(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I’d like to say, first of all, that I absolutely love the front cover of this book. It’s really pretty and definitely caught my eye when I first looked at this book on the giveaway list.

I did feel like a lot of this book came across as almost dreamy and mysterious. The edges around the reality were blurred, so it didn’t feel quite real. I didn’t find Helen a very likable character, unfortunately, and although she did grow up somewhat by the end of part two, I found her quite lacking in compassion, something I think should have been an integral part of her faith.

It was interesting to see how the other characters viewed the people they kept as slaves. That was probably the biggest problem I had with Helen and her father. Even though it was valid for that time, I felt the characters would have been more likable if there’d been empathy towards their fellow humans.

I liked the first part of the book, with Tabitha and her father. I would have liked to hear the stories of Tabitha’s mother along with her and then see how Helen was different or similar to John’s memories. I could relate to John’s desperation to try anything when Tabitha falls ill.

I felt that the author did a good job of showing the time period, even if I did feel like I was viewing the events through a blurred reflection. Some parts of the writing were quite moving, but others, I found myself confused about what the author was trying to impart.

I found Moll a difficult character to relate to. I suspect that, if it had only been Davy in the picture, she would have come across as much better, rather than a mother who was ambivalent and almost hostile towards her other children.

The ending of the book was poignant and sad and I can’t really say that I enjoyed this. There was a lot of sadness in the book and some pretty bad things that happened. I did find myself smiling at Davy’s letters he sent back to his mother, though.

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I did find the front cover and the blurb of this book to be really intriguing. Although I didn’t quite understand how the two different worlds fit together (or where and when the human part was set), I found this book really easy to read. Ideally, I’d give this book 3.5 stars.

I did think that the romance Amaya formed originally wasn’t shown as much as it could have been. There was too much jumping around in time and I suddenly found myself confused when there was suddenly a month (or six) that had gone by without any alluding to the time frame other than the other characters talking about it.

I liked Rin better as a character. He was interesting and it was good to see him interact with the other characters and especially Sean. I was a bit hesitant about Riza – I didn’t really see her outside of when she showed up to spend time with Amaya or Rin and she didn’t seem to have much of a life outside of them.

I felt that the first half of this book seemed more real than the second half. It was interesting to see how the society worked and the different powers and abilities the characters had.

I did really like Kostya as a character and I would have liked to see more of him through the book. Yukio had a lot of potential to be a interesting character, but I felt that his motivations weren’t explored in the way they could have been. And the love triangle, while expected, made me roll my eyes.

I would have liked to see more of the history of Amaya’s people and the Disciples themselves. It would have been good to see more of the other characters and their skills, too, since I was unclear exactly who had particular abilities and who didn’t.

Amaya was, in my opinion, one of the really good characters in this book, mainly because it was her head I was in so much. I’m not sure if I’d read a sequel to this book or not. It was an intriguing idea and although I found it quick and easy to read, I would have liked to see more of the world and the character motivations.

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I did think this book was really easy to read and really well-written. Although I’m an adult, I was still able to enjoy this book.

Mirabella was a character I found easy to empathise with. Although I had some confusion with her family situation at first, I felt that the author did a good job of showing what Mirabella had gone through with what had happened with her parents.

I also thought that Mirabella’s desire to fit in at the school came across really well, even if it did cause her to make the wrong choices at times. The supernatural elements in this book came across really well and I enjoyed her interactions with the ghost.

I would have liked to see a bit more of the other students in Mirabella’s school. Erin and Stacey were the only ones who were really expanded upon. It was nice to see Mirabella interact with her teachers, though.

I did like Mirabella’s relationship with her mother and the whole experiments thing made me smile, because it seems so much like what a child her age would do. I could understand the issues there were between her and her mother, but I did think that her mother wasn’t as understanding as she could have been.

It was good to see Mirabella as a character who acted on her own initiative and make mistakes. They made her come across as a well-rounded, interesting character.

I think it would be good to read other books involving Mirabella in the future. I intend to pass this book on to my niece, because I think it might be a book she’ll enjoy reading. It was well-written and had some really sweet, emotional scenes in it.

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I found this book a really intriguing read. Although it did switch between first and third person, that wasn’t quite as irritating as it can be and I found the storyline really easy to follow in both plots.

Although there are traces of similarities in the situations that Alice and Elizabeth were both in, I don’t think, personally, that it was as similar as the blurb on the book made out. That’s not to say I didn’t find Alice’s fascination with Elizabeth’s story intriguing… but I don’t think the blurb was entirely accurate.

I was able to empathise with Alice quite easily and I felt the author did a really good job of showing how difficult that kind of time was for a woman to have a child out of wedlock. I couldn’t easily relate to Alice’s parents – her mother didn’t seem a very nice person and her father came across as quite weak. Alternately, I found Elizabeth to be a much more remote character. Even her diary entries seemed removed somehow and I found myself more fascinated by Elizabeth’s interactions with the people around her, rather than by the character herself.

Parts of the book were very atmospheric and I felt that the author had put a lot of time and effort into crafting the decade/s the book was set in. I felt very sympathetic towards Isabel as a character. The final scene with her was quite disturbing and although I could understand Elizabeth, to an extent, I really didn’t like her much by the end of the book.

It was interesting to see how psychiatric illness was viewed by the doctors in that time. There was one thing in particular that I’d thought would go somewhere, but it only seemed included for the sake of it, rather than to further the storyline.

I did like Edith and Ruck as characters, although I had some mixed feelings about them for a while. And I did like Alice’s relationship with Tom. I also liked the play on the title.

I don’t think I’d read this book again, but I did find it really well-written and intriguing. I wouldn’t be averse to reading more books by this author in the future.