Mistwalker, by Saundra Mitchell

Mistwalker, by Saundra Mitchell

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Romance, Gothic, Paranormal

Rating: 2/5 stars

Publication: February 4, 2014, by Harcourt Children's Books

Format: Hardcover Edition (Borrowed)






Goodreads Summary: When Willa Dixon’s brother dies on the family lobster boat, her father forbids Willa from stepping foot on the deck again. With her family suffering, she’ll do anything to help out—even visiting the Grey Man.

Everyone in her small Maine town knows of this legendary spirit who haunts the lighthouse, controlling the fog and the fate of any vessel within his reach. But what Willa finds in the lighthouse isn’t a spirit at all, but a young man trapped inside until he collects one thousand souls.

Desperate to escape his cursed existence, Grey tries to seduce Willa to take his place. With her life on land in shambles, will she sacrifice herself?

Review: 

"That was Bill Dixon, who boxed bare-knuckles and wouldn't let you buy him a beer because he wanted whiskey instead. The same Bill Dixon who'd decked his best friend to keep him from jumping into a winter sea; who took a punch from Mal Eldrich like it was a kiss. I'd never met that man. He'd been a legend, a ghost. Right until then."

   If I knew that this was a gothic paranormal read, then I would've put it away the first time my grabby hands touched this book. From the moment I set my eyes on this book, I knew that I wanted it. After reading Saundra Mitchell's story in Grim, (was it Beast/Beast?) I knew that I wanted to read something from this spectacular author. 

    I hate most of the gothic steampunk stuff. It's just not for me. I never really read the summary for this book once I took it out from the library, and that really kept me from wanting to put it back. When I saw the pretty mysterious cover and the fact that Saundra Mitchell has written this, I was in. But after completing this book, I was very disappointed in the outcome, surprising me because there's so many good positive reviews on it all over the place. This really got me thinking: WHERE ARE ALL THE GOOD BOOKS? I'm reading too many books lately that suck.

    So the plot here is that Willa thinks that she's responsible for her brother, Levi's death. Since then, she's been not allowed to ever go onto a boat or go fishing ever again. Her father is fearful of what could happen to her, and with that said, Willa goes all rebel and tries to sneak out anyway because fishing is the life that she imagines. No college, just helping her dad out and get married. A simple life that she hopes will pass on for the next generations to come. But there's a tiny secret that lies behind the fishing village that Willa lives in. There's a legend that speaks about a spirit who haunts the lighthouse (which is supposed to be bigger on the inside, like DW's Tardis.) When Willa goes into the lighthouse, she finds a young man who trapped and forbidden to go out until he collects one thousand souls. Huh, you must be saying. Sacrifice. Sacrifice is what this book's mainly about. Will Willa sacrifice herself in Grey's place?

    

      I really have got enough of paranormal gothic stuff. I have read so many lately, and this is kind of the same like everything else. The idea (Beauty and the Beast, kinda?) forms well with the plot and writing, but a lot of things were missing (and some not needed) in this book. I liked the setting here, though. A fishing village is never seen in a book, and this is a definite first for me by Saundra Mitchell. I can see that she tries to be very unique with her books, and she's kind of done it in some aspects. 

      This book was awesome in the beginning. I could really tell that it was going to get somewhere by the end, but before I knew it, everything went downhill by the middle. A lot of things were too descriptive and not needed. A 100 pages can be scrambled up from all over the book and taken out and it wouldn't make a difference. In fact, it would've been a whole lot better. It was well-written, but many parts were too boring and a little on the dull side of things. I had dreams with this book, but it didn't get to the potential that I knew it could've gone to. It was way too slow-paced for my liking.

       Another positive was the protagonist, Willa. I liked her a lot. She was very strong and believable. She had believable feelings that was normal to find in a person. She was very realistic. She felt guilt, and prickles and temptation. For her, it was difficult at times to deal with these things that bound her to other side, but by the end, she grew up and learned what was right and what was the truth. 

