The Uncrossing by Melissa Eastlake

Sep 25, 2017 ☆ Todd rated it liked it

3.25 stars.

I read the blurb and immediately knew that this would be a must-read for me, so I started my reading with very high expectations.

And then the rains came...

While I did like the story a good bit, this one wasn't an easy read for me, to say the least.

With 56 chapters and roughly 293'ish pages (according to my eReader), the book wasn't insanely long, but it definitely *felt* long to me.

There was something about the writing style that didn't quite flow in my mind, like books normally d ...more

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Sep 22, 2017 Heather K (dentist in my spare time) rated it it was ok

Shelves: m-m, little-to-no-sex-content, magic, urban-fantasy, young-adult, paranormal, read-to-review-arc, fantasy

The Uncrossing was a weird book for me.

First of all, I really, really wanted to love it. I mean, the cover was pretty engaging, and I'd go gaga for a great YA, M/M fantasy book. Alas, this book wasn't all that it appeared.

For the first 30% or so (maybe more), I had no idea what was happening. We are simply thrust into this world with magic and paranormal stuff with very little background or information. And, really, none ever comes. I still really didn't get this world of magic (do lots of peo ...more

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Sep 22, 2017 h o l l i s rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2017-reads, m-m, para-romance, lgbtqiap-content, romance, contemporary, crime-mystery, ya, arc, urban-f

I wanted so badly to love this. But sadly, for me, THE UNCROSSING is better in synopsis format than in the expanded format that is the story itself. Mostly because the synopsis actually tells you what's going on.

"You should say you're crossed, not cursed. Curse makes it sound hopeless."
"Maybe in hoodoo you get crossed. But in Mother Russia, curse gets you."

Common complaints about any kind of fantasy, or urban fantasy, tend to lie in the 'info dump' category. Well Eastlake definitely is not guilt ...more

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Sep 24, 2017 Kat rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for allowing me to read and review this neat debut from Melissa Eastlake. The world-building in "The Uncrossing" was really creative and unusual. I found myself drawn into ME's complicated magical world with its bargains and curses and relationship drama from the start.

Luke comes from a magical family that works for the Kovrovs. His sister curses people. He removes curses. Their parents run a store. This world is so complex, rich with stor ...more

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Jul 28, 2019 Gemma ♕ Bookish Gems rated it really liked it

Shelves: lgbtq-rep

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had this sitting on my kindle for ages and for some reason I never picked it up but I’m so glad I did because I really enjoyed it! I don’t read that much Urban Fantasy but I think I found a new favourite genre!

The start of this was a bit hit and miss. I enjoyed the character introductions but I think the worldbuilding needed more attention. I slowly started to get into it but at the start it was a bit confusing bec ...more

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Sep 29, 2017 Susan marked it as dnf

Shelves: arc

DNF at 20%

I don't think I have ever quit an ARC before. Well, there's a first time for everything. And since this book is pretty long I don't want to go on.

The writing was so not my kind of writing. I'm often complaining about a book having too much tell and not enough show. Well, this was the other way around. We're told nothing. We just fall into this world and need to figure everything out by ourselves. I could follow along with that happened, but I didn't feel like I was actually in the stor ...more

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Feb 14, 2018 Atlas rated it liked it

Shelves: arc-s, lgbt-characters

Luke always smelled like church and magic

* * *
3 / 5

The Uncrossing was an odd little book. It’s about a curse on a young man called Jeremy Kovrov, the adopted son of a powerful family, and another boy who can unravel almost any curse. It’s about magic in New York, about power and history and the lengths we will go to to hide the past. But it was also just plain weird.

"I know he's hard to like," Alexei had said, "but he loves you." There was nothing as simple as word for that.

Luke is employed by Luke always smelled like church and magic

* * *
3 / 5

The Uncrossing was an odd little book. It’s about a curse on a young man called Jeremy Kovrov, the adopted son of a powerful family, and another boy who can unravel almost any curse. It’s about magic in New York, about power and history and the lengths we will go to to hide the past. But it was also just plain weird.

"I know he's hard to like," Alexei had said, "but he loves you." There was nothing as simple as word for that.

Luke is employed by the Kovrov family, who are sort of the magical gangster family of New York. They’re powerful and dangerous and they employ Luke, against the wishes of his parents, to unravel curses for them. In Jeremy Kovrov, Luke finds the first curse that he can’t seem to break. It’s just a weird twist of fate that Jeremy’s been in love with Luke since they were kids and Luke has a boyfriend who seems like a bit of a dick.

