Cover Image: The Path Keeper

The Path Keeper

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Member Reviews

I loved this book, I couldn't put it down and was sad when it ended.
It's well written and with a great plot that mixes different genres creating something unique and original.
I look forward to reading other books by this author.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

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The Path Keepers
N.J. Simmonds

What if every coincidence was a tiny miracle? What if our life was already mapped out before birth? What if someone had the power to change the path we were destined to follow?
Natali Drake, who writes under the pen name of N. J. Simmonds debut novel.
The Path Keepers is compelling Novel that intrigues and engages you.
Simmonds’s well developed characters and creative storyline is sure to keep you In suspense. Star crossed romance and thrilling twists.
This one book, that you will not be able to put down. Enjoyable historical elements mixed with mythology. I am looking forward to more of N.J. Simmonds writing.

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So at the moment I am stopping this at 60% through because it's about the same things over and over.
Girl meets hot guy
Instant love....regardless of the past
Guy turns out to be a supernatural being
At this point into the book he has already left her like 4 times because even though he is in love with her he just cant be with her.
Oh and he is kind of a jerk.

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I wanted to like this as it's fantasy YA by a British author, but it felt very dated already (YA/NA move on fast, and this read like it came out in 2008). I knew there were going to be religious undertones to the book but I just found some of them to be very strange choices that didn't seem necessary (the Jesus stuff could have been cut without affecting the plot much, if at all). The writing style was clear and I thought was well-suited to YA, but the sexual content pushed it up to NA for me. Not for me, I'm afraid.

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I 100% admit that the cover (and title) drew my attention to this book first - then the synopsis had me intrigued...

"What if our lives were mapped out before birth? Does anyone have the power to change their destiny?

Ella hates London. She misses her old life in Spain and is struggling to get over her past—until she meets Zac. He’s always loved her but isn’t meant to be part of her story. Not this time. Not ever. Little does she know that his secret is the one thing that will tear them apart and force her to live in a world that no longer makes sense. A world full of danger, lies and magic.

The Path Keeper is a passionate tale of first loves, second chances and the invisible threads that bind us. Can love ever be stronger than fate?"

***********Possible Spoilers**************

I have a tendency to forget the descriptions of books when I am reading on kindle and so as I began I was thinking - Who is Zac? Who is Ella? What is his Job? And as I continued to read I wondered if he was her guardian, did he only watch over her or others too, was he a fate, some kind of destiny, cupid even?

Ella as a character was fun, well written and was refreshingly normal despite what was occurring, I loved her slips into Spanish whenever something went wrong! Zac was instantly likeable despite his outbursts, but you have a good idea that something is not as it seems and make allowances! Her mother had her moments, but mostly she annoyed me, later on I realised why she could be the way she was and it didn't make it okay but it did allow for some understanding,

The switch to the 1940s initially threw me but by this point I had figured out enough to realise Evie was one of Ellas previous incarnations, and as the war time story progressed with Dolly and Ted and we gained insight into the workings of everything. I love the concept.

From this point we learned more and more (though Ella did not straight away) and I adored how everyone in the different time periods came to be who and where they were. I was glad that we heard her mums story and I loved the way everything tied together with all our characters. It made me happy, but also sad because she didn't know who Julianna was and I also really liked the little link to the de Silva's. I don't know if this will become more relevant down the line?

I really liked this version of history, I liked that they (Ella and Zac) had been together in their first lives, that they were the ones who were really meant to be and that we discover important things towards the end that are going to be vital moving forward but we don't fully understand the consequences yet.
We have to wait, and we have to have faith. And I love it!

Thank you to the author and publishers for this ARC edition.

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I had a hard time finishing it. The love story lacked a bit of depth and I never really connected with the characters.

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Sigh. I really was so excited for this book. I have yet to find a fallen angel story that really does it for me and I thought this might be the one..but I was so, so wrong. Alas, this story really was just like Fallen which I read in a similar way. It was quick and I was invested in the possibilities-hoping the characters would mature and grow and then unfortunately, I just found myself completely disconnected from them. It didn't get better.

I'm also not entirely sure what audience this book is supposed to be for? It's marketed as YA and the female protagonist is 19 years old and a university student..but there were more sex scenes (rather explicit) than I felt comfortable with based on it's intended audience. If it was supposed to be more NA then honestly, the characters were entirely too immature for that audience. It was really strange and honestly, I'm not sure who I would recommend this book to.

