The pace of the book was very good. I flew through the pages and it read in a nice flow. Since it is very different from my recent reads, it felt light and it was a fun break. Slowly I am turning more towards adult fantasy and high fantasy. Because I read more of these books I find that low fantasy and ya fantasy books do not always have a lot of depth and I felt that here too. Now, I don't want to say that every ya fantasy is like this, but I do see a trend in the ya fantasy books that I have read so far. As I get older I find myself wanting more depth within books, not only surface-level romance stories. I do not want to offend anyone, this is my opinion and how I feel about things.
This did not change my feelings about the book. It was fun and I really enjoyed reading it. If I hadn't I wouldn't have finished it so fast. Besides, I also bought the sequel and I will definitely buy the third book in the series which will be published in January. I also think that this book is a good book to start with when you want to read more fantasy. It is not that overwhelming, it doesn't have difficult magic systems or worlds or anything. It is easy to grasp, but it does take you to a different world.
Okay, so the book itself, similar to Belle and the Beast, the story starts with a cursed prince. Rhen is cursed and forced to relive the same season until he finds his true love. Over time he started 'kidnapping' girls from DC. Which is where Harper comes in. Due through her unfortunate situation at home, she finds herself on the streets late in the night. From a distance she sees a girl being taken and decides to fight the kidnapper. Because of her interference, she is the one being taken to Emberfall where the prince is waiting on her. After this unfortunate situation, it seems impossible that Harper will break Rhen's curse. But this is his final season, his last chance. So the question is, will she do it? And that is all that I will tell you about the plot.
The story is told through the perspectives of Rhen and Harper, which gives the story a fun twist. I don't know how I do it, but suddenly I'm only reading books with multiple perspectives, not on purpose, it just happens to be like this. But in this book, I thought it very fitting to read both perspectives. It gives the reader a better understanding of what is going on and the feelings both characters have. I don't know why but I think that it is fun to read through the eyes of a man, especially if he's falling in love. I do read a lot of books from a woman's perspective though, so maybe that's the reason I like the change.
There were a few things that just felt a bit bland to me. For example, the setting of the world was not as in-depth as I would have liked it to be. There were a limited number of places where the story took place, I just like to explore a lot more of the world. Hopefully, that will come in the next of the series. I didn't always like Harper, her choices did not always feel right and I missed a bit of depth in her character. I would say that being annoyed by her is a big word, but I did feel a little irritated from time to time.
I liked the book, but I can say with confidence that 15/16-year-old me would have loved this book. Now, I look at things with a different view than I did back then, so that is the reason for my opinion. When I was younger I adored The Iron Fey series, and this just felt similar to me. I would recommend this book especially to younger readers and to people that want to get into fantasy. If you're an avid fantasy fan, you might want to skip this one. Yet, it still depends on your taste of course! I hope you liked my review, I see you in the next one!
Love,
Julia
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