The Uncrossing is incredibly imaginative. Jeremy’s curse is really interesting (I won’t spoil it for you) and you really feel for him. His family has a lot of secrets that are slowly revealed throughout the book and his relationships with his two older brothers are complicated and interesting. Eastlake has written some really compelling relationships: Luke the curse-breaker and his curse-maker sister; Luke and his parents; Jeremy and his slightly insane family; Luke and Jeremy. The romance between Jeremy and Luke is a slow-burn, full of heart-break and pain, and I thought it was very nicely done.

Camille's glare was intimidating. She wore a thick layer of black lipstick like she wanted someone to ask her if it was a metaphor

But a lot of the book is just very confusing: I didn’t really understand how magic and New York fitted together. Do normal people know about magic? Is there just magical communities? Then there’s some sort of magical gangs? Huh. The way curses are made and unravelled is also sort of weird and not very well explained.

Overall, whilst I found The Uncrossing confusing to read, it had a lot going for it: interesting characters, a novel setting, and an imaginative plot.

My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of this book.

Read this review and more on my blog: https://atlasrisingbooks.wordpress.co... ...more

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Sep 27, 2017 Laura (thebookcorps) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: queer-ya, fantasy, 5-star, books-i-will-never-forget, romance, review-copy, ya, fave-author, contemporary, bi-bi-bi

The Uncrossing was genuinely one of the cutest novels I have read in a long time. Melissa Eastlake’s debut hit every single one of my favourite themes and tropes that I adore as a reader. Diversity? Check. Fairytales? Check. Consent? Check. Positive family relations? Check. The Uncrossing was a literal dream come true for me, and I basically had a huge smile on my face from beginning to end.

The Uncrossing is an urban fantasy and that is obvious from the very first page. Although I read almost ex The Uncrossing was genuinely one of the cutest novels I have read in a long time. Melissa Eastlake’s debut hit every single one of my favourite themes and tropes that I adore as a reader. Diversity? Check. Fairytales? Check. Consent? Check. Positive family relations? Check. The Uncrossing was a literal dream come true for me, and I basically had a huge smile on my face from beginning to end.

The Uncrossing is an urban fantasy and that is obvious from the very first page. Although I read almost exclusively from this genre from 2008-2011, I haven’t read much during the last few years, aside from Cassandra Clare’s books. To say I was intrigued by Eastlake’s world building, and the chance to immerse myself in this genre from a different perspective again, would be an understatement. And Eastlake delivered. Eastlake has interwoven a fascinating, complex magical system into a contemporary New York setting, and with each description and explanation of mojo and hoodoo, I wanted to know more and more. We have curses, magical mafia, powerful witch families, true love’s kiss … what more could you possibly want?

The inclusion of magic also felt realistic and the little bursts of exposition explaining the history or how to use it, were expertly placed in the text. Oftentimes with any fantasy story, I find the text is bogged down with info-dumping to ensure the reader understands what’s happening, but Eastlake reveals background information only when necessary. That meant I wasn’t constantly rereading paragraphs to make sure I didn’t miss any vital information, because oftentimes, Eastlake allows the reader to get there themselves, too.

The fairytale elements were by far my favourite parts of The Uncrossing. Eastlake has taken an old and tired fairytale trope and given it a fun and imaginative twist. Mix that in with a modern setting, organised crime, and forbidden love, and Eastlake has created something truly captivating.

So the characters … oh boy, oh boy the characters. I adored them so much and shipped them from their very first interaction. Jeremy is the sweetest – he’s painfully shy, friendly, loveable and tender. He has had a massive crush on Luke since he was six years old. I just wanted to give him a big hug each time he second-guessed himself or didn’t think he was good enough. He’s a little cinnamon role that needs to be protected – but jokes aside, many readers will be able to relate to him. He is so precious and I consider him to be my favourite male character I have read so far this year.

Luke was so genuinely likeable: he cared deeply for his family, and went out of his way to help people, even to his own detriment. He was also hilarious, and I loved how cared for Jeremy, not only physically, but mentally too. With Jeremy’s curse putting a strain on his life, Luke is there to help him in any way possible, from trying to uncross him to texting him silly jokes to remind Jeremy to laugh and that he’s not alone.

