopeful that there would be something coming that could save the story and make me love it but there wasn’t. Nothing could save this book or change my mind that I would be reaching for the sequel when it releases. There’s too many parts of the story that is dragged down by political talk, religion and unneeded information that just made the story far too long and add that along with the character issues I had, it’s safe to say I didn’t enjoy this story at all. 

Thank you to Corgi Childrens for giving me the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review. 

{Review} Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatrick

Posted by Donna
Release Date: November 10th, 2015
Finished Date: August 9th, 2015

Publishers: Simon & Schuster UK
Genre: NA, Contemporary, Thriller
Source: For Review
Format: ARC

Pages: 400
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

A teen is forced to make a fresh start after witnessing a violent crime—but love and danger find her anyway in this novel from Becca Fitzpatrick, the New York Times bestselling author of the Hush, Hush saga.

Stella Gordon is not her real name. Thunder Basin, Nebraska, is not her real home. This is not her real life.

After witnessing a lethal crime, Stella Gordon is sent to the middle of nowhere for her own safety before she testifies against the man she saw kill her mother’s drug dealer.

But Stella was about to start her senior year with the boyfriend she loves. How can she be pulled away from the only life she knows and expected to start a new one in Nebraska? Stella chafes at her protection and is rude to everyone she meets. She’s not planning on staying long, so why be friendly? Then she meets Chet Falconer and it becomes harder to keep her guard up, even as her guilt about having to lie to him grows.

As Stella starts to feel safer, the real threat to her life increases—because her enemies are actually closer than she thinks…

The Review: DNF at p80

I’m always a little excited when I hear that Becca Fitzpatrick will have a new book being released soon. I know some of you have your up’s and down’s with her but for me, I’ve either enjoyed or loved her work but never have I not finished one of her books until now.

Dangerous Lies has a great concept behind the story (or so what I read anyways). It’s not often that I read YA thrillers but when I do I’m always hoping to be blown away and unfortunately this just didn’t do anything for me. Actually, that’s a little white lie. It wasn’t the story that was the problem. It was the main character who ruined this book for me. Up to the point where I just couldn’t take any more of her. Sounds mean I know, but she has to have been one of the worst characters I’ve read about in a long, long time.

To start with I could sympathize with Stella. She’s a young girl who hadn’t had the best upbringing and had a mother who didn’t care about her and who would rather do drugs than be her mother. And because of her mother, her life is turned upside down and she's being placed in witness protection. So yes, I definitely sympathized with her. But her attitude and complete disrespect for the people who were trying to help her was so rude it made me actually want to jump and shake her. I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older or if I just really took a disliking to Stella but I find I have less patience for characters like her and where I would be able to push through a book with a self-centered main character like her, now I find I can’t. I don’t want to because I know I’ll just end up hating the book even more by the time I’ve finished. So unfortunately for me this was the reason I did not finish this book which makes me sad because it’s a book by Becca but, I guess I’ll just wait for her next release and fingers crossed I’ll enjoy that one more.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster UK for giving me the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review.

 

A Review for Taking Chances by Molly McAdams

Posted by Donna

Release Date: September 1st, 2012

Finished Date: September 9th, 2012

Publishers: Self-Published 

Source: Bought

Format: Kindle 

Pages: Unknown 
Buy : Amazon UK / Amazon US

Eighteen year old Harper has grown up under her career Marine of a father's thumb. Ready to live life her own way and experience things she's only ever heard of from the jarheads in her father's unit; she's on her way to college at San Diego State University. 

Thanks to her new roommate, Harper is introduced to a world of parties, gorgeous guys, family and emotions. Some she wasn't expecting yet, and others she never knew she was missing.

She finds herself being torn in two as she quickly falls in love with her boyfriend Brandon, and her roommate's brother Chase. Covered in tattoos, known for fighting in the Underground and ridiculously muscled...they're exactly what she was always warned to stay away from, but just what she needs. Despite their dangerous looks and histories, both adore and would do anything for Harper, including stepping back if it means she's happy. 

Her first year away is turning out to be near perfect, but one weekend of giving in to heated passion will change everything.

Due to sexual situations and language, this is Mature YA/New Adult. Recommended for ages 17+

The Review: Non spoiler review – If you want to read my spoiler review - click HERE!

TEAM CHASE!!!! 

I finished this book 8 hours ago and I was hoping once I had a few hours to think about the events that happened, I would have a different opinion. Well, 8 hours later and I still feel the same. When I started Taking Chances, I was really looking forward to it and you know what, it was so damn good too. Within 4% of reading, I was hooked. It had similarities to Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire but was unique in its own way and I loved it. 

The story starts with Harper starting college and while there she meets Chase and Brandon, two extremely hot guys who she has a deep connection with. She starts dating Brandon but can’t get Chase out of her mind and one night she gives into her passion with Chase and that changes her life forever. 

