YA Romance – Miss Elizabeth Reads

Author: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance,
Pages: 563

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.
Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.
In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

My Thoughts:

This was a really long read and a bit of a push to get through. The story was very slow to progress. I would have enjoyed it more if it moved faster. So much the book just felt sluggish. You could probably take out about 200 pages of unnecessary and the book would still have plenty of body, enough detail for everyone to get the big picture and then some.
Ethan and Lena (Lena Beena), the love story; how much is there to say really? It was your average falling head over heals, obsessive, sticking to each other like glue kind of adolescent love. A typical YA trope. It was cute in that homely way, but it wasn’t really heart felt. Not for me.

I did enjoy the characters! So there was that. Every single character was one that I easily loved! Riddley, Ama and Ethan, hands down my favourite. Ama’s confidence in her wisdom, gained from her own years and from those passed down to her by her mother and grandmother. She’s definitely picturesque when it comes to the south.
Riddley is one of the antagonists though not the antagonist. She’s very good at being bad. You can’t help but love her for that. Also, she made me want lollipops while I was reading.
Ethan = Southern Charm ❤ who doesn’t love that?

The magic element, the paranormal, the fantasy. That was what attracted me to this series. It was nullified by the endless pages of ranting detail but it was prominent enough in the whole picture that it kept me holding on.
The whole book just felt, mediocre. So this review might be mediocre as well. Sorry about that guys.

I do intend to read the next book. This looks like a promising series, I want it to be good! To be worth the long exasperated build up.

My Rating:

My Recommendation:

Read it. Don’t push it. Give yourself plenty of time to adjust with the slow movement of the plot. It’s definitely worth trying especially those who are interested in magic and fantasy, and also the south.