I was also highly impressed by the fact that the teenage characters act like teens: they use apps like Instagram and Snapchat, they sleep around, they talk about weird and random things that teens talk about – basically, they’re flawed, modern teenagers and it makes me so happy to see that in a fantasy. I’ve talked about this before, but it’s quite rare to find a book where teenagers behave like teenagers; there’s all this pressure on authors to make their characters “mature”, and I’m glad that in The Uncrossing, they were able to just be teens so teen readers will be able to see a reflection of themselves in Luke, Jeremy and all of the secondary characters too.

I will make a brief mention about something that I absolutely loved and really respect Eastlake for: how bi-postive the novel was. This might not mean a lot to some readers, but as someone who is bi, I really appreciated seeing my sexuality spoken about in such positive ways. When Luke realises Jeremy is queer, he doesn’t just think, ‘oh, he must be gay.’ No, he thinks, ‘oh so he’s either gay or bi.’ To me, it just reaffirms the existence of bisexuality. One of Jeremy’s brothers, Alexei, is bi and so is one of Luke’s friends, Wesley, and every mention of bisexuality just made me smile. Here are my favourite quotes:

“The first reason is when people say ‘Gay Wesley,’ he gets to give them his angry bisexual lecture.”
[This is SO me omg]
&
“You grow up with Alexei, see if you can forget about bi people.”

I was shocked when I discovered this is a debut novel, because Eastlake’s writing was absolute perfection. It sounds a little rude to say, but I think it obvious when you’re reading a debut novel: the writing can be a little clunky, the pacing is off – small things like that. That was not the case here. Eastlake’s writing flowed naturally and I was so impressed by her writing style. Some of the sentences and metaphors made my little editor heart swoon.

The Uncrossing is an impressive, outstanding debut and I am *this close* to emailing the author and asking her to write a sequel, because I want more from this world and these beautiful characters. I am definitely going to be reading anything else Eastlake published. Please do yourselves a favour and get your hands on a copy of The Uncrossing today. ...more

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Sep 14, 2017 lacy white rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017, 4-stars, ebooks, arc-copy, e

A special thank you goes out to Entangled Teen for allowing me to read this book early. All thoughts and opinions are my own and are in no way influenced by being given this book!

I got this dumb little smile on face and it's because of this book. This book was just so damn adorable. Luke and Jeremy just made my heart all sorts of happy. Of course, it had its serious moments and there were moments where I wanted to smack Luke and Jeremy but overall, I couldn't be happier with this book.

Luke ha A special thank you goes out to Entangled Teen for allowing me to read this book early. All thoughts and opinions are my own and are in no way influenced by being given this book!

I got this dumb little smile on face and it's because of this book. This book was just so damn adorable. Luke and Jeremy just made my heart all sorts of happy. Of course, it had its serious moments and there were moments where I wanted to smack Luke and Jeremy but overall, I couldn't be happier with this book.

Luke has the gift of being able to uncross someone. I'm sure most of you have seen a Supernatural, where Sam and Dean are hunting witches and they have to find hex bags. Well the concept is similar. Luke can find those hex bags and cleanse the person or building of the hex. Cool right? Because I thought this was very cool. As for Luke as a character, I liked him. He was stuck up but I personally didn't mind it. It fit him and his friends and family certainly weren't afraid to knock him down a peg or two. And I think he did a lot of good for Jeremy, even if they fought a lot.

Jeremy is a precious cinnamon roll and must be protected at all costs. I never call anyone a cinnamon roll so that goes to show how much I adored this character. My heart hurt for this poor guy because of his secret, he couldn't really live a normal life. He has family that kind of accepts him/kind of doesn't in terms of him being gay. He basically has lived his life thinking that being gay and feminine is bad. I just wanted to reach into the book and tell him that he is perfect the way he is. Why can't people just accept others the way they are.

The world building was very cool. It combined the real world, with mentions of Instagram, Snapchat and saying "drag me" (which I have no idea what that means at all) and combining it with old world magic and old families. The side characters were well done. They weren't just placed there for the sake of being. Overall, I'm really impressed with this book and I'm anxious to see what else this author does. ...more

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Oct 17, 2017 Kaylin (The Re-Read Queen) rated it liked it

Shelves: lgbt, paranormal, read-to-review, new-adult

3 Stars

It wasn't bad, but it was underwhelming. RTC ...more

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Sep 16, 2017 Mandy rated it really liked it

I realllllly enjoyed this. Seriously, I really enjoyed this. Eastlake creates a wonderfully unique New York with dueling magical families; an adorable ship that I so desperately wanted to sail; a unique little twist on a magical fairytale concept; and truly likable characters full of flaws and heart. I found myself devouring almost all of this in one sitting on a long car ride, and it was one of the most enjoyable car rides I've ever had because of it.

