When magicians kill her parents, a young woman finds that she has lost her colour and become invisible to nearly everyone, and the same happens to everything she touches.
This is a unique and intriguing read. Well written and highly detailed; this book creates a complex world that is populated with interesting characters, magic, suspense and mystery.
I did find it got a bit confusing when people started changing into dire wolves!
A quick easy read that will make time fly by!

I thought it was a standalone. Why did I think it was a standalone? I need answers! A resolution! I need more!

Going in, I will admit, I was unsure the novel would grip me because the premise was unusual. But while the prologue, I felt, was not necessary, I was hooked from the second Annabelle began to moult colour. I feared, for a while, that her character would become dependent on Dylan once he was introduced, but I was happy to be proved wrong. Her character was strong and fleshed out and realistic.

Surprisingly, I liked the changing in POVs. I usually don't, but it worked well, and each character POV we had was distinct. The world building was also fascinating, and I have questions as to the magicians' existence and their control over the population.

A few nitpicking things that bugged me - at one point in the novel, Annabelle 'flicked a tear from her cheek' thrice in two pages, which just made me picture her flinging her tear across the room. Honestly, have never seen anyone flick a tear when they are sad. When they are annoyed they are crying, sure. But this definitely brought me out of the story for a while.

I am also dreading the eventual dylan/Annabelle love story we seem to be headed towards. Initially, at Dylan's introduction, I was looking forward to it, but since the introduction of Joseph, I feel like Joseph and Annabelle would be a better match because they go head to head and learn and work together. There is just something about them.

On the other hand, the friendship between Dylan and Jane growing into love would be wonderful to see. A platonic Dylan/Annabelle relationship would be nice because we rarely see platonic friendships between the female and male protagonists unless they are related in some way.

Speaking of Jane! If she is Eda's daughter, and knows Fauve so well since childhood - why has Annabelle never mentioned her? I feel like we missed out on a huge opportunity for female friendship here, on both sides, with Jane feeling something missing in her life, and Annabelle missing her best (female) friend and confidante.

(Tony/Collin is a nice subplot I am surprisingly invested in, and for Tony's sake, I hope it works out happily.)

*Received a copy of Colorless by Rita Stradling from the publisher in exchange for a fair review.

2.5/5 stars

In the society of Domengrad, magicians are worshiped on the same level as the gods, monks are feared, and girls can become invisible. Annabelle Klein, a once colorful girl with living parents and a cousin who would have never been thought to betray her, now lives alone in a colorless world due to everything she touches rids itself of its color. Until one day when Annabelle decides to take a walk out of the house she been a prisoner to to the stables, where she meets her new and only friend Dylan, who is also having a bit of trouble with women and the monks. Dylan helps Annabelle with the help of his family until the world turns upside down when they find out that Annabelle's so-called curse might be a gift that all the monks and the magicians are afraid of. Annabelle dives through different dimensions to figure out why she lives without color; however, she does not know how long she has until she becomes fully invisible to everyone, including Dylan and his family. If she is able to find her truth to her and other iconoclasts' existences, she might be able to find the truth about Domengrad, even if her time is limited.

Discussion:

Almost everyday, I will scan my bookshelves, both digital and physical, and look for my to-be latest read. I just happened to be going through the event and destruction of Hurricane Harvey, which meant my power, some of my utilities, and my internet were out. Even though my home may have not gotten destroyed or flooded, it was still a stressful time since water was surrounding my home from the back and its one side. Also, I had no power, so when I wanted to read on my kindle, I had to be careful with using my stored power. Colorless was a book that just wasted my battery power. Although, I may have enjoyed this beginning of this series(?) somewhat, it was not much a story, but more of a soap opera looking into a girl's life, which has become destroyed by magic and includes her running away from power-hungry monks and magicians. Even if it was only for a few hours a night, it was nice to get out of reality to go into an alternate and a magical world with conflicts outside of my troubling abilities when it only decreased my battery.

First, relating to the contents of the book, there are characters that readers can form attachments to or can want to kill them endlessly. Colorless has many characters I like, but there is one character that gets on my nerves.

