“Perhaps New Orleans was not what it seemed at first glance. Fittingly, neither was she.”
This book review took forever and a day because reading this book took that long to read. This book is a slow-burn if I ever saw one. Generally, I don’t love that, but Renee Ahdieh really has this way of making it worth it in the end. In any case lets begin,
The Premise: I definitely fell into the category of people who expected this book to be more adventurous. This book is actually better described as a suspenseful mystery. Celine is newly arrived to New Orleans to escape her past and finds herself drawn in by the Court of Lions and all their dangers.
I had so much trouble getting into this book at first because nothing about it really drew me in. The atmospheric setting is a rolling snowball so at the beginning it didn’t feel like there was much there. It was a lot of focus on suspense and intriguing the reader with all they don’t know. However, I didn’t feel like I had a reason to care at first.
Of course, the caring all builds over time, but I didn’t really think I was going to be able to finish the book until I got myself halfway through. Celine was an excellent character who I liked well enough, but I feel as though she was too constrained. There’s this part of her that she held back for the longest time that I just wanted to see her release. I wasn’t really satisfied with her until she did.
I was very confused with Bastian’s character for much of the time. I liked him well enough off the bat, but I wasn’t sure why he seemed to have so much power. I was very confused on whether or not he was human. And as the story moved and I understood more about him, I was confused as to why everyone liked him so much. I mean- I know why I liked him, but I just liked him because he said bad words and hates racism.
In the end, I felt like the plot happened all at once at the end of the book. It was 70% build-up and 30% plot. I don’t mean that the 70% was wasted in anyway, the book is good. However, I felt like it wasn’t a pace that worked for me.
This doesn’t mean that I didn’t love the book. The descriptions of New Orleans were absolutely enchanting and I did love it when Celine and Bastien interacted. They were fun. I loved the description of the times and I did enjoy the sections written by the unknown villian.
Also, the ending was fantastic. Even with a book I was on the fence about almost the whole time, I loved the ending. It’s the kind of cliff-hanger that convinces me to read the next one. I can’t wait.
TL;DR: The first half is slow, but the pay off is great. Trust in Renée Ahdieh and don’t rush yourself. You know, smell the roses.
This book review took forever and a day because reading this book took that long to read. This book is a slow-burn if I ever saw one. Generally, I don’t love that, but Renee Ahdieh really has this way of making it worth it in the end. In any case lets begin,
The Premise: I definitely fell into the category of people who expected this book to be more adventurous. This book is actually better described as a suspenseful mystery. Celine is newly arrived to New Orleans to escape her past and finds herself drawn in by the Court of Lions and all their dangers.
I had so much trouble getting into this book at first because nothing about it really drew me in. The atmospheric setting is a rolling snowball so at the beginning it didn’t feel like there was much there. It was a lot of focus on suspense and intriguing the reader with all they don’t know. However, I didn’t feel like I had a reason to care at first.
Of course, the caring all builds over time, but I didn’t really think I was going to be able to finish the book until I got myself halfway through. Celine was an excellent character who I liked well enough, but I feel as though she was too constrained. There’s this part of her that she held back for the longest time that I just wanted to see her release. I wasn’t really satisfied with her until she did.
I was very confused with Bastian’s character for much of the time. I liked him well enough off the bat, but I wasn’t sure why he seemed to have so much power. I was very confused on whether or not he was human. And as the story moved and I understood more about him, I was confused as to why everyone liked him so much. I mean- I know why I liked him, but I just liked him because he said bad words and hates racism.
In the end, I felt like the plot happened all at once at the end of the book. It was 70% build-up and 30% plot. I don’t mean that the 70% was wasted in anyway, the book is good. However, I felt like it wasn’t a pace that worked for me.
This doesn’t mean that I didn’t love the book. The descriptions of New Orleans were absolutely enchanting and I did love it when Celine and Bastien interacted. They were fun. I loved the description of the times and I did enjoy the sections written by the unknown villian.
Also, the ending was fantastic. Even with a book I was on the fence about almost the whole time, I loved the ending. It’s the kind of cliff-hanger that convinces me to read the next one. I can’t wait.
TL;DR: The first half is slow, but the pay off is great. Trust in Renée Ahdieh and don’t rush yourself. You know, smell the roses.