Let's start at the beginning! The world was I realllllly enjoyed this. Seriously, I really enjoyed this. Eastlake creates a wonderfully unique New York with dueling magical families; an adorable ship that I so desperately wanted to sail; a unique little twist on a magical fairytale concept; and truly likable characters full of flaws and heart. I found myself devouring almost all of this in one sitting on a long car ride, and it was one of the most enjoyable car rides I've ever had because of it.

Let's start at the beginning! The world was unique and wonderful. When I first read the summary, I got some A Darker Shade of Magic vibes for some odd reasons, and trust me, this book had those vibes for me as well. Perhaps the biggest comparisons is how well done the worlds are. Eastlake takes regular ole New York City and adds in a layer of curses, famous magical families that are practically the magical mafia, and two boys with some epic magic. It was full of diversity, intriguing mythology, a little bit of an old school fairytale twist, and some very interesting powers/magic. It was so cool, and I never knew what was going to happen next.

The characters were amazing as well. I adored both Luke and Jeremy. They were flawed, but they were oh so real. They were likable and so well developed. They had facets to each of them, and they brought something a little bit different to the story. I loved reading about both of their families as well. They were both so involved in their families, and the dynamics were amazing. Usually in a story with two main characters, I find myself leaning or connecting to one of the characters more than the other, but I really did enjoy them both so immensely.

The ship was adorable as well. I lovedddddddddddd them together. I just sat there each page, going, but WHEN ARE MY TWO BABIES GOING TO GET TOGETHER BECAUSE I CAN'T DEAL WITH ALL OF THIS SEXUAL TENSION? They were so cute together, and I can't even deal. XD

There were only a few issues that I had with the book. At times, it felt like it was just taking far too long to get anywhere. Even though I enjoyed reading it and I didn't know what was coming, I just thought that it could get to a lot of things quite a bit faster. And there were a few things that just had my eyebrows raised. But overall, it was a good story, but a few little things left me from giving it a five crown read.

Overall, this story was a fantastic read. I'm still thinking about it quite a few days later, and I think these characters were super well done. There were a few things that I didn't connect with as much, but I think it was a very good book. I definitely recommend this book for anyone that is looking for a super cool fantasy book that is something a little bit different. Four crowns and an Ariel rating! ...more

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Sep 22, 2017 Danielle (Life of a Literary Nerd) rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal-urban-fantasy, arcs, lgbtq

"You should say you're crossed, not cursed. Curse makes it sound hopeless."

This was just a fun-happy book that made me giddy and kept a smile on my face. I read so much urban fantasy from 2011-2015, but I’m really just getting back into the genre and I still love it. The Uncrossing creatively incorporated fairy tale elements into an imaginative New York, with ruling magical families and intricate spellwork. It was everything I wanted from the story.

Things I Liked
I really love the

"You should say you're crossed, not cursed. Curse makes it sound hopeless."

This was just a fun-happy book that made me giddy and kept a smile on my face. I read so much urban fantasy from 2011-2015, but I’m really just getting back into the genre and I still love it. The Uncrossing creatively incorporated fairy tale elements into an imaginative New York, with ruling magical families and intricate spellwork. It was everything I wanted from the story.

Things I Liked
I really love the fairy tale elements incorporated into the story. Not only the magic and spells, but the power of true love’s kiss, all felt new fitting in this environment. The modern New York setting and the organized crime vibes creates a great forbidden love that was captivating and easy to become enveloped in.

I LOVE Jeremy Kovrov. He is such a good person and so kind and helpful. His curse could have easily made him bitter or resentful, but he was such a ray of light! Don’t get me wrong, he did get upset and was allowed to demonstrate his frustrations. But he was never one dimensional. And I really loved him and Luke too!

I also really loved the family dynamics in the story, especially the Kovrov’s. They were so adorably sweet teasing Jeremy about his crush on Luke. They were so playful and supportive and they gave me all the warm fuzzies!

Things I Didn’t Like
In the beginning of the story, it was hard for me to be grounded and grab onto anything. It kind of felt like I was just thrown into the story, and all these things were already happening and I had to catch up. It was just a bit disorienting and made me work to get into the story.

