HIDDEN DEEP by Amy Patrick
5 Stars
Verdict: For teens who love supernatural romances.
Shortened blurb: Sixteen-year-old Ryann Carroll is irresistibly drawn to the woods. There she encounters the boy who kept her from freezing to death that long ago winter night and was nowhere to be seen when rescuers arrived. He's still mysterious, but now all grown-up and gorgeous, too. And the more she's with him, the greater the threat he poses to Ryann's strict policy-- never want someone more than he wants you.
I’ve read a lot of disappointing book lately, and after reading this one, I realised something. A five star book doesn’t have to be flawless; it has to make me love it despite its flaws. Hidden Deep is one of those books.
I loved Ryann. She's a character with Southern American charm who strives to remember that a man shouldn’t be her everything, he should the icing on the cake. I was drawn in by her voice and entertained by the way she chose to go about getting her way. She wasn’t perfect and lived to regret, and that made her very easy to connect with.
It starts out with a mystery boy and instant chemistry followed by forbidden love and another boy on the scene. I couldn’t help but think of Twilight although I can promise you this book has something more to it. More energy, character, and far more mystery.
Broodiness is replaced with sassiness.
Blood is substituted for sweet tea.
Vampires become.... well, something I was never going to guess!
Not knowing what Lad was made me read and read and read. That said, a lot of this book was very predictable. Some of the ‘twists’ were so obvious I was surprised the main character didn’t cotton on earlier. I would go as far to say that some scenes should have happened sooner, and once they finally came around, it was more about getting that bit over and done with. Yet even in those moments, I wasn’t too sure which way the characters would swing and that’s what made me keep reading.
Some parts warmed my heart, others made me smile. Most of all, I was rooting for Ryann and Lad to find a way to make their romance work. What more could you ask for in a romance novel?
A few sections were a little abrupt and once or twice the scene jumped forward within a paragraph rather than a break. That’s more of a stylistic choice and didn’t ruin the book for me in the slightest.
The epilogue on the other hand threw me and I'm not too sure what to make of it yet. It’s basically a snippet that yanks you by the hair as you try to put the book down, asking, “Where do you think you’re going? Not away from this series, I hope...”
As a standalone novel, epilogue not included, it’s a book I was glad to read and sad to finish. On the other hand, book 2 will need to have more to it. The story needs to get more complicated and less... happy. It’s all very sweet and fuzzy at the moment, which is a welcomed change in the young adult category, but it won’t work if it continues with the same feel. It needs to get a bit rougher or darker, a little more conflict and a bit less predictability.
Despite those flaws, I loved it. The mystery, the narrator’s voice, the men... This book was more than just the icing for me. ;)
Source: NetGalley.com
5 Stars
Verdict: For teens who love supernatural romances.
Shortened blurb: Sixteen-year-old Ryann Carroll is irresistibly drawn to the woods. There she encounters the boy who kept her from freezing to death that long ago winter night and was nowhere to be seen when rescuers arrived. He's still mysterious, but now all grown-up and gorgeous, too. And the more she's with him, the greater the threat he poses to Ryann's strict policy-- never want someone more than he wants you.
I’ve read a lot of disappointing book lately, and after reading this one, I realised something. A five star book doesn’t have to be flawless; it has to make me love it despite its flaws. Hidden Deep is one of those books.
I loved Ryann. She's a character with Southern American charm who strives to remember that a man shouldn’t be her everything, he should the icing on the cake. I was drawn in by her voice and entertained by the way she chose to go about getting her way. She wasn’t perfect and lived to regret, and that made her very easy to connect with.
It starts out with a mystery boy and instant chemistry followed by forbidden love and another boy on the scene. I couldn’t help but think of Twilight although I can promise you this book has something more to it. More energy, character, and far more mystery.
Broodiness is replaced with sassiness.
Blood is substituted for sweet tea.
Vampires become.... well, something I was never going to guess!
Not knowing what Lad was made me read and read and read. That said, a lot of this book was very predictable. Some of the ‘twists’ were so obvious I was surprised the main character didn’t cotton on earlier. I would go as far to say that some scenes should have happened sooner, and once they finally came around, it was more about getting that bit over and done with. Yet even in those moments, I wasn’t too sure which way the characters would swing and that’s what made me keep reading.
Some parts warmed my heart, others made me smile. Most of all, I was rooting for Ryann and Lad to find a way to make their romance work. What more could you ask for in a romance novel?
A few sections were a little abrupt and once or twice the scene jumped forward within a paragraph rather than a break. That’s more of a stylistic choice and didn’t ruin the book for me in the slightest.
The epilogue on the other hand threw me and I'm not too sure what to make of it yet. It’s basically a snippet that yanks you by the hair as you try to put the book down, asking, “Where do you think you’re going? Not away from this series, I hope...”
As a standalone novel, epilogue not included, it’s a book I was glad to read and sad to finish. On the other hand, book 2 will need to have more to it. The story needs to get more complicated and less... happy. It’s all very sweet and fuzzy at the moment, which is a welcomed change in the young adult category, but it won’t work if it continues with the same feel. It needs to get a bit rougher or darker, a little more conflict and a bit less predictability.
Despite those flaws, I loved it. The mystery, the narrator’s voice, the men... This book was more than just the icing for me. ;)
Source: NetGalley.com
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