First, thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the opportunity. :) No money exchanged hands. My opinions are always honest, but merely my humble...moreFirst, thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the opportunity. :) No money exchanged hands. My opinions are always honest, but merely my humble opinions.
Also, another caveat for this specific book, and please keep in mind, I almost hate book genre classification. I sometimes feel like it pigeon holes authors and books. I think the best books blur and blend genres. That said, I believe this book is marketed under YA, though I'm not sure what genre they shelved it under, but going by the blurb I expected a mystery/thriller type story. And it is. BUT, it also has a paranormal/fantasy/evil fairy tale thing going on (which I like). This book is fairly dark and creepy. Which, again, I liked. But also it flips back and forth in time, it has the character's grown/adult story weaving in as well. Anyway, my point of all that was to say I'm not sure this should be 'YA'.
(I'm not sure how I'd market/shelve this book if I was its publisher.)
It definitely blurs the lines and there are plenty of plot twists. Overall, I really enjoyed it. Definitely interesting.
I didn't love the prologue, but I'm generally not a fan of prologues. And about midway the writing got choppier, like there was some burnout during the editing phase. But, still, the story was original and kept me guessing and had the hairs on the back of my neck standing attention several times. (I don't think I like fairies anymore. *shudder*) (less)
First, let me get this part out of the way: I received this ARC from the publisher through NetGalley (thank you).
One thing I enjoy about Megan's books...moreFirst, let me get this part out of the way: I received this ARC from the publisher through NetGalley (thank you).
One thing I enjoy about Megan's books is that her characters are real and flawed. She manages to find unusual health issues or the damage from their pasts manifests in unusual ways, yet they still feel relatable. Also, her writing is generally clean. (As a writer who does a lot of critiquing and editing, I often find myself pulled out of a story with the compulsion to mark up the book with red ink. This rarely happens when I read Ms. Hart's books) There were a couple little glitches in this one that I wanted to edit (ex: she takes his bandana off his head and runs her hands through his hair...then a couple sentences later, in the same love scene, she takes it off again.) and as I often find when reading a book involving time travel, there were a few holes. But those are small nit-picks, and overall this is an enjoyable read.
I wish I could give 1/2 stars, because my 'real' rating here is a 3.5.
I am not going to summarize the plot because you can read the book blurb and get the gist. But I will tell you what I liked about this book.
What I liked: The male romantic interest, Johnny. I adored him. The MC's best friend...I enjoyed their girlfriend banter. I like that Ms. Hart tried something new, a little different, with the time travel aspect. It mostly worked. It was a fast, fun, romantic read. (Though not my favorite of Ms. Hart's books.)
First, thank you to Harlequin (via netgalley) for allowing me to read this ARC. No money was exchanged.
I was enamored with the premise of this book an...moreFirst, thank you to Harlequin (via netgalley) for allowing me to read this ARC. No money was exchanged.
I was enamored with the premise of this book and hoping for a dark story...I mean Hades, right?! While I think young teens will truly enjoy this book, I found it dumbed down a bit for my taste. I wish it stayed truer to the mythology and written with more layers, edgier, grittier. But, that's merely my opinion and I feel certain that many younger teen girls will love this book. 3.5 stars. :) (less)