The Uncrossing is one of those books that just put you in a great mood. You love seeing Luke and Jeremy’s push-and-pull; you root for them and want them to be happy and adorable together. I loved the seeing the family dynamics and the wonderful magic. And even though I was a little overwhelmed in the beginning, I really loved this story.

I received a copy of the book from Entangled Teen via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ...more

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Sep 22, 2017 Danielle's rated it it was amazing

The uncrossing is a unique and interesting story. It had me guessing right to the end.

Crossing is to curse so uncrossing is to uncurse. Luke has a gift just like his sister. They are opposites. Luke can Uncross almost any curse. Jeremy is the one puzzle he can't work out.

Two powerful families control the magic in New York. Jeremy belongs to the Kovrov family. They are known to protect their own and be ruthless. Luke is aware of the dangers when he starts working with the family, but the opportun ...more

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Sep 19, 2017 Sabrina rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017, arc

Checkout my full review + giveaway (ends 10/14) on my blog! http://omgbooksandmorebooks.blogspot....

This book was creative yet unusual. I felt awed at the magic system, thought, I felt confused by it at times. But this book is adorable. I really enjoyed the character interactions among all the cast of characters. I really liked the dueling magical family dynamic and the world building. It's one of the more unique ones I've read about in a while. It can get confusing at times but everything will ...more

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Sep 21, 2017 Sophie rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, lgbtq, fantasy

This book had me hooked right with the first sentence.

I'm always impressed when that happens, *especially* when its a genre I'm not that into, which in this case means fantasy YA. But I had seen the cover and was intrigued even before seeing several enthusiastic reviews on Goodreads, so I decided I'd give this a try, and I am glad I did.

The whole story is set in New York, and in this New York, there is magic. Different families rule or protect different areas - and Luke's family is protected b This book had me hooked right with the first sentence.

I'm always impressed when that happens, *especially* when its a genre I'm not that into, which in this case means fantasy YA. But I had seen the cover and was intrigued even before seeing several enthusiastic reviews on Goodreads, so I decided I'd give this a try, and I am glad I did.

The whole story is set in New York, and in this New York, there is magic. Different families rule or protect different areas - and Luke's family is protected by the Kovrovs. Luke himself is very good at "uncrossing", that is, undoing curses - and the summer where the story is set he works for the Kovrovs, doing odd jobs while getting closer to Jeremy, the youngest Kovrov brother. And getting closer to Jeremy leads to having to figure out how to do Luke's most important uncrossing yet..

I loved the characters and the setting, and while I can be a grumpy curmudgeon about this, I found their teenage awkwardness about falling in love utterly sweet and adorable while not being teethachingly cute (which is to say it never got too much). The way the plot unravelled took me by suprise and kept me on edge right until the end, and speaking of which, I *loved* the ending. I also liked the magic system, or what we got to see of it - I actually wouldn't have minded a closer look at the world and how everything works - as interesting as it was it was a bit frustrating at times to get only short glimpses rather than the big picture, although I much prefer the way it's done here to several pages of exposition. I would have liked to know more about stuff like schools and such- everything that happens to Luke and Jeremy felt oddly isolated. I think that is the only complaint I have - while there are some interesting side characters and while they do go out occasionally, it never felt like the story and the characters were grounded in the world around them. I don't know how to explain it better, but in that sense it lacked depth that might have made this even better.

I still highly enjoyed this and would recommend this to anyone looking for a good urban fantasy YA story.

My ARC copy of the book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair, unbiased review. ...more

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Sep 26, 2017 Abi (The Knights Who Say Book) rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: fans of The Raven Cycle

Shelves: fantasy, standalone, arcs, lgbtqa-minor-characters, given-for-review, urban-fantasy, diverse-reads, unknown-faves, lgbtqa-main-character, mlm

*I received an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review*

Magical mafia turf war. Boys falling in love. Death, life, and in between. Curses, and the unraveling thereof. A little too much angst for my taste, but it's balanced out by lots of neon fashion choices. Meet the book I've affectionately dubbed "the new Raven Cycle".

Luke comes from a magical family. Jeremy comes from another, much more dangerous magical family. Luke likes boys. Jeremy's been in love with Luke since they were six *I received an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review*

Magical mafia turf war. Boys falling in love. Death, life, and in between. Curses, and the unraveling thereof. A little too much angst for my taste, but it's balanced out by lots of neon fashion choices. Meet the book I've affectionately dubbed "the new Raven Cycle".

