Author: Kiersten White
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: September 2014
Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Fantasy, Magic
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Synopsis can be found here.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Review:
Jessamin is far from home, on the more powerful and central country of Albion and far from her island Melei. A small island where the inhabitants of Albion visit. She is there to study, to work and is not expecting the hidden world she finds when she meets Finn, a charming young lord who reveals Albion has much more than what meets the eye. But she is thrown into a larger, scarier world and her lie, her family back home and her new friends are all in danger. Lord Downpike will use any and all means necessary to bring down Finn. Including using Jessamin as a tool.
AHHH!!!! Soo good!
I loved every minute o this book set in Victorian like world with magic running underneath. Jessamin is a headstrong and clever girl who I would love to have been friends with. She feels like an outcast, but holds her head up high. She is being used as a pawn in a game she doesn’t fully understand, but she takes hold o the reigns and decides to choose her own destiny.
And the dialogue! I love Jessamin’s best friend Eleanor. Funny, funny funny. Great writing and some wonderfully funny lines that made me chuckle and smile, thereby forever cementing me as a lunatic in the public cafe where I took my lunch.
Finn is of course irresistible. Swooning aside, he is a good match for Jessamin. Sometimes, it is hard to portray the hero, the good man, as interesting but Finn is someone I would totally swoon over.
Oh, Mrs. White. Why do you have to write such wonderfully charming books? Now how am I going to read anything else after this???
The story is well crafted, slowly building tension with every chapter. There are some scary moments, that made me gasp involving a hammer and a hand. There are some tender moments too like black gloves that heal and shadows that follow.I love the magical elements – the cane, the shadow, the birds. Oh the birds. How I love Sir Bird. How I cringe at all of those other birds who answer to Lord Downpike. I enjoyed every minute of this book.
Also- DID YOU SEE that cover? Gorgeous! I loved this book so much, I couldn’t just have it in ebook form. I bought a physical copy as well. That is love.
Rating 9 Ridiculously Awesome like Cookies and Ice Cream
It sounds good!! I’m going to have to pick it up.
Please do! It’s one of my favorites by this author!
I love it when a character – especially a girl- takes control of her life plus humor in a book is an added plus. Thank you for your review and bringing this book to my attention.
Thanks for stopping by Lu!
I’ve heard quite a few good things about this book so I’m excited to read it, and see if I liked it like I did her paranormalcy series, or not so much like her mind games series
love that cover 🙂 Thanks for the review!
That cover art really pops! I need to check this out, beyond just staring at the pretty cover 😛 I love when a book does an alternate reality thing and places magic/paranormal things in Victorian times. The image of a woman getting spooked and having to run off in those huge dresses is kind of comical 😀 Not that that goes on in this book… Or does it?