Ella was an odd duck. She sometimes showed maturity and then most of time she was a spoiled teenage brat and it was really unsettling. Zac, who I really expected to have some other worldly patience and maturity seeing as how he was 2,000 years old..in fact, did not. Basically he was completely obsessed and that was about the extent of it. He didn't have much substance outside of being desperately in love with Ella. It was not fun. Ella also didn't have much substance beyond being in love with Zac..which was insta by the way. I get they have been in love over many centuries and what not but they did no redeemable thing to actually attract the other person other than being actually attractive. I don't know. I think this story has potential but it was scattered and confusing.

I don't like to one star reads unless I DNF or just absolutely could not stand it. I cannot say that about this book because while I didn't really connect with it at all, I was invested in its possibilities. I read it quickly and it held my interest enough to get to the end but beyond that, I don't plan to continue the series.

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DNF at 34%

I didn't care fot the characters, the romance, the plot or anything else.

The characters are annoying, dumb and childish.

The protagonist is a special snowflake. She thinks she's not like others.

"[...] she wasn't like the others- she never had been."

There's a weird case of insta-love and I hate it.

"But they wouldn't understand; it sounded too weird."

(That's because it is weird, Ella. That guy is weird and his behaviour should concern you.)

The writing was bland.

It was just boring.

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I truly enjoy YA books. It's my favorite genre. I just could not get into this book. I didnt understand why there were so many sex scenes , yet the story also comes across as childish. I dont feel like YA novels need sexual scenes in them.
I was provided this ARC by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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I choose this book, because the tittle remember me Patch, from Hush Hush (LOL). It surprise me, cause they show another view about religion, a word without God and the Heaven being commanded by the Archangels, Mikhael as their leader. The remember me the Fallen Series, where the couple failed to be together, cause Luci always died when Daniel kissed her. The only think that annoyed me was the drama Ella always do. I think I've been reading a lot books that the girl doesn't need a boy to doing great things, like destroyed a King and his monarchy. I can't wait for the second book. The finale was great.

The rest of my review could be read in my blog: wanderlustskoob.wordpress.com

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I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review. I really enjoyed this book, it's not your typical YA book. I feel like it should be more New Adult rather than Young Adult simply because of some of the mature content. It was a fast read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you Netgally and BHC Press!

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👼 in between young and new adult - our main character is in university but for some reason, I went into this novel thinking it was categorized as YA. It's a bit confusing because the accurate age range of characters would fit the new adult genre but the way Ella acts can feel a bit childish. We don't get a lot about her life before her mother married Richard and even though she says she's unused to the luxurious lifestyle, she definitely uses her status to her advantage with ease. It was a bit hard to take her seriously at times due to how she reacted to several events in the story.
👼 do you believe in fate? - this novel is definitely rooted in the insta-love trope. Admittedly, our MCs have technically been in love for multiple lifetimes but personally, I'd like a relationship that had more substance. It seems like Ella was infatuated with Zac from the moment they met and that was all she needed to know about him was his physique to become completely obsessed with him.
👼 past lives - since a huge part of the plot revolves around individuals having predestined life paths and focuses on what happens when one doesn't follow said path, the way that past lives were interwoven was definitely an important aspect. Personally, the delivery of Ella's past lives was a bit confusing at first because we jumped from present to multiple past lives randomly. The formatting could have been a bit weird due to my copy being an e-ARC but the different snippets of the past took a while to get used to. On the bright side, all the pieces do eventually fall into place and everything makes sense.

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"What if our lives were mapped out before birth? Does anyone have the power to change their destiny?" (Quote from blurb)

I really enjoyed this book, it has an original plot, is fun and is well written. the pace of the story is good, moving you on quickly but with enough time to thoroughly build the world and the characters. This book is about a interesting young lady, living in London, called Ella. She meets a guy with a secret that will change her world forever. She discovers that their world is dangerous and magical and discovers if love is stronger than fate. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading fantasy with a touch of romance.

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I was taking my time in reading this book, sort of wading into it instead of jumping into it, as I was also still thinking about how I will go about my review. I also wanted to sort of save it for a trip (the so that I have something on my phone to read just in case I feel the desire to, since it’s not really practical for me to bring a physical book.