Luke comes from a magical family. Jeremy comes from another, much more dangerous magical family. Luke likes boys. Jeremy's been in love with Luke since they were six. Luke can uncross any curse. Which is lucky, because Jeremy happens to be cursed. (Oh fine, you want an actual synopsis? Luke's family is under the protection of the Kovrov family, who are more terrifying than they are helpful. When the Kovrovs hire Luke for a the summer to make use of his famous ability for uncrossing curses, he discovers that the youngest Kovrov — Jeremy — is under some kind of secret curse. And also that he really wants to kiss Jeremy. Which is sort of relevant to the curse.)

The reasons I like this book are pretty much the same reasons it's similar to the Raven Cycle. There are contrasting families that each have their own kind of deep love holding them together, and there's a love story that hinges around a curse that draws the two boys together even when it should push them apart, and there's a lot of magic practiced with either vengeful enjoyment or grim belief that it's the only way left. There's the creation of whimsical objects out of thin air, and boys making terrible fashion choices regarding colors and what should be worn on the body, and a wanting for so much more than they can have.

To be clear, this book isn't perfect — there's a lot of hot-and-cold going back and forth, and the angst is so thick you could stab it (which almost literally happens in the book). And I definitely enjoy the flirting with terrible jokes more than the abundance of kissing scenes (but that's just me). But besides all that, I love this ship. I love how Jeremy is so trapped and vulnerable but so brave, and how Luke may pretend to be the confident one but really he just cares so much. They both! care! so much! about everyone! Kill me!! And their families are so important to the story and so well-developed, from Jeremy's older brothers who sometimes act as his parents to Luke's twin Camille and their parents... everyone has so much loyalty it hurts. Which is sort of the point of a turf war, I guess.

The point is, read The Uncrossing for magic and blood and kissing and bad jokes and worse decisions and family and angst and curses, because it's really, really good. ...more

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Sep 25, 2017 ren rated it really liked it

You know when you are really excited for a book, but cautiously wary because you’ve been disappointed too many times? That was me when I started reading The Uncrossing. This book looked like everything I want from a retelling, minus the contemporary setting: it’s queer, the worldbuilding seemed incredible and I had heard only good things about it.

I’m glad to say it didn’t disappoint.

The Uncrossing won me over at first because of said worldbuilding. I loved the world Eastlake created, with curses ...more

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Sep 21, 2017 Mark rated it it was amazing

Shelves: doubleplusgood, favorites, entangled

A stunning debut with lovable characters, an enthralling plot, and one of the best romances I've read. (Plus, it's really gay.) You need this gorgeously written, captivating book. Review to come! ...more

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Nov 21, 2017 Shan( Shans_Shelves) 💜 rated it it was ok

Shelves: diverse-reads, young-adult, queer-reads

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Also on My Blog
The uncrossing is a debut novel by author Melissa Eastlake.It’s told from the POV of Jeremy, a 17 year old boy bound to a curse he didn’t ask for and Luke, a 17 year old boy with the power to uncross any curse he comes upon. Slowly Luke and Jeremy work to uncross Jeremy’s curse and fall in love along the way.

This novel wasn’t bad but wasn’t great either. I’ll start with what I liked: the characters and the romance. Jeremy and Luke were great main protagonists. They were both def Also on My Blog
The uncrossing is a debut novel by author Melissa Eastlake.It’s told from the POV of Jeremy, a 17 year old boy bound to a curse he didn’t ask for and Luke, a 17 year old boy with the power to uncross any curse he comes upon. Slowly Luke and Jeremy work to uncross Jeremy’s curse and fall in love along the way.

This novel wasn’t bad but wasn’t great either. I’ll start with what I liked: the characters and the romance. Jeremy and Luke were great main protagonists. They were both defined well and realistic. Luke drove me up the wall at times and Jeremy was precious. They both made mistakes throughout the novel which is expected considering their age and the shit they have to deal with. The author really knows how to write interesting characters. Some you want to hate but can’t help but loving. That’s exactly how I felt about some side characters. Mainly Jeremy’s family. I wanted to hate but I loved how much they genuinely cared for him. Luke’s family were amazing. I loved his sister and would be interested in reading more about her. Camille was badass.

I’ve seen some reviews complain about the romance between Luke and Jeremy but I’ve got to say I actually liked it. Yes they fought and yes they drove me crazy at time! But they’re teenagers and they’re dealing with shit no teenager should deal with. Their fights mostly happened over lack of communication. However they work and grow throughout the novel and I was rooting for their HEA.

