Zara White suspects there's a freaky guy semi-stalking her. She's also obsessed with phobias. And it's true, she hasn't exactly been herself since her stepfather died. But exiling her to shivery Maine to live with her grandmother? That seems a bit extreme. The move is supposed to help her stay sane...but Zara's pretty sure her mom just can't deal with her right now.
She couldn't be more wrong. Turns out the semi-stalker is not a figment of Zara's overactive imagination. In fact, he's still following her, leaving behind an eerie trail of gold dust. There's something not right - not human - in this sleepy Maine town, and all signs point to Zara.
In this creepy, compelling breakout novel, Carrie Jones delivers romance, suspense, and a creature you never thought you'd have to fear.
I didn’t really know what to think of this book. It started out really slow and although I love paranormal stuff, this story didn’t seem to sell very well at first. It came off as a little cheesy and cliche in some spots, but as the story started to pick up I actually found myself enjoying it. I almost gave up a couple times, but after like page 150 or so it finally gets interesting.
In the beginning Zara comes to Maine and she is the new girl at school. Being the new girl sucks, I know this from personal experience, but Zara instantly makes new friends. Right away, Nick and Ian are having a stand-off over her. There’s no transition into friendships, they just meet and BAM! they’re BFFs. There was also a lot of touching….for example, touching arms and squeezing shoulders. I don’t know about you, but I’d be a little creeped out if someone I just met was touching me. Please don’t pop the personal bubble!
Another transition I didn’t like was Zara’s introduction to the paranormal world. I didn’t really understand how she sees some creepy guy pointing at her, and automatically everyone assumes he’s a pixie. Then they start researching pixies and it all just seemed a little forced to me. There was a lot of reading about them and talking about them, but no action and hardly any actual appearances by said pixies. Sure, Zara had the disbelief part right, but the way it was presented was just a little corny. It didn’t really sell for me until the weres enter and she sees for herself.
I thought the character secrets were rather obvious and predictable…even Zara didn’t figure it out, even when it was staring her right in the face (literally). There were a couple identity twists that I didn’t see coming, though. Thankfully it wasn’t all completely predictable.
I wasn’t very impressed with the romance between Nick and Zara. It seemed lacking and didn’t give me the usual gratification I get out of romances. Although there was one part in particular that I considered the turning point of the story (hopefully if you have read it you know what I’m talking about – I don’t want to give spoilers!) that I really liked the interaction between the two.
I did really like how Jones introduces the chapters with a phobia. The fear kind of summarizes the chapter and gives you a heads up of what’s to come. Plus, it was a great learning experience. Fear of falling in love is called Philophobia? Good to know.
And my favorite phobia of the book:
Pixiophobia
fear of pixies
I made this up, but believe me it should be a word because it sure is a legitimate fear.
I’m not sure I want to read book 2 yet. I think I want to move on to more interesting things because while I finally warmed up to this book in the end, it wasn’t memorable. The last half seemed rushed, like she took too long with the beginning and had to scramble to make up for it. The explanations and background were crammed in too quickly and I was left feeling confused and unsatisfied after finishing this book.
Plot: 3.5/5
Writing Style: 2.5/5
I felt like her delivery of things was lacking.
Characters: 4/5
For the most part, the characters were convincing and realistic.
Pace: 2/5
150 pages of boring is a little too much for me.
Cover: 3/5
Overall rating: 2.5/5 starfish
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