GENRE: Young Adult, Paranormal Romance. Angst
SERIES: Out of the Past #1
RECEIVED: Arc copy from Author
RECEIVED: Arc copy from Author
AUTHOR: Website
QUICK THOUGHTS:
Maria is a young girl in her last year of high school. All she wants is to get away from her family and the arranged marriage they are trying to get her to accept. Her only hope of getting into a university is crushed and now she feels she will forever be trapped in her town. A mysterious new student catches her interest but it seems that this new boy is not who he seems.
REVIEW:
Maria definitely has a tough life; she has a horrible father that hurts her, a mother who follows everything he says and friends who aren’t there for her. All she wants is to get into a college far away from everyone and everything. While dreading another meeting of suitors and dealing with her fathers anger, a new student comes to her school. She feels an instant connection, Alan is every bit of the hot boy in school and Maria knows that every girl in the school has her eye on him. The story moves along with Alan and Maria getting to know each other, but his personality slowly changes and he becomes something more dangerous than she was ever prepared for.
This story was interesting and I really was curious on who and what Alan was, he wasn’t a character I really liked though. He was hard to connect with and his personality was strange and just not likeable. But I feel that’s what the author was trying to do, especially when you find out who he is.
Maria’s character I felt horrible for all the way through, she never had a break and when it seemed to be going well something would ruin her luck. Her parents are terrible; the suitors are not the best of guys, her friends I just didn’t get and the Alan gets into a strange mood. I really was rooting for her to get through all these challenges and find a way out.
I would have liked the story to of been longer; it did feel kind of rushed with only 196 pages. The beginning was a bit confusing, but was later connected to the whole plot very nicely. The paranormal aspect wasn’t really pointed out until near the end, it was hinted that something was defiantly wrong with Alan but nothing about what he was. His family is connected to what is happening to him, which brings an unknown creature after him. I thought that was interesting, but wasn’t given enough detail to really understand what this creature or being was.
RECOMMENDATION:
This is a young adult novel, with a bit of Adult settings. I would recommend to fans that like Holly Black and Melissa Marr for its darker tones and teenaged settings.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I think I saw this book on netGalley and was considering requesting it, but then gave up on this idea because of a busy schedule and too many books piling up at home already. I think I might give it a try after all :)
ReplyDeleteThe cover looks very manga-like!
stopping by to check out your latest review.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review Kristen. I like your thorough analysis of it and especially your perceptions and emotional responses to the characters. Due to length reasons with the original book, it was split into three to become "The Mirrors of Fate" trilogy, hence the length of the first one. But hopefully the mysteries are enough to pull readers in for the next installments. Thanks for the speedy review.
ReplyDelete