Now onto what I disliked: everything else! This books biggest downfall was lack of world building. We got none. Nadda. Zilch. I had no idea what was happening for about 80 % overall. The Magic system isn’t explained at all. It frustrated me so much. I’m not someone who relies on the world building to love a book but I do need something. We didn’t get any information neither at the beginning or end. If this wasn’t an Arc and I didn’t like the characters as much as I did, it would have been an DNF. On top of that the writing was choppy and confusing.

The plot was so confusing at the beginning. It took me three weeks to read 16% of this. That’s how confused & irritated I was at the beginning. I’m sad to say, while it got easier to follow I still can’t tell you what happened and I’ve finished the novel. There were also times when paragraphs would finish at one subject without answers and the next paragraph is two days later and still no answers!

After everything that happens this ended terrible. Don’t even get me started on the ending. I feel like the way it ended made the whole book pointless.

Overall, it’s wasn’t the worse book ever but the bad defiantly outweighed the good. This book was hard to follow and frustrated me to no end. I did like the characters and I think the author could write some really funny dialogue and defined characters it’s a shame the world building fell like it did. Honestly I can’t recommend this.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a copy to review.* ...more

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Sep 26, 2017 Laly Villablanca rated it it was amazing

Shelves: laly-s-favorites

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I fell in love with this book after the first ten pages. That doesn't really happen to me, and the last book that gave me such a ride and the need to both slap and hug the characters was Nora Sakavic's The Foxhole Court. No other book has called my attention this way since then, and anyone who knows me knows exactly what that means.

Uncrossing is about magic, love, fate, choices, and surprisingly th ...more

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Oct 01, 2017 Amanda Prado rated it really liked it

Shelves: queer, read-in-2017, urban-fantasy

I received a free ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book caught my attention mostly because of the pitch tagline: "The Raven Boys meets Shadowhunters". I love one of these series and hate the other, so I was mostly morbidly curious to see how this book would work out. And then of course we got the horrid cover reveal (which btw doesn't even depict the characters as they are; Luke isn't white, for starters) and my expectations got even lower. I stayed interested I received a free ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book caught my attention mostly because of the pitch tagline: "The Raven Boys meets Shadowhunters". I love one of these series and hate the other, so I was mostly morbidly curious to see how this book would work out. And then of course we got the horrid cover reveal (which btw doesn't even depict the characters as they are; Luke isn't white, for starters) and my expectations got even lower. I stayed interested mostly for the fun summary (prophecies, curses, fail of true love's kiss), but I wasn't expecting too much.

Which was probably the best thing I ever did, because with low expectations, I could easily get past the book's biggest weakness: its writing. I'm not saying the author is a bad writer, because she most definitely is not; but I AM saying The Uncrossing reads as a... very obvious debut. It's easy to see the writing isn't as polished as it could be, and the way the plot/core themes of the book are handled oscilates between very in your face/heavy handed, and so subtle it's actually obfuscating. It doesn't help that the plot is confusing by design either. A more unkindly reviewer would suggest the author bit more than she could chew.

But I really don't think that's the case.

Even if I don't think it was handled in the best way possible, this was still a really good book, and the author's intent was succesfully shown even throught the bumpiest spots. The deconstruction of destiny, "true love", happily ever afters, and fairytale cliches were all great. The author doesn't take any easy ways out, she doesn't try to make her job easier: on the contrary, this story is about how there are NO easy outs, and how not all problems can be solved; and even if they are, not always will it be in satisfactory ways. The author builds the "cliches" up in the first part of the story just to slowly and devastatingly shoot them down on the second part. You don't always find an YA story willing to deal with the messiness of real life, and that doesn't compromise its themes for the sake of a perfect HEA; the ending is a happy one, don't worry, but it's still appropriately open-ended, which works perfectly with the message it is trying to send.

The Uncrossing has sympathetic but flawed characters, a cute romance, ADULTS ACTING LIKE ADULS - the parents in this book actually exist and act like parents, trying to protect their children from fucked up magic and ACTIVELY involved in the plot!!! holy shit!!!!! -, and a refreshing take on the usual fairytale/paranormal romance tropes. All things I loved, which more than make up for the occasional messy writing (and occasional ott melodrama, though that could also be attributed to sympathetic but flawed teens acting like teens). I'm really impressed by the author's ideas, even if the execution wasn't always perfect. It just makes me interested to see how she'll evolve in her next books. ...more

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Sep 25, 2017 Miranda rated it really liked it

3.5 / 5 Fangs

The Uncrossing was such an entertaining and fast-paced book. This was a book full of magic, romance, action, crime, and angst. What more could one want?!

