3/5 stars
Flux Books, 2013
350 pages
YA Paranormal
Scheduled to release July 8
Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
The main reason I wanted to read this book is the stunning cover-what was going on there, I wondered. It seemed to promise a dark and creepy read against a pastoral setting, which is fairly accurate. The setting is rural Wisconsin with many scenes set at the farms of the characters. Additionally the premise has some unique and very scary moments that occur later in the book and specifics are omitted here due to spoilers.
Main character Elizabeth Caldwell is different. She feels nothing but possesses the ability to see Emotions and Elements, which ordinary humans cannot. For example, when someone feels scared, Fear appears and she can see that but he cannot touch her; similarly Joy may show up for someone else but never for Elizabeth. This inability to display emotions causes most of her fellow townspeople to shun her, disrupts her dysfunctional family life moreso, and surprises/annoys/intrigues the Emotions and Elements especially Fear who plays a bit role in this story. However as Elizabeth has aged, things seem to be changing with a sinister presence lurking and a mysterious woman urging her to remember. "Remember what?" asks Elizabeth and the reader; we do eventually discover but it takes a very long time to get there.
Like other reviewers have mentioned, the hardest part of this book comes from its basic characterization. As mentioned, main character Elizabeth does not feel emotions; this also means that her personality is a bit flat and hard to connect with. Other characters like her brother Charles, her improbable friend Maggie, and the boy she kind of flirts with Joshua appealed to me but there wasn't really enough of them to compensate for Elizabeth's lack of personality even though the last pages helped to rectify that. The most exciting part comes toward the end when Elizabeth must confront her dark stalker-I found the sequences her very tense and I was on the edge of my seat. It's just that it took so long to get there with a love triangle tangled up and flashbacks that Elizabeth dreams about.
Overall: An interesting premise that struggles with characterizations and is a bit overlong.
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I think it would be a challenge to write a character who couldn't feel emotion. This book sounds really strange but the suspenseful moments might have appealed to me too.
ReplyDeleteI loved it! I thought she did it so well!
DeleteIt was interesting to read her seeing the emotions too and how she dealt with that.
Deletei do love the cover and premise, but you are the 2nd or 3rd review I've read saying it was hard with Elizabeth
ReplyDeleteI know-that was the most common complaint when I was checking out other reviews to post.
DeleteThis one sounded like it could have been good but seems like poor execution. I have also read more negative reviews than positive ones. Thanks for an honest review!
ReplyDeleteAlise @ Readers In Wonderland
I have read a lot of negative to middling reviews for this too-I think it will be a great read for some but wasn't quite what I wanted.
DeleteI decided I didn't want to read this one based on the cover...does that girl even have arms!? I was too creeped out. I may give it a shot though, because it does sound kind of interesting.
ReplyDeleteGreat review!
Ha-I decided to read it because of the cover! I thought her "dress" was so unique.
DeleteI thought this sounded so good, and I have it coming up in my TBR soon. I am a little leery now. Great review, I will have to hold out some hope for the suspense of the stalker and all. :)
ReplyDeleteExcited to see your thoughts-hope it works better for you!
DeleteYou know - I disagree - I thought she did such a good job. True she doesn't have emotions but you can see buried somewhere deep they are there, and I love how she broke down each thing in her head so analytically - "this is what a normal person would do/react". I loved this book so much haha. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it more!
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy those moments-it made me think of Ariane from The Rules by Stacey Kade. Glad it worked out for you!
DeleteYeah - I likened her to a sociopath haha
DeleteI've read other books (Glitch comes to mind) about characters who can't feel emotion and I agree that it's a big stumbling block for me as a reader.
ReplyDeleteAs I just remembered, it made me think a bit of The Rules by Stacey Kade, which ultimately worked better for me probably because it was balanced with Zane's human perspective.
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