1. Annabelle Klein
I love the characters Stradling has created in Colorless, especially Annabelle. She is smart, even when she's helpless and is in desperate need of help from anyone even if she will not let them since she is very prideful. She is now isolated from society since she is an iconoclast, which happened due to a mysterious cause. She lives through a very dark part time of her life since she has been betrayed by her cousin, she has lost her parents, and she is colorless and becoming invisible. Also, she is only sixteen years old, which is about the time when I will be freaking out the most due to driving, part-time job, school, and finding a way to catch some zzzs. Even though Annabelle may be losing herself to magicians and different dimensions, she never loses her sense of humor, pride, nor her ability to piece together a puzzle with a lot of clues at her disposal. Also, I found her to be intelligent when it came to befriending people after her cousin's betrayal since she was always depending on people to take care of her and did not know who to trust. She is very adaptable, which is the first trait I look for in a character, and is a great main character, in my opinion, to be rooting for.

2. Dylan Collins
Ah, the lovely Dylan Collins. The misunderstood boy who is seen as a womanizer and criminal due to other crimes he supposedly committed is the one and only person who can help Annabelle until his family comes to save the day. He can be extremely witty at times, like Annabelle, and loyal to his friends, who are the servants of the Kleins' and now Annabelle, no matter how ill-tempered he may get. Also, he is very good at getting out of bad situations by pure luck and having the courage to stick up to his seniors. He is protective due to a fact that can be considered a major spoiler, so I put it below this section. This turns out to be very useful for Annabelle since she finds out the entire mystery of why she is colorless and becoming invisible and why everyone is chasing after her. Dylan may be considered the runt of his family and this book's characters discussed in this post, but he will always hold a special place in my heart, which grows ten times bigger when I see a cat with a piece of cake.
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*Spoiler(Do not read unless you have read the book or you ant to be spoiled)*
I was always wondering throughout the book why only a few select individuals can actually see Annabelle even though she is supposed to be completely invisible to others due to having no color. At the end of the book, almost every question I had was answered, especially the identity of Dylan and his family. Dylan, Sophie, which is his honorary mother who helps Annabelle discover whom she is, and his brothers are dire wolves, which are part of the different dimension with the gods worshiped in Domengrad, the setting of this book. This means that they can see Annabelle and all the other iconoclasts that have lived before her, who have gotten killed by the monks and the magicians for power. I was really sad when Sophie died since she was our informant and had taken over as the caretaker of the boys and Annabelle. I'll find out soon.
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3. Anthony "Tony" Klein
I really hate Tony's guts; in addition, whenever I was reading from his point of view, I wanted it to end even if I was a bit intrigued by some of his interactions with others. I do not know if Stradling has the intentions of me wanting to hate him, but I really do not like him. He is always drunk so he can overcome the issues and guilt he deals with throughout this book, which is not the best decision to make since bloodthirsty monks are walking around, enforcing the laws. Although there may be many things I dislike Tony for, he was a great antagonist for the short while he was and was a great addition to add to the diversity of this book. Colorless seems to be set in a magical world, as I have said so many times now that I am just drilling it into your brain, in a medieval or Renaissance setting, so gay marriage is highly unheard of and disliked. The reason why Annabelle hates Tony's guts is because he likes Collin Stewart, the man who Annabelle goggles at like a love-struck schoolgirl. LGBTQIA+ is not documented very much in the early years of our world nor have I not heard of any records of that kind, except for a fictional story in Mackenzie Lee's The Gentlemen's Guide to Vice and Virtue, which takes place in the 1700s. Other than that positive note, I found Tony to be obnoxious, rude to those around him, and acting like a spoiled child. That is enough about destroying Tony's ego for now! Let's go onto the more juicy details!

