Tag: a-magic-dark-and-bright • BookLikes

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review 2019-02-04 18:54

A Magic Dark and Bright - Jenny Adams Perinovic

A small town, a terrible tragedy, a mysterious stranger, drowned girls and a woman in white.

It is all in the mix in the first of The Asylum Saga. While overall I thought this was an enjoyable read, though it felt very Young Adult, there were some things that bothered me. Girls are being found dead, and it happens multiple times and even though they were considered suicides individually, people don't start to connect the dots. And then

they find out it has happened also some decades before and no-one of the main characters is even aware of this. Or thinks it a very weird coincidences

(spoiler show)

.

The bad-guy I saw coming from miles away and also the unnecessarily ass-holey ex-boyfriend could have been left out without any problems. The ending I quite liked except for the fact that it is a mega cliffhanger and I will have to read the second book to find some kind of closure.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

review 2015-03-28 23:37

Susana "Lost in Fantasy Land"

Arc provided by Bookish Girl Press

Release Date: April 28 th

I am going to start with what I liked in this story: The first paragraph. It was creepy and atmospheric.

A woman haunted the woods behind my house.
I used to watch her from my bedroom window. She glowed silver in the moonlight, a pale wraith in a white dress that curled around her ankles and twisted in an ancient wind that didn’t touch the pine trees around her.

The characters
Well developed, with their own story and background, they never felt flat.
Amelia is a level headed girl who is going through a hard time in her life, and I felt for her.

The romance
Despite feeling as if thwarted what I was hoping to get from this story _ something way creepier _ it never felt over the top, because Charlie is one of the "good guys". He's sweet and caring, and doesn't appear to have an idiotic bone in his body.
Of course this is the first book of...I don't know how many more, and characters are known to change, lol.

No bloody love triangles in this story: thank you!
I'll confess that when another character appears _ Ransom_ I got a little scared: OMG, a love triangle..NO! o_O
Luckily that doesn't happen.

The writing
I had no problem with it, and I can't help appreciate the little clues that were hiding at plain sight...most of which completely escaped my notice.

The setting in which the story takes place that was inspired in actual facts.

The less than positives aspects:

For more than a third of it, the story doesn't seem to go anywhere.

It has a very "young" YA vibe to it. There were times in which I felt I could be reading an Enid Blyton's story with a mystery lurking at the background...
Even when the bodies start piling up, the tone of the story doesn't change: It continues the same old self, calm and quiet.

Slut shaming, there's some instances of that. Also there were comments on how a girl became bitchy to her friends _ my words _ after "her boobs" _the author's words _ developed.
This really got on my nerves.
Could this be more cliché?

The cliffhanger
The only reason I kept on reading _ despite the fact of this not being my cup of tea _ was simply because I wanted to know what was going to happen.
Unfortunately when things started becoming more interesting...it ends. -_-
I could even see myself reading the follow up, if it had already been released.
As it is, the sequel will probably be released next year_? _ and I can almost see the heavy emotional angst that a certain relationship will entail,_something for which I simply don't have the patience or interest_ so I'll probably never get around to reading it.

Bottom Line: This is not a bad book _ in fact, it is way superior to some YA bestsellers _ it just needs a different type of reader.

romance YA arc netgalley not my cup of tea 2015 releases 2015 reads

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review 2015-03-14 12:37

A Magic Dark and Bright (The Asylum Saga #1) by Jenny Adams Perinovic

Jolene

**Thank you Bookish Girl Press and Netgalley for providing this in exchange foe an honest review**

Amelia used to be your (almost) average teenager. She was a star on the swim team, had tons of friends, was dating a very cute, popular boy, and occasionally the ghost of a woman hanging around her the back of her house. Then her brother died in an accident and everything changed. She build up walls and kept everyone, but her best friend Leah, at arms length. She stopped seeing the woman in white. A year goes on and another summer rolls around. Amelia's hometown, Asylum, is about to celebrate its 250th anniversary. As head of the Asylum Historical Society, it is Amelia's mother's responsibility to get everything setup for the festival. For Amelia, this means she's about to be busy as free labor. Thankfully, her neighbor's (super cute) grandson has just moved in next door and is willing to help. However, not long after he arrives drowned girls start turning up. Then the woman in white returns. Could her seemingly sweet new neighbor have a dark side no one knows about? Or is there another sinister force taking over Asylum?

This was just an okay read for me. The story wasn't bad, but it wasn't really anything special either. It kept my attention just enough to finish it, but just barley. There were a few things I really liked. The book didn't suffer from absent parent syndrome, there wasn't a love triangle, and the love interest is actually a really nice guy. Even though the story was lacking, the character and world development were spot on. I did like the characters. They were all well developed and believable. Asylum was based on a real town and you could tell the author did everything she could to stay true to the town's actual roots while still putting her own spin on it.

I'm not sure if I'll continue with this series or not. The story did end on a cliffhanger, but I'm not really dying to know what happens next. I do know if Perinovic continues to refine her writing skills (this is a debut novel after all), I would definitely pick up future tiles by her.

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text 2015-02-12 08:34

TBR Thursday #27

Url Phantomhive

The Changes Trilogy: The Weathermonger, Heartsease, and The Devil's Children - Peter Dickinson

Claimed (Servants of Fate Book 2) - Sarah Fine

A Magic Dark and Bright (The Asylum Saga Book 1) - Jenny Perinovic

Winterworld Book 1: The Mechanic's Song - Chuck Dixon

Moonlight Reader started the TBR Thursday, and I think it's a good way to a) show what new books I've got and b) confront myself with my inability to lower my TBR. In fact, since I started recording it, it has risen significantly. I get the feeling I'm doing something wrong here...

I hoped that this week would be the one in which I actually started lowering the TBR. It was not to be unfortunately. Still, it looks like there are some awesome books in there...

TBR pile currently stands at 328. (+2)

(Netgalley ARCs at 155 (+7))

2015 tbr thursday