However, the story kind of took over me and before I knew it, I couldn’t stop reading, and then I was finished. Right before my trip! I couldn’t put it down at some point. And that says something good in itself, which is that this is a pretty good read. It does have a sort of typical beginning where only one character knew what was really happening and there was a lot of mystery and I just really wanted to know what kind of story or magic or whatever I will be dealing with in the book, but it didn’t bother me enough that I did not finish the book or that I got mad at it. I think I got a little frustrated at some point, though, but it wasn’t really a big deal.

This also had seemingly separate stories that tied together somehow at one point in the book. While the transitions to the different stories sometimes felt a tad abrupt to me, I still like how the stories found their way back to each other, and honestly I think I figured things out somewhere along the way thanks to those stories.

The characters were also okay, although I think I got annoyed at all of the main characters at one point or another. They can get a little frustrating, and they may even turn some people off. I say this because I don’t get easily mad at books that I stop reading them or what not, I think I am very forgiving, but at one point I almost stopped reading because I was so mad at Ella. I acknowledge, however, even at that time, that it wasn’t really about the writing or anything, I was just annoyed at Ella’s character. I do get emotionally invested when reading so there is that.

I have to say there are some mature scenes and themes in this book, it is quite the passionate tale, so if you don’t like those, you might want to skip this; if you’re very religious (and by religious I mean Christian), you may also want to skip this, although it’s not really bad. The lore in this book is quite interesting to me, and the ending left me wanting to read the next installment of the series. I give this book four out of five stars, as I really liked it.

Before I forget, I also really like the cover, and I’m pretty sure that’s what got me interested in the book in the first place. Very classy.

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The Path Keeper is an amazing book. I'm not sure that it's fair to class this book as just YA as it's so much more than that. Yes, there are YA elements to this book, but also elements of fantasy, romance, historical fiction and more.

The author nailed the main characters, they were believable and endearing. Ella, a young adult torn between family issues and trying to find her own way. Zac, the handsome, mysterious stranger.
The plot was unique and creative. As the story progresses you realize it so much more than what you thought; the characters more complex, the story more in depth. The story is a journey of destiny and the questioning of fate, interwoven with love and fantasy, stretching across lifetimes.

I really don't want to say too much and give the story away. It is better to experience this book first hand but I highly recommend this book. I can't wait to read more from this author.

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What if everyone decided what their lives will be like before they were born? Lives with trials, tragedies, love, hurt and the opportunity to make better decisions than in the lives before. To make sure that everyone sticks to their plan after they are born, Path Keepers are sent to earth to guide every person on their way. In each life the same Path Keeper is at the persons side, always watching, never interfering.

When Ella bumps into Zac, she feels an instant connection and attraction to him. It is as if she has known him before and she can’t get him out of her head. When she meets him again in a bar she knows that she can’t live without him. It is clear that Zac has something to hide and is different from anyone else she's ever met. He seems to know all of her fears, is there when she needs protection and has an aura she can’t quite put her finger on.

Again and again Zac pushed Ella away but in the end she knows they are destined for another.

You can probably already tell by my summary that I didn’t like The Path Keeper one bit. After reading the official summary I was sure that this would be a book I’d really enjoy but in the end this was a love story that made me feel sick.

It’s not that there is any abuse between Zac and Ella, or similar, but her obsession with him was disgusting to read about. It is the worst case of insta-love I’ve read about and so heavy handily done that it actually took me almost ten days to finish the book. I just couldn’t take more than a few pages before setting it aside again. If this hadn’t been an ARC I would have DNFed it.

I know the insta-love is supposed to make sense because Zac and Ella
already met in former lives but that doesn’t excuse the neediness that Ella
demonstrates. Zac as the tortured soul who isn’t allowed to have contact with
Ella but breaks the rules out of love is also anything but a loveable
character. The way he changes his mind every couple of minutes made me gag.

If you are expecting a well-developed fantasy world with characters that have any substance to them, The Path Keeper is not it.

Thank you Negalley and BHC Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Oh my! I REALLY enjoyed this book (took me longer to read than I had hoped due to life getting in the way recently!)

This book made me question so many things! But it was so nice to see at the end that some of the events in the book and real!
This amazing book had me upset with loss and so happy for the love that Ella and Zac had together.

I really enjoyed this book from start to finish and I do adore the cover too 😂❤️

can't wait for book 2 ❤️

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*This review contains spoilers*

I really wanted to like this book much more than I did. When I read the summary, I was intrigued by the idea of human's lives being chosen on their own at birth and how they sometimes needed guidance to keep them on their right paths. The idea of humans being reincarnated and being given the chance to make the right choices in their next life was interesting to me, The plot between Ella and Zac sounded like a promising, romantic story as well and I was keen to see what would happen between them.