Next, as I read this book in entirety, I found it to be under developed, or as if it was a first draft of a book. I hope once this book has gotten published, the mistakes have gotten fixed or some of the scenes have gone into more development and have been edited. Also, Colorless could have been such a good book since it had such a good concept that I have not heard of before. It just needs more structure and planning to become the book Stradling might have been envisioning. Since I find this quality in books, unless if it is a character-driven story, to be an extreme no-no, I had to decrease the number of stars I am giving it. Seriously, this novel could have been a soap opera about Annabelle's life as a colorless person through her whining and her solving the mystery surrounding her condition. I know there is going to be a second book so I will have high hopes for that one to be a little bit better than this first one, maybe(😓).

Just because I may have laid down all the terrible things about this book, I really enjoyed reading about this world, the characters, and the enjoyable writing style. The premise interested me enough that I decided to read the whole book, and the writing style was edging me on. The concept was brilliant, and it was incredibly good. As I now say in all my recent book reviews, I have basically wrote myself out with discussing everything about this book. I need a new tagline. Oh, wait! I do!
New tagline: Also, before you leave, share this post 'cause it's caring, follow 'cause it's holo(-graphic, or 'cause it's not), and comment 'cause it's like writing a sonnet(I know that does not rhyme, but it just sounded nice).

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

Love,
newbookcats

I knew this writer in Ensnared and fell in love with her creativity and writing. I do not read fantasy, but I loved this cover and the synopsis and I took the risk of reading.
It tells the story of Annabelle, a girl who lost all her color and became invisible.
At first I was a bit confused by the prologue about the death of Annabelle's parents but I hoped that little by little everything would be explained, I imagined symbologies and references in the plot as happened with the book I read from her before, but I finished the confused book of it way. The first few chapters are engaging and I just could not stop reading but little by little many things were happening at the same time and the reading began to slow, I finished bravely but without excitement. Too bad the plot had everything to attract and generate many emotions and adventures.

Rita Stradling is a YA author whose work I will always follow without question - I'm not a fan of YA in general but Stradling is amazing.

This book is outstanding, the characters are complex and well developed and the world building was something special, somewhere between regency period and magical fantasy.

Annabelle, the main character, is the daughter of a low-level aristocrat and she treads the line between being an aristocrat and being a commoner, which is something that makes her social interactions with both sides of the fence really interesting.

Best of all? She's too damn busy dealing with her condition and the conspiracy taking place in the world to go around kissing smelly boys! She's not Katniss levels of grumpy, but she isn't passive or a sunbeam.

I'm so excited to learn that this is going to be a series because I'll be following this one with great interest. The ending of this book was a little bit odd because it felt rushed and without a huge cliffhanger, I thought it had just been condensed so as not to go over a pre-determined word count.... if this had been a standalone novel, I would have been disappointed, as it is - I'm just ready for book 2.

An original concept with a complex world and interesting characters. It is a little slow to start with quite a bit of time spent alone with Annabelle, as puzzled as she is as to what is going on. Both the story and my enjoyment picked up once Annabelle started interacting with the Miller boys and we gradually find out a little bit more about the magicians, the iconoclast and Annabelle's colorless state. Unfortunately while we do find out a bit about all of these things, they were not explained fully enough to completely satisfy me. I was left wanting to know how the magicians did a particular thing and why it had the effect it did. And even though we find out the reason for Annabelle's loss of color and place in the world I never understood why that happened (as in why the event that caused it had that effect) Nor was it really explained to my satisfaction why the magicians were afraid of the iconoclast. Hopefully there is another book planned that will address these things and give me some romance. There isn't any this time around but it would easily fit into the story going forward.

I was so excited to read this one but I found out early on that it wasn't going to work for me. The world that the author created is amazing and so is the system of magic and wonder. However, there didn't seem to be any rules about this world. This one starts out with a lot of confusion with the chracters and what is going on and although most of the time that works out for me because I love action but for this one, it didn't instill a sense of curiosity to want to know more.

The story with all the elements just didn't blend together and I really kind of wish that this would have been split up into two to three books. There is so much information in this that it was a mash-up that really just didn't work out for me.