I could not put the first half of this book down, it was so addicting, hot and intense – all the things I love about a novel. I enjoyed it that much I even started adding bookmarks to my pages in my kindle, so I could go and re-read them at some point, and yes most of them where of Harper and Chase. I was rooting for this two and they had to go through so many obstacles, the main one being Brandon. To start with I was unsure who would be a better person for Harper but you once you start reading about Chase, you just can’t get him out of your head. 

Now I bet you’re wondering why I only rated this book one star? To be honest, I’ve been going back and forth from a 1 to 2 to 4 and now I’m back to 1. Around 50% of the book, something happens and because of what’s happened, it changed everything for me. I cannot get my head around why the author thought it was okay to make readers invested and care for her characters and then snatch it all away with an event that seemed, in my opinion, pointless and unnecessary. Maybe she was going for the shock factor? – Well if she was, she won! I need a new word for shocked! I cried, I almost threw my kindle, I was gobsmacked. I just couldn’t believe it! I felt like my heart was pulled out of my chest – it hurt that much. Once this event happened, the book became very predictable – you just know what she was planning to do and where the story would lead and I didn’t like it! I ended up skimming the last 40% because everything I loved about the first part of the book….was gone. The characters I was invested in and loved…was gone. So really what was the point of me reading anymore? 

Now I hear the author is doing a book from Chase's point of view and while I’m intrigued to read it, I have to ask myself if I will ever it? Well….probably not! Why? Because it’s pointless! What’s the point of starting to fall for him all over again only for it to be taken away? It broke my heart once; I won’t let it happen again. =(

This book easily could have become a favourite of mine but because of the direction the author took this book, I didn’t like it. If anything, I became frustrated, angry and mad – even more so as time passed, and I like to enjoy my reading not be a blubbering mess. I don’t like rating books poorly, but I have to be honest and even if you read this book, and don’t agree with me – that’s okay because I hope you love this book - I just couldn’t. 

A Review for Isle of Night (The Watchers #1) by Veronica Wolfe

Posted by Donna
Published Date: September 6th, 2011
Finished Date: January 17th, 2012
Publishers: New American Library
Source: Bought - 2012 TBR Reading Challenge
Format: Paperback
Pages: 302 
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The Blurb from Goodreads: Is life offering fewer and fewer options? Then join the dead. When Annelise meets dark and seductive Ronan, he promises her a new life-if she has the courage to chance the unknown. Now, she's whisked away to a mysterious island and pitted against other female recruits to become a Watcher-girls who are partnered with vampires and assist them in their missions. To survive and become a Watcher, Annelise has to beat out every other girl, but she's determined to do so, because to fail doesn't mean dishonor-it means death.
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The Review: I bought Isle of Night way back in September and since then I’ve been eagerly awaiting for the right time to finally read it. Before reading it, it was one of my most highly anticipated books but now after reading it, it’s undoubtedly one of the biggest disappointments.

                                                                            

The story follows the life of Annelise, a girl who lives in a small town and cannot wait to get out of it. When her opportunity to enrol in College comes earlier than most kids her ages she jumps at the chance to go. When a mysterious and gorgeous guy named Roman comes into her life before she enrols in College, she suddenly finds herself agreeing to go to a mysterious island with him. Once there, she realises the Island isn’t what she originally thought; she’s actually being forced to join other female’s who are being recruited to become Watchers – girls who are partnered with vampires to assist them in dangerous missions. All Annelise needs to do is survive but she also has to beat every other girl to become number one, because if she fails - is will lead to her death.

Sounds awesome right? Well, after reading I’d have to disagree. I wanted to love this story but I couldn’t and eventually the cons outweighed the pros leading me to rate this book a 1.5 out of 5.

What I didn’t like:

-          Annelise as a character; even though she was very smart and brave, she actually very naïve and very unsure of herself, almost to the point were I’d say she insecure of herself. She is always worrying what other people think and that other people will pick on her because she is super smart and she doesn’t think she’s pretty enough. I found it very unrealistic that a girl like Annelise couldn’t be confident in herself while coming across strong as the same time. Maybe I could put this down to her age because after all she’s only 17 but I’m not sure.  I also found her to be very whiney and frankly quite annoying. She also contradicts herself so much that it was slightly headachy to read about it. It's a shame - I wanted to like Annelise but I couldn't.

-          There were key points in this book that were big events and as a reader, when you finally get to the events, in my opinion they just weren’t long enough. They only happened over a spam of 2 to 4 pages at the most. It was hard to imagine the situation that Annelise was in because it was so short, it almost didn't feel real. I wanted more descriptions, more excitement and more danger but it’s hard to get all that in only a certain amount of pages.

-     The storyline itself was interesting but that's about as far as it went for me. I felt it was quite flat and there just wasn't any build up to get you excited. Again, it just felt flat.

