While the writing is technically good, I found the story disturbing. There are several points in the novel where our hero makes choices that just don't make sense and left me disliking the character. His treatment of the girlfriend was appalling and heartless, his focus on public perception instead of morality was disgusting, and his decisions relative to the antagonists did not ring true. Even after he sees the consequences of joining the immortals, he is willing to jump in.

Finally, as a comment on the writing. The hero does not act very often in this novel, but is acted upon for most of the novel. Things happen to him, but he doesn't actually make many decisions. Those that he does are ethically suspect or just amazingly naive.

I had a major issue with the protagonist in this book. Straight out the gate he is angry, aggressive and seems to be lacking a work ethic, OK that's fine. We then very quickly find out that the reason for his anger is that his girlfriend has cheated on him, admittedly this is not great and so his anger might be justified. Oh wait, no it's not. His girlfriend approaches him, basically in tears and explains that she thinks she was drugged and therefore sexually molested. Daniel's inner dialogue admits that she has never been unfaithful before, that this is massively out of character and then, the cruncher, that even if it is true, it doesn't matter, he can't forgive her.

I'm sorry, what now?

Is the message the author is trying to portray here that if your long term, trustworthy and faithful partner comes to you concerned they have been drugged and molested you should choose not to listen to them and instead only care how this looks and makes you feel? Not a great message in my opinion.

I honestly did try to read on after this, hoping that there might be different POV and a character with some morals about to appear, but alas, I don't think that was what was around the corner and so I packed it in and moved on to better things.

I downloaded this based on the compelling cover image but the story ended up being far too fantastical for my liking. I thought it was about ghosts, but it really involves a hidden world with immortal inhabitants. It was just too far out of my wheelhouse to be enjoyable. I disliked the main character's total acceptance of truly unbelievable events and the characters names were just plain and contrived.

This was one of those deceptive kinds of books, where you're not sure how a storyline could fit into the number of pages (or digital pages, considering I read this on my Kindle app) without skimming over things and still be enjoyable.

For one, it was enjoyable.

Most of the time.

It didn't so much as skim over things, but it did have a jarring pace to it - where there were information dumps at every second corner and our main character accepted everything without much freak out. I get seeing is believing but Daniel honestly went from "I need to find one of my only friends" to "Wow Fantasia *insert googly eyes here*" and I just thought he'd have a bit more of his potential used, but apparently not yet, so that frustrated me a bit.

The only interesting component to the book, for me, was outside of Daniel's character. I wanted to learn more about the world he was being thrust into, I wanted to see more of the intricacies that threatened to tear that world apart (sure, we hear about all the cruelty of those who are under Thorn's thumb, but I was kind of hoping to see it? I feel it would have hit home a lot more.) In saying that though, I loved Daniel's family. All of his uncles and his grandfather? They were this other dynamic that really highlighted against the "normal" that was Daniel's life and family (which we see a bit later on).

The plot itself, as it is book one, was solid – though there was a lot of setup for the sequel of this, particularly with Daniel's character development (here's to hoping, because I'm really looking forward to a good and strong character arc for him!) I enjoyed the strict outline of "problem" and "need to find a solution" that went on, mostly because it complimented the world building and made sure I wasn't super confused with everything that was going on. It also meant that plot twists were quite literally out of the blue (okay, maybe some had a bit of foreshadowing) and meant that the ending picked my rating up from a 2 to a 3 – there was just enough intrigue in the way it ended, the way it was built and character arcs which really makes me think I would enjoy the next book over the first!

The post-epilogue chapter also really elevated the world building of this whole story. It gave layers to the background of Thorn, and her ancestors – I would find it really interesting just to read a short story of her childhood and how she really came to be who she is today. Her character arc would honestly be the most epic thing, I think.

I didn't really like Fantasia. I felt she was a bit one-dimensional when it really came down to it, as well as hypocritical – it leads me to start doubting her feelings for Daniel as less genuine and more as a way out of whatever "curse" her father's wife put on her? (Another thing, as I said before I wanted to see more of the world, including the Seven and their spouses and just the everyday lives of these people – I'm requesting short stories please!)

The whole story was a new take on immortal fantasy, and I think because of that unique note, it did take me a little while to really get into this book (plus the fact that I was put in a slump by an alternate current read just as I was starting this book too) but overall, I enjoyed it and would definitely pick up its sequel.

•

3.5/5

I truly loved this book such a different telling. Something new and different Daniel hunted for his Aura, feeling lost and alone when he isn't. turning into a monster for love is it the right choice? We follow him as he makes the choice and see that it's for more than just the love of a girl. It's for revenge and the love of his family for he will protect them. When a friend dies what will he do? I have to read the second book

Thank you to Netgalley and Publisher for giving me the book for free in exchange for an honest review.

This book had some dark and creepy moments. Those are the types of books I really enjoy. This one did not disappoint. The world is very complex and the author did a great job building it. This is book one to a new series.

Spoilers!!!


I had a hard time getting through this book. It started off great and has a lot going for it but when Fantasia comes in and they are instant soulmates you really lost me. It was very well written and flowed pretty well. I just couldn't get past the love at first sight.

The idea behind this was interesting, and I enjoyed it overall, but it didn't make me fall in love. While it was a fun read, I'm not sure I would recommend this as it contains quite a few tropes that can quickly become annoying, the biggest being instalove.

My main complaint here was that Daniel, the main character, lacked a little bit of personality.
But the authors imagination and creation of a beautiful fantasy story was amazing.
The plot was intricate and dealt with so many different issues and sub-plots; some readers may find it hard to keep up.
I also personally hate insta-love - so that kind set it back for me.

I requested this book from NetGalley primarily because of the haunting cover. I thought to myself, “This is going to be a creepy book!” I was wrong. Very wrong.

I have to admit that I did not enjoy this book at all. I seem to be in the minority, because as of right now, it has a 4.39 rating on Goodreads. It seems I missed the magic that everyone else found in this book.

I wasn’t a fan of the writing style – at times it seemed juvenile. I rolled my eyes constantly. Also – this novel has my least favorite trope – instalove. When I say instalove, I mean as soon as Daniel (the MC) and Fantasia (the love interest) see each other, they are in love. I cannot stand that. I understand instant attraction, but this is straight up “I will ditch everything in my life for you” love. Maybe some people like this, but I do not.

Another thing I thought was silly was some of the names in the book. For example, Fantasia, Dreams, Torture, Sludge, and Polar. This is just a sampling of some of the names. I understand these are the names of the immortal people, but come on…wouldn’t you want a better name for yourself if you live forever?

This wasn’t awful; I was pleasantly surprised at how hooked I was by the story. It was your typical ‘everything is not as it seems’ YA fantasy novel, except there was just something about the writing which made the novel seem unusual. Maybe it’s just because I’m not used to reading these particular types of YA fantasy novels. I believe there’s a sequel to this book, but unfortunately I’m not tempted to continue reading the series.

This book made me think twice on things. Daniel is a teen who has been through the "ringer" in life . When his bf goes missing, he makes a quest to find him, along the way he encounters some "things" in the forest. Interesting read.