It's Spooky Season, ladies and gents! Why not kick it off with an entire world immersed in everything Halloween!
"Welcome to a world where nightmarish creatures reign supreme.
Five hundred years ago, Jack made a deal with the devil. It’s difficult for him to remember much about his mortal days. So he focuses on fulfilling his sentence as a Lantern–one of the watchmen who guard the portals to the Otherworld, a realm crawling with every nightmarish creature imaginable. Jack has spent centuries jumping from town to town, ensuring that nary a mortal–or not-so-mortal–soul slips past him. That is, until he meets beautiful Ember O’Dare.
Seventeen, stubborn, and a natural-born witch, Ember feels a strong pull to the Otherworld. Undeterred by Jack’s warnings, she crosses into the forbidden plane with the help of a mysterious and debonair vampire–and the chase through a dazzling, dangerous world is on. Jack must do everything in his power to get Ember back where she belongs before both the earthly and unearthly worlds descend into chaos."
Review:
This one was a bit disappointing for me. There were a lot of things I found interesting and loved, but there were also things I had issues with.
Starting with the more positive aspects, the lore of this world - the Otherworld - and its affect on our history was so intricate and detailed, I loved it so much. We have every kind of monster you can think of, along with some historic monsters you didn't expect to run into, such as the Boogeyman, Frankenstein, and the Lock Ness Monster (referred to as Nester). The world building was fantastic and its connection to our own world like the Salem Witch Trials and Roanoke????? Ingenious!
I also enjoyed Jack the Lantern. He was a great character to bond with and Ember should've totally toured the Otherworld with him instead of Dev. I also loved our dear Finney, despite his obvious love for Ember going unrequited. He was inventive and despite being the weakest of the bunch - a human, he never backed away in fear, and always jumped headfirst into the adventure which impressed me. I also enjoyed the side story of Dev's sister Delia, the vampire pirate, and we see many plot twists with her along the way which I had not expected!
Now for the disappointments... lets start with the vampire that brings Ember to the Otherworld, Dev. Frankly, what started out as wariness eventually turned to all out hatred for the character. His only positive characteristic was his affection for his sister, but that's not saying much. Everything he does from beginning to end is for personal gain. Sure, we expect that of him in the beginning, but I thought with his growing fondness for Ember, he would change his tune. It doesn't. In fact, it only enables it further. The scene on the balcony at the doctor's ball???????? That was the straw that broke the camel's back. How any of the characters tolerated him after that, blows my mind.
Second, the main plot's twists were not very twisty. Almost immediately I knew where the story was headed and was ultimately correct in my predictions, which is disappointing, but not necessarily completely damning for the story. What was, the climactic scene on the beach. Sure, all the big reveals and all that were fine, but aside from that, it was so anticlimactic I wanted to cry. I even recall saying out loud, "That's it????" We needed more of a bang for our buck on that one. The only thing that semi-saves it is the epilogue. Kind of. All in all, I wanted more! I thought Ember could use more development, I wanted a better ending for Finney, I wanted Dev to kick dirt; overall I wanted more.
But what're your own thoughts and feels? Do you disagree with me? If you haven't read it, does the interesting lore peak your interest despite my dislikes? Let me know in the comments below!
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