-     I love a good romance story and not every story needs to have one. This book only very slightly touches on a romance (which is okay) but it was very frustrating. Questions like are they or aren’t they kept popping up and I was dying for something to happen between Annelise and Ronan but nothing does. I’m not even sure something will even happen in the next book, so I was very disappointed with the outcome.

What I liked:

-         I liked the premise of this story even as brutal as it was, it was very interesting and this was the main reason I kept reading.

-         Ummm......I can't think of anything else I liked???? =(

Overall, Isle of Night was a fantastic idea but it honestly just fell flat for me - so much that I just couldn't enjoy it. I was looking for a new kick ass series  that I could really get into but unfortunately this wasn't the one for me. 

A Review for PineLight by Jillian Peery

Posted by Donna 
Published Date: July 14, 2011
Finished Date: October 21st, 2011
Source: For Review 
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 250 
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The Blurb from Goodreads: "I loved him - that was my torment. And I was losing him all over again." Walls crumbled all around me. An undeniable force pulled at my core. I tried to fight it, I tried to deny it the power, but I was weak. I felt pain in my side, and I knew that this dark force was winning. My veins started to burn, and I screamed, but it didn't stop.

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The Review: I’ll be honest; I’ve been struggling to write this review for a few weeks no. I struggled with this book and although I can see how much hard work and love has gone into the story, it pains me to say that…..it just wasn’t for me.

PineLight start with Clara, a young girl who lives with her aunt after losing her parents. Clara doesn’t remember anything about her past but she knows that the people around her, who loves her, are protecting her from something. Her best friend Erik has hurt her by stealing pages of her journal but when Clara’s aunt is kidnapped, she is thrown into a dangerous world where she must go on the run and try and find out her destiny.

If you’ve read the blurb you will know how intriguing this book sounds and although this is what attracted me to the book in first place, after reading it….I just don’t get it. I did find the first few chapters very intriguing but I quickly got confused. I was confused because there’s a lot of weird things happening to our main character from page one. And because I never actually knew what’s going on, I constantly felt like I was missing something. I had to back track and re-read pages just to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. I didn’t understand the Biblical references and how it combines with the mythology and I also felt there was too much jumping about in the story. There were so many different characters from vampires, to pirates to little girls and even mysterious boys….it was just too much and everything happened far too quickly for my liking.

The characters I felt we’re lacking. With Clara being our main character I felt she wasn’t developed that well, she’s quite naïve and never really questions what’s going on around her. Although I tried to like her and I did feel for her for the situation she was in, I couldn’t connect to her and that’s what I need from a main character.

Now I know this is only book one in the PineLight series and yes, I do believe the series will get better as it goes on but I need something to capture my interest, I almost felt I was reading a mystery book and mystery isn’t really my thing. But, even now when I look at all the other reviews on Goodreads….other people liked it, so that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t if you tried it. I do believe that many of you will like this story, so try it and make up your own minds.

A review for Tris and Izzie by Mettie Ivie Harrison

Posted by Donna
Expected Published Date: October 11th, 2011
Finished Date: July 6th, 2011
Source: ARC - NetGalley 
Format: Egalley
Pages: 272
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The Blurb from Goodreads: A modern retelling of the German fairytale "Tristan and Isolde", Tris and Izzie is about a young witch named Izzie who is dating Mark King, the captain of the basketball team and thinks her life is going swimmingly well. Until -- she makes a love potion for her best friend Brangane and then ends up taking it herself accidentally, and falling in love with Tristan, the new guy at school.
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***Spoilers***
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The Review: When I found out this book was up for review on NetGalley, I immediately snapped it up because I’ve always been a massive fan of the story ‘Tristan and Isolde’.....however, I can honestly say I’m definitely not a fan of this book.

Izzie is a witch, a young witch who doesn’t really understand or know how to us her powers. She’s happily dating Mark, the captain of the Basketball team but when new boy Tristan starts school, she can’t help think there’s something about him. While trying to pair her best friend Brangane and Tristan together, Izzie steals a love potion from her mother and tries to get both Brangane and Tristan to drink it. But when Izzie accidently drinks it with Tristan, it leaves them bound together, falling in love and throwing them into the world of magic.

Firstly, don’t let the blurb fool you. This book sounds totally to die for but guess what, it’s not. Tris and Izzie is supposed to be a modern re-telling of the German fairy tale but the only thing that was slightly similar to the original story was the names of the characters and Tristan’s wasn’t even his proper name. To say the least I was more than a little disappointed with this story. 

I had seen a few negative reviews around before starting this book, so I did try and not let them affect my opinion on the story but it was so hard when you completely agree with the other people. The story was not well developed, the characters were not well developed and the story was, in my opinion poorly written. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an expert books but when I look at some of the other books I’ve read over the past few months and compare then, I can definitely spot the faults. 