The synopsis of this book really intrigued me. I mean a person who had no colour, who was invisible, but still very much alive! Hello intrigue. I liked this book, it was not what I was expecting especially with the whole magical system and religion, but there were a few things that I felt it was missing.
Annabelle was a good MC. She had to learn how to navigate herself in a society that couldn’t see her but was desperately trying to hunt her down. She was tough and a thorough thinker in her plans….they might not have always gone as planned but at least she thought them through.
Dylan wasn't very outstanding either, but I did enjoy reading from his perspective and it gave the readers a different view of the main conflict. There were Dylan’s brothers who added more mystery and intrigue. As the only people (plus their grandmother) who could see Annabelle without her colour they had to figure out ways to help her. One brother was slightly less inclined to help and often caused a hard time for our poor, colourless Annabelle.
The world that Annabelle lived in was really set out. Despite the fact that she was colourless, everything else was filled with colour and there were very beautiful descriptions of the scenery and people. Even when she became colourless I could clearly visualize the colour melting off of her as it was described so I really enjoyed that.
I really liked that there were mini paragraphs every few chapters that explained some of the gods that were mentioned in this book. It gave insight into exactly what was being dealt and added more structure and understanding to the beliefs of the society.
I was very confused at certain parts in the story, I didn't really understand the significance behind the events that occurred. The story also fell flat in being memorable, there are no scenes or characters in particular that really stood out to be.
Overall, I did enjoy the book in the moment. It was magical, mysterious and very twisty. I did enjoy the magical elements and some of the more suspenseful events. Not to mention those monks were insanely creepy, but if I’m honest this book had me hooked in the moment not the moments after.

Incredibly interesting! I really hope that this becomes a series, because the author does a fabulous job of creating a presumably steampunk world. Honestly, I also hope this gets optioned as a movie, because it would be gorgeous.

I really wanted to like this one... I LOVED Ensnared, Stradling's earlier title. She has a lovely writing style and her voice is such a delightful blend of lyrical magic and clear, concise storytelling. Unfortunately, after the opening chapters of this one, I felt like she lost that voice and the story - and its narration - began meandering in a way that ultimately lost me.

The premise to this one is great: a girl paying the price for some mysterious action of her parents, the way she bleeds color out of anything she touches, the disappearing that happens after she goes colorless with only one seemingly random person who can still see and hear her - all full of potential, particularly in the hands of a gifted storyteller like Rita Stradling... The opening chapters grabbed me right away and sucked me into this inventive and original world. But then, rather quickly after Annabelle met Marc, I just got lost and floundered from page to page, constantly putting it aside and hoping that it was just the mood I was in until eventually, after doing that about seven times, I finally concluded it just wasn't the book for me (at least not right now).

I went into this book not really knowing much about this. I requested this from Netgalley and vaguely remembered something about someone losing their colour. So, going into this I had little expectations. I wont say that I loved this book but I did very much like it and I'm very excited to pick up a sequel.
The story is in multiple perspectives which I don't often like and was super thrilled about with this book, I don't feel like it was 100% necessary but it didn't take away from the story. That being said I really like Rita Stradlings writing style. I really did feel like I was in the old timey historical setting, I liked it. The writing style is definitely part of the reason I've rated this a bit higher.

Our main character Annabelle was really hard for me to connect with but as the book went on I found myself really invested in her and her story.
I think my favourite element of this book is the historical parts, like the monks and the lords and ladies and its mix with magic. It works really well in this story and I like the evil rulers type vibe from the monks.
Overall, I feel weird and like I don't have many opinions about this book but have a very positive feeling about it so...

3.75.5 stars :)

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Pikko's House to read and review.

I was drawn to Colorless because of it's gorgeous cover. I had relatively high expectations for this book and I found it to be quite interesting. I was reminded of the Greek gods with the world presented in Colorless. But I honestly feel as if the gods and magicians were not explained thoroughly enough. The world concept was good, but I feel like it was not entirely fleshed out well enough. I found myself a little confused at times, feeling as though an explanation was missing.

As for the idea of the iconoclasts, I didn't feel the same way. I feel as if this aspect of the book was done very well. I loved the description of the transformation as Annabelle lost her color. The description was so vivid and I thought that the idea was so cool and executed well. I loved that not only could other people not see her, but they that she, or anything that she had touched ever existed.

