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.

The Beautiful and the Cursed, by Page Morgan

The Beautiful and the Cursed (The Dispossessed #1), by Page Morgan

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Paranormal, Historical, Gothic, Romance, Mystery

Rating: 1.5/5 stars

Publication: May 14, 2013, by Doubleday Canada

Format: Hardcover Edition (Borrowed)




Goodreads Summary: It was bizarre and inexplicable, and after it happened, Ingrid Waverly was forced to leave her life in London behind. She had to trade a world full of fancy dresses and society events for exile in gothic Paris with her mother and her younger sister, Gabby.

In Paris there are no grand balls or glittering parties, and disturbingly, the house rented by Ingrid's twin brother, Grayson, isn't a house at all. It's an abbey. A creepy, old abbey with a roof lined in stone gargoyles that could almost be mistaken for living, breathing creatures.

And to top it all off, Grayson is missing. 

Yet no one seems to be concerned about Grayson's whereabouts save for Luc, a devastatingly handsome servant who has some deep and dark secrets of his own. 

There's one secret about the city that even Luc can't keep hidden, though: there's a murderer on the loose. And every day that Grayson is missing means there's less chance he's still alive.

Ingrid is sure her twin isn't dead--she can feel it deep in her soul--but she knows that he's in grave danger, and that it's up to her and Gabby to find him before all hope is lost. 

And yet the path to him is more dangerous than she could ever imagine.

Review:

"Whatever the black liquid being injected into his bloodstream was, it was changing him. He should have wanted to help the girls. He should have felt remorse when each girl eventually stopped screaming. But it just wasn't happening. Instead, he found himself smiling. Laughing. Wanting to make them scream louder."

   LOL. That gif cracks me up every time. 

   This book was a flashback for me. It surprisingly and weirdly reminded me a lot of Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Angel, one of my most favourite series, ever. It's weirdly similar. A girl looking for her brother, who mysteriously disappeared? Paranormal, vampire stuff going on? This sounds too much like the NYT bestselling trilogy that took my heart away. And that's a big reason why I disliked this book too much.

   Originality is a key to a reader's heart, I believe. At least, it's one of the things. This book didn't have an original idea. It was gothic and Victorian and paranormal. Does anyone else realize this? o_O This idea has been done with over and over again with. There's an ordinary girl, and there's a guy who's a half monster/human creature. It just doesn't flow well for me.

    I usually never pick up gothic reads. They're usually not my type of thing, but the few ones that do catch my attention are just so hard to stay away from, and I end up needing to read it. This was one of those cases, but I regret it. Don't waste your time reading this novel if you trust my opinion. That's my key line in this review. 

    I was the black sheep, as I am during many other times. Everyone is loving this book, and meanwhile, I'm here wanting to throw it off the balcony. I'm so disappointed with the outcome of this book.

    This is about Ingrid and Gabby, who's brother Grayson suddenly and mysteriously goes missing after they move into Paris with their mother. Luc, a handsome servant who Ingrid has a connection to notes that there's a murderer on the loose and there's a less possible chance that Grayson is alive because of this catastrophic event. The main idea is basically a: What will the protagonist do? moment. 

     Like I said: I hate copying. This was a mixture of Clockwork Angel and Twilight. 

       This plot sucked. I was bored most of the time and I ended up skimming the end of the book because it showed no importance or structure to me. The whole book was bland, especially from the middle to end. The beginning showed some signs of potential, but then it all dropped and ended up making a huge disappointment for me. It was very slow-paced and since the concept wasn't my type, I wasn't interested at all, but I somehow made it through the end.

       The only good thing was Ingrid and Gabby. I liked them, a lot, but not enough for them to brighten up the whole book and make it enjoying. They were a good team, and I loved their loving relationship. It's been a while since I've seen a great sisterly relationship like this.

       Luc was just an ass, and I hated him. He was snobby and thought too good of himself. Ew. I just don't even want to think or speak of him. So think about it, if I hated him, then what did I think of the romance? The choices are: (a) I loved it and I SHIP (b) EW GTFO I HATE IT or (c) IDC IDK. If you guessed B and C then you're right. :)

        Overall, I was very disappointed with this book. It's probably the worst book I read so far this summer that I had no interest in but the characters and plot in the beginning kept me reading until the end. Something made me stay, but I just can't figure out what it was. Not recommended from my eyes.