3 out of 5 stars.
I would like to thank Orchard Press for allowing me an ARC of this book for an open and honest review.
I am in two minds with this book. I absolutely and utterly LOVED the story… right up to the end. I found it a fun, enticing and highly enjoyable read that had my ‘One more chapter’ mantra going into the small hours of the night… day. But I felt the ending really fell flat and let it down. We went from a fast paced and exciting story to a bit of an anti-climactic moment followed by a few brief pages and then it was done. Not saying this is the case, but it felt as if the author hit her required word count and then put her pen down.
Now I do believe this book is the first in a series and there is more to come, but that is still no excuse to finish it with such an ending. A cliff hanger, an apparent ‘all lived happily ever after… or did they?’ moment. They would have worked. But not what we got. It’s really left me feeling disappointed and has made me mark the book down for lower than the rest of it really deserved.
Don’t get me wrong, it is a GREAT story. It just needed a better ending. I mean, to let you know how much I really did enjoy this book, the electronic copy I received got corrupted on the download. And I didn’t realise this until after it had been archived (so I couldn’t try again). This meant any time a sentence began with ‘Th’ or the letter ‘f’ was used in most words… the f and the letter next to it were missing. So, sentences beginning with ‘the’ or ‘There’ became ‘e’ and ‘ere’. Fireplace became ‘ireplace’ and so on. And yet, despite noticing this issue within the first few pages… Those pages had me so hooked I just had to keep reading. So it was a good book. And possibly why I was so disappointed with the ending? I put up with digital issues to read and you ended it like this? How could you! 😉
Seriously, this is a great book and yes I WILL be looking for the next one. Why? The characters are engaging, the world it’s set in (though not historically accurate) is still believable and very visual. The story idea is a mixture of old themes with a gorgeous flourish of new life and vibrancy. It is a good book. Just brace yourself for the flat ending and pray for the next book to be ready soon so you can pick the adventure back up. I know I will be. I want to read on… So well done.
Would I recommend this book? Yes. Though I might suggest people wait until the next book in the series is out so you can just pick it up where this one stops. I have to wait and do hope the next book picks up in a good spot and throws us all back into the fray.
Would I buy this book myself? Yes, I really would. But if I’m getting it as an eBook I hope the digital corruption issues I had in my ARC have been fixed in the finished piece.
I look forward to seeing where this story/ series takes me and I can’t wait to hear the next book is out.
A great new story for lovers of the magical world around us.
Until next time,
Janis. XXOO
Janis's Journal 