        Grey was really nothing special. His POV was too descriptive and all that he was doing was describing everything that's in front of him. I just felt like I wanted to skip his POV because he was not for my liking. 

        I don't really feel like describing the romance because that went downhill as well. It wasn't needed. But either way, the book didn't really spend a lot of time on the romance, either. It was just something extra that made me want to barf.

        By the end, I was skimming through the pages. I was very disappointed with the outcome, and realized what I was really looking for in a book that deals with this kind of genre. If you like fantasy books that deal that don't really on the romance, then this book is for you. I guess it really depends on what you like in a book.

Mercy, by Rebecca Lim

Mercy (Mercy #1), by Rebecca Lim

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Angels, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance, Mystery

Rating: 1.5/5 stars

Publication: October 28, 2010, by HarperCollins Children

Format: Paperback Edition (borrowed)





Goodreads Summary: Mercy doesn't realise it yet, but as she journeys into the darkest places of the human soul, she discovers that she is one of the celestial hosts exiled with fallen angel Lucifer. Now she must atone for taking his side. To find her own way back to heaven, Mercy must help a series of humans in crisis.

Review:


  After reading this book, I have come to realize that getting book recommendations from people shouldn't be 100% trusted. One of the reasons that I picked up this book was because someone at my local library recommended it to me, having me be a YA reader. I read the summary, trusted her word, and took it out, despite the fact that it kind of reminded me of David Levithan's Every Day. And there you have it, I didn't like this book at all.

    "I am my worst enemy; that much I've figured out." 

    The concept and confusion was the thing that worsened the book the far most. During most of the book, I was like:

      And then I was like:

        Because I honestly thought that it was just me who was confused. But then I read other reviews and turns out I wasn't the only one hating this book by page 100. But I guess you could say that the romance kept me going. It was like the only good part of the book, next to the characters. The author made it so difficult to understand the world and what was going on and who Mercy really was. It was all mumbo-jumbo, and reading this was like trying to understand a language that you've never heard of before. I don't recommend this if you're the easy-to-confuse type.

        Mercy is a fallen angel who takes places of different humans for days to come. When she meets Ryan, a lover of the girl who's body she is currently taking over, her whole life changes forever. She needs to find her way back to heaven, so in exchange, she helps out different humans.

        So you must be rolling your eyes. *rolls eyes and sighs* But the thing is, I was once earlier intrigued with this summary and idea. So don't be laughing at me. ;) As I began reading this book, I realized how unoriginal the concept really was. David Levithan, are you there? Here's a total recap of your book with a minor twist added to it. Yes, angels. *bawls in corner*

        Originality is such an important key in writing a book. There are a lot of people out there who have read many of books (such as myself) and if you write a book that is unoriginal, we will catch the mistake and will realize it. It's not the first, or second time that we've seen something like this. ._. Meh.

         So because of the major confusion during the whole book, I didn't really enjoy the plot either. I didn't know what was going on. The concept of mystery added to it was just pointless and boring. I was majorly boring throughout and having Mercy as a detective isn't the best idea either. What is she, the next Nancy Drew angel sleuth? Naw.

        Speaking of Mercy, as a character, she wasn't too bad. Compared to other protagonists in very low rated books of mine, she's pretty good. She wasn't horrible, but she had her dull moments where she deserved a slap in the face. But don't all protagonists do? *creepy grin*

       

          My utterly most favourite thing about this book was Ryan. I LOVED THIS GUY SO MUCH. Like from when he was brought into the book, I felt a connection to him and we had an insta-love relationship! *squeals* But if you know me, you'll know that I have this insta-love connection with most fictional men.

          The romance between Ryan and Mercy was just utterly cryptic but stupendous at the same time. Ryan accepted Mercy for who she was and they loved each other like hell. You could instantly tell. 

           But those were the only two positives. Everything else really disappointed and I expected much better. If you're looking for a good unique read, then I'd recommend staying away from this one. It's boring, confusing, and totally not worth it.