Zsofia

Though the premise was a bit interesting, this is a pretty average YA paranormal romance, in my opinion.

I'd been originally intrigued by the mythology, as it seemed a bit different from other YA, but the only parts of it we really began to explore were some of the powers that our protagonist, Ivy, has - and she has many of them, which enforce almost a Mary-Sue stereotype.

I felt like Ivy was the kind of character you could slip into - a fairly relatable character but just a bit too undefined. The same was true with the other characters, and the literal bond between Ivy and Colin was also just too bland. It was cliche but lacked any truly defining characteristics that would have made me more interested.

If the characterization had been stronger, I would have been more easily able to ignore the other cliches that were present throughout this book, but altogether, it just felt a bit...bland. Even the part at the end where Ivy calls Colin her soul mate just felt bland - possibly because we've only had one book to see their relationship change and develop, and I just didn't care enough. I'd started to when it appeared Colin had been lying to her toward the end because I'd thought Ward was bringing in something different to their relationship, but then that perception changed. He was really just protecting her.

I'm sure Ivy has potential as a character, but with everything else just not feeling very vibrant and interesting for me in this book, I don't think I'll be reading the sequels.

2 stars