While this book was certainly well written, especially in the segments that featured the past lives of the characters and a particular segment which was the letter Ella's mum wrote for her father, I really had to force myself to finish it.. There were times I enjoyed the story and the romance elements just fine, but there was too much in this book I didn't like that unfortunately meant I simply came out of it knowing I won't be reading the next two books in the series because I don't feel I care about what happens next.

The first big problem I have with this book is the characters themselves. While some of them, especially Ella's mum, grew much more likeable by the end of the book, I spent most of the novel finding the characters extremely tiresome. Ella was particularly frustrating to me. It was like there were two sides to her character and they both really clashed. On one side she was this collected, newly famous girl who was studying and trying to move forward in her life, hopefully with Zac beside her, and on the other was this temper-fuelled, foul-mouthed, selfish and unpredictable personality that I just didn't understand. Her character just didn't work for me and that meant I found it really hard to sympathise with her. I also didn't really engage with Zac. I thought his personality was also really two-sided and I just didn't get a feeling from him that backed up his history with Ella and the way he decided to be with her and turn his back on his life as an angel happened too quickly and too easily. Still, he was a better depicted character than Ella herself.

The biggest problem with this book is the rape subplot and Ella's step-brother, Sebastian. The fact that Ella was struggling with her stepbrother raping her when she was sixteen didn't feel believable to how she acts in the rest of the book. I just didn't get the impression that she'd had such a horrible thing happen to her until that awful scene when Sebastian comes to her room unexpectedly and tries to do it again.. Her fear and anger towards Sebastian in the scene made sense, of course, but the events surrounding it and the fact that she then has sex with Zac straight after the whole violent event were not in line with how someone would react to that kind of ordeal. Sebastian was a terrible, vulgar and manipulative character and I'm just not sure I understand his place in the book or why the author chose to make Ella into a rape victim in this way. If it had been executed with more sensitivity and realistic characterisation, I might have believed it more. But, really, it clashed with the rest of story and sat like a heavy stone in my stomach after I finished reading it.

I had no issue with the whole paranormal/Angel/Religious element of the book (though I will add that some of that stuff made little sense to me) but I was also not super interested in that part of the story. While I thought Zac and Ella's romance happened a little too fast, I did enjoy some parts of how they came together and fell in love.

Overall, this novel just wasn't for me. While I thought the writing was fine and at times even whimsical in its portrayal of love and loss, I didn't like the characters and there were too many elements in the plot that just needed a lot of work in my opinion. Some readers may really love this book for it's compelling portrayal of history, romance, angels and reincarnation, but for me there were too many negatives that got in the way of the positives.

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I liked the cover. I probably should have read a bit further before requesting it on Netgalley. Ella has it all in London, but she can't find her place until she meets her stalker, ehm love interest. He spends the entire book saying how he always loved her, through all her previous lives. That is not scary at all.

It was one of the most cringe worthy romances I read in a long while. After she meets Zac there is not a single thing besides him that she can do or think about. He will break the rules, just for her. Add to this a random attempted rape, which was completely glanced over, and a rather ridiculous subplot about Ella's parents and I found I was not really caring any more about any of the big revelations with the angels, who may or may not play a part in life.

It was a fast read, sure, but I never got into the story. The characters don't really have a personality besides loving each other. This was definitely not for me.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

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I received and ARC of this book thanks to Netgalley in exchange of an honest review, the one you're going to read.
I'm sorry to say but this is not a book I liked. It's fair to say that I struggled since the beginning and near the end I was shocked. This is not what I want to read, it looked like reading a series of stereotypes. The main character, Ella, is so annoying and making her swearing all the times makes her even more annoying. Zak is clearly a stalker, I don't care who he really is, the truth is that he's a stalker.
I don't wanna talk about the religious part because it's completely absurd. Mind me I'm not a very religious person but I don't think anyone can bend any type of religious belief for their purposes.
The finale was one gigantic WTF.
Maybe the book isn't that bad, maybe it's just me that I cannot understand the real meaning of The Path Keeper (and of many YA books that are published, so I decided to not apply anymore for YA books ARCs ) but I don't think I'll read the next book in the series.

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