Colorless made for a rather interesting fantasy novel. It contained mostly original concepts, which is refreshing. I feel as if the market is overflowing with vampires and werewolves. I have read many books that feel as if they could be the same novel. But this felt new and fresh.

The characters were likable. I loved how stubborn Annabelle could be. I never found her overly haughty or annoying, as I often do with characters of nobility. The brothers were all enjoyable as well. I liked the banter back and forth that you only get within families. Another thing I loved about Annabelle was her loyalty to her cousin. She didn't allow anyone else to speak unkindly about him. It was clear that she valued family, which is a quality that I respect.

Overall, I think that it made for a good read. The world building could use a little work, but besides that it was an interesting, original and captivating tale. I would recommend to readers of fantasy and YA.

If no one can see you do you exist at all?

The day Annabelle Klein parents died her life changed forever. She watched with horror as the colour drained from her skin, her clothes, and everything she touched. She also became invisible. No one asked where she was, no missed her because they had forgotten she had existed in the first place.

Annabelle thought she was to spend the rest of her life as a living ghost.

Dylan Miller mourned the loss of his employers for Lord and Lady Klein were good people, but they also lived a secret life. A dangerous life. Unlike most, Dylan can see Annabelle, and he wants to help her. But dark forces are intent on finding Annabelle, and they will stop at nothing to destroy her.

Colorless by Rita Stradling is a page turning adventure in a dark world that is filled with secrets, danger, and mystery. Ms. Strandling has created a unique world, which did take a little bit of perseverance for me to get my head around, but once I did the story was gripping.

Colorless is told through alternative perspectives, which really worked for this book and gave a deeper insight into the characters themselves. I adored the characterisation of both Annabelle and Dylan. Annabelle is a very strong young woman, who loses everything and everyone, but she is determined to find the truth and to protect those who have risked so much to keep her safe. Likewise, Dylan, is a very honourable young man who will do absolutely anything to keep Annabelle safe. He is a very likeable character, and I enjoyed reading about him. There is also a cast of supporting actors, and they helped to drive the story forward.

The world, in which our brave heroes live, is controlled by the Magicians’ monks who invade every part of everyone’s lives. They are feared. And they are determine to kill Annabelle, if only they could see her. They use threats and intimidation to get what they want. They were very chilling antagonists that were frighteningly evil. This is very much a dark verses the light story.

If you are looking for historical fantasy escapism then this is the book for you.

I Highly Recommend.

Perhaps because I love historical fiction so much I immediately latched on to the plot line surrounding classed society and I really, really loved how the disconnect between characters from different classes created drama. Not only do characters like Annabelle and Dylan embody the stereotypical tropes that accompany their social standing, it quickly becomes apparent that this has everything to do with upbringing and societal structure rather than deep set personal beliefs. Even those characters that I loved to hate in the beginning I ended up loving – or for some pitying – in the end.

I think that the concept of the Gods, the Magicians, and the Iconoclasts was incredibly well executed. The only thing that I ever wanted more of were details on Domengrad itself and why Iconoclasts were feared. Ultimately though, I loved the slow delivery of world building information as it avoided the always dry info-dump that accompanies so many created worlds. I am excited to see what more is revealed about Domengrad, the Magicians, and the Gods in the coming sequels as I have no doubt that it will only get better as the story goes on.

This book had so much potential! The beginning of the book (prologue and first chapter) was so intriguing with mysterious murders and intrigue. Plus the character's mysterious magical element within this story (and the title) was unique and fascinating as I haven't seen that idea done before.

Unfortunately, those first couple of chapters were the best part of the book and it went downhill after that. The story was honestly just boring. I didn't feel like any part of it captured my attention: the story was dull and the characters were equally as dull. I actually fell asleep at least three times on different occasions while reading this book and that never happens to me. I usually find reading keeps me from sleeping, not the opposite by putting me to sleep.

If I were to "DNF" books, I definitely would have put this book down unfinished. Even after finishing it, I don't feel like I absorbed much of the overall story because it was not memorable. Unfortunately, this is definitely in the running for one of my worst reads in 2017.