Izzie as a character, I found to be quiet annoying. Mostly, all the way through with her match making and then her feelings towards Tristan. She tries to fight her feelings but after taking the love potion their romance is pretty instant which I didn’t like because it didn’t feel right. There was no suspense and then suddenly Tristan is declaring his love for Izzie but yet she is still in love with Mark. She refuses to listen to the advice that people around her have given and pretty much sends Tristan away as soon as she realises there’s something more going on. Only then to change her mind two seconds later once trouble arises. 

The second issue I had was with Izzie and Mark who are supposed to be in true love so they claim. However, as soon as Mark realises that Brangane is in love with him, with the snap of your fingers their suddenly declaring their love for one another and Izzie is giving her blessing. It was honestly done within seconds and it was so totally unrealistic. Then there’s Tristan, strong and handsome Tristan. Who all we actually really know about him is he has snow white hair and his name isn’t actually Tristan. The way his character comes across in the book, it totally out of place, his accent and way he talks, I just didn’t get it and he’s one character that just didn’t do anything for me. 

And finally, the magic in the story was another thing that felt out of place. You’re introduced to a magic community and demons that aren’t interesting and aren’t developed enough to make you truly understand the story. In the end, I’d read three quarters of the book and skipped to the last page to see what happens. I just couldn’t read it any longer.

Thinking back on the story now, it may suit a younger audience. An audience that isn’t going to want to much detail, maybe the age range of 11 – 16 years old but this book definitely wasn’t for over 16 year olds. 

Thank you NetGalley and Egmont for giving me to the opportunity to review this book.

A review for Matched by Ally Condie

Posted by Donna
Published Date: November 30th, 2011
Finished Date: May 30th, 2011
The Blurb: Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.
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The Review: I'd heard a lot of mixed reviews about this book before I started it and I tired to block every comment so I could make my own mind up. But as much as I loved the concept of this story I just didn't love this book. 
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Cassia lives in a world where society rules everything. They rule what they eat, where they work, what clothes they wear but mostly who they fall in love with. On the night of Cassia'a matching she is matched with her best friend Xander and she couldn't be happier but when Ky Markman comes into the picture, Cassia is soon left with facing life changing decisions. 
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Arrghh! I always feel like I'm not reading the same book as everyone else when I have to rate a book poorly. The first chapter for me in this book was the best and then I think it just kind of went all down hill. I didn't feel connected with any of the characters, I felt there was almost no emotion through out the story except for the Train Scene and I just found it pretty dull. I really wanted to like this but I just couldn't. The last few chapters of the book did pick up but I still don't think it was enough to make me want to buy the next book in the series. I guess, I'll wait and see. But don't be put off by my review, make your own mind up about it, I'd love to hear what you thought.

A review for 13 to Life by Shannon Delany

Posted by Donna

Published Date: June 22nd, 2010

Finished Date: May 18th, 2011
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The Blurb: Everything about Jessie Gillmansen’s life changed when her mother died. Now even her hometown of Junction is changing.  Mysterious dark things are happening. All Jessie wants is to avoid more change. But showing a hot new guy around Junction High, she’s about to discover a whole new type of change. Pietr Rusakova is more than good looks and a fascinating accent—he’s a guy with a dangerous secret. And his very existence is sure to bring big trouble to Jessie’s small town.  It seems change is the one thing Jessie can’t avoid…

The Review: I'd heard so many good things about this book before I started so, as you can imagine I feel pretty bad for giving this book such a poor rating. No matter how much I tried to like it, I just couldn't. 

The story follows Jessie who is a pretty normal high school girl. Nothing exciting happens in her life until she meets the new student Pietr. She's attracted to him straight away but she finds him quiet dangerous. She believes he's hiding a secret and she's interested to find out what it is.

I usually love werewolf stories but this to me, just didn't grab my attention. The first few chapters were pretty interesting but then I lost interest after about chapter 5. While reading this, I kept having to ask "what is this book about" because although there's something happening in town, you don't really find out what's going on or what Pietr is until the end of the book. Most people i've spoken with have said this is a book about getting to know the characters but I believe that there needs to be something included in the story that will keep you interested enough to be grabbing for book 2 straight after and I don't think this did.

The relationship between the two main characters was frankly quiet annoying. Its one of the reasons I kept reading but I just don't understand were the author was trying to take it. Even though its pretty clear that Jessie & Pietr want to be together; Pietr dates Jessie's friend for the entire time although he doesn't want to. To say the least, it left me more than a little frustrated.

The story story itself I felt was quiet slow and long winded. You finally see some action in the last 10% of the story but then of course, the book finishes. Usually after finishing a book, I'll be interested to continue the story but I have no desire to pick the next one up.

Overall, I honestly believe this is going to be a massive hit but for the reason's above I just couldn't get on with it.