I really enjoyed the urban fantasy world the author created. The world the author created took New York City and mixed it with fairytale elements, magic, and crime families. I found the world extremely interesting! My only issue with the world was that it was confusing to understand at first. When the book started, it felt like I w ...more

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Oct 13, 2017 charlotte, rated it really liked it

Shelves: achillean, review-copies, lgbtq-authors, disabilities-disorders-illnesses, lgbt, ya-lit, bi-or-pan, slowburn-romance, 4-stars, witches-mages-magic-doers

Galley provided by publisher

Rep: male bi mc, gay li, non-white side characters

I had never heard of this book before requesting it, and what made me request it was the blurb. It's an urban fantasy set in New York, about these mob-like families who control the magic in the city, each with their own way of doing magic. There's not a lot in the way of actually telling you this information, so there are no big info-dumps (a good thing), but it's pretty easy to pick up as you go along.

The book tells t ...more

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Oct 02, 2017 Shannon rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc, youngadult, contemporary, family, for-review, i-need-more, m-m, friends, family-drama, 2017

The Uncrossing is an engaging and entertaining novel that admittedly took me a little while to get pulled in to, but once I was, there was no putting this book down! It's confusing and mysterious and quite intriguing, it's everything you'd want in a young adult urban fantasy novel. And it has two totally endearing characters, which was just the icing on the cake!

Full of magic and mayhem and mystery, The Uncrossing also has a sweet romance brewing in its pages. Luke and Jeremy have known each oth ...more

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Sep 26, 2017 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1st-arc-ng, magic

'The Uncrossing' is as much about magic as it is a slow-burn YA romance. Author Melissa Eastlake drops readers in the middle of a set of families who have been working together for generations, each person specializing in a different type of magic. Eastlake has skillfully brought to life a unique and complex system of magic and an enchanting re-imagined New York City. She employs an enjoyable blend of fantasy with real-world subway transit and social media.

Luke and Jeremy are young men caught a ...more

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Oct 02, 2017 Linda Romer rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviews

The Uncrossing by Melissa Eastlake

I really enjoyed The Uncrossing, I thought it was a unique read with elements of magic I've never read about before. This is an Entangled Teen Title with a M/M Romance, very sweet. I liked all the characters, Luke and Jeremy were very charming. The Kovrov and the Melnyk families were memorable and I enjoyed getting to know them. I liked the scare at the end and the story overall.

I give The Uncrossing 4 stars for its unique magical read with interesting characte ...more

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Oct 23, 2017 gin rated it really liked it

This was good! It reminded me a lot of holly black's curse workers series (which I love) with the whole magical mobsters and all that. It's def my type of book.

luke and Jeremy were both great and I loved their romance. i also loved jeremy's family dynamics and his relationship with his brothers.
ngl I wish we had gotten more of Luke's sister tho she seemed so awesome.

I appreciated the rep a lot, such a cute m/m romance and luke being a black gay boy was great and bisexuality was treated so well t ...more

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May 18, 2017 Elle (ellexamines) marked it as zzzzz-coverporn-etc

Recommended to Elle by: Danielle (Life of a Literary Nerd)

Shelves: x-coverporn

i'm here for the fun mlm urban fantasy ...more

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Oct 03, 2017 Angela C rated it really liked it

Shelves: magicians-and-wizards, lgbt, favorite-families, diverse, siblings, review-copy

I received a free copy of this book through Chapter by Chapter, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for the review copy!

It’s been 24 hours since I finished reading The Uncrossing, and I’m still starry-eyed over the wondrousness of this story. Usually it’s romance that makes or breaks a book for me, but in the case of Eastlake’s debut it was the world building and the tangled web of magic, secrets, curses, and complex family relationships that really swept me away.

The Uncro ...more

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Oct 05, 2017 Melissa (YA Book Shelf) added it

Shelves: lgbtqia-ya, lgbtqia, fairytale-retellings

Great diversity in this title. I was expecting a m/m romance with a fairytale retelling concept, but I was happily surprised that beyond the two main characters, Luke and Jeremy, there were other male bisexual characters in main roles in a way that was very well done. I particularly loved a conversation about the distinction between bisexuality and being a gay male and how one character, in particular, was adamant that his bisexuality not get erased as often happens.

Beyond the LGBTQIA+ represen ...more

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