**Thank you to the publisher for supplying me with a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

The synopsis for this novel, a girl who looses all her colour and is forgotten by the world, bore a similarity to another novel I had little success with reading - The Sudden Appearance of Hope. Now I may have been prematurely setting myself up for failure but my source of discontent with this other book wasn't with the plot but the pace of it. This novel however, set in a fantastical world, seemed to be offering me everything I had been hoping for in the other. And that is what it initially delivered.

I adored the first few chapters of this. The entire thing is lyrically penned, but I found something extraordinarily absorbing about the first portion. I was, in short, mesmerised. This adoration dwindled as the novel progressed and I realised that certain facets of the world were never fully explained for the reader.

The synopsis begun: "Fear the Gods. Worship the Magicians. Forsake the Iconoclasts" but even after completing the novel I have no clue what any of that means. There are monks and magicians and girls cursed to turn invisible and paintings that can absorb humans; and it was all very interesting. But I have no idea how it all slotted together. With no discernible rules for this world I found it, sadly, not as mesmerising as it first appeared.

3.5 stars

I have some mixed feelings about this book. Overall I did enjoy it - it kept me interested enough to read it in 1 day - but there are still too many questions left hanging for me to truly love and understand this book. I'm hoping these questions will be addressed in the second book (which I'm definitely planning to read).

Colorless is definitely a unique story - I have not read another book like this one.

This book is relatively slow paced, but not in a bad way. There is certainly enough happening to keep the reader interested, and the slower pace allows better character development.
Annabelle is such a strong female lead (and not in your typically kick your head in type of way). The strength of character she shows when she is dealing with being invisible and forgotten, whilst also dealing with the death of her parents is inspiring.

The book is told from multiple POV, and this is done really well. We get distinct voices from the different characters, and it allows us to see what is happening in different locations.

I think the main reason I'm only rating Colorless 3.5 stars is I feel there could have been a lot more world building. I didn't mind the information being given in little bits throughout the story - that bit was done really well - its just that I was left confused by several matters at the end. I'm really, really hoping this was done on purpose and will be addressed in the second book.

This book is definitely worth the read! And I have a feeling the story will just keep getting better and better!

Minutes after hearing the news of her parents' mysterious deaths, all the color leaked out of Annabelle Klein. Not a speck of hair, skin, or clothing color remained in her. She was grey, and everything her bare skin touched became the same way. Not only that, but everyone but a select few remembered that Annabelle even existed. She was invisible, un-hearable, and forgotten.

Colorless ... wow. That was a unique idea. To have all the color leak out of a person like globs of paint and for the people watching to forget she was even there. It intrigued me, kept me guessing the entire book as to why that happened. At first I thought it could have been the grief of losing her parents, but there was much more to it than that. And then, consider how powerful a person could be who was invisible and could make other things disappear not only from sight but from memory. It would be amazing, which was why people were hunting Annabelle.

So the mystery was good, the idea was fantastic, and the world was intriguing. The rest of the book, however, was pretty stereotypical. The teen characters with hidden powers fighting against a terrible power system, this time with gods, magicians, and monks rather than a tyrannical government. Then the love triangle and the complexity of characters that is present in nearly all of the YA novels I have read. I mean, I liked the book well enough. I really liked the colorless idea, the unraveling of the mystery, and the world and settings. But it was not unique enough to set itself apart from all of the other YA fantasy romance novels.

If you would like to take a chance on this book, do so. I recommend it to fans of YA fantasy.

I received a complementary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I was hooked from page one of this book and I loved the characters. I thought the idea the book was built on was unique. My one criticism which brings my review down from 5 stars is that I would like the book to be much longer. I would like more background stories for the character and general build up during the book. I would highly recommend this book, and will certainly look out for more of this author's books.

I did not care for the plot. I could not connect with few characters at first, and in the end I liked them. The idea is what earned a 4 star rating, the social implications were good. A great read, I finished in 2 hours. Get this for a day of reading now thst the kida are back in school!