I was hearing so many good things about this book, left and right how amazing it was and how i HAD to read it and let me be honest with you all... frankly that has a tendency to frighten me. Usually i hear all this hype and then i'm horribly disappointed. So, with this book, i tried to keep my expectations rather low (yeah.. i'm a cynical old thing at 17, what can i say... cliche things are my greatest pet peeve as you've all probably gathered...) As well as a friend from school told me she had so so feelings on it (and i highly trust her opinions... ) So, i was nervous, even more so when i couldn't figure out what the obvious fantasy element was in this book. Vampires (again!?) Werewolves? Again, i dislike cliche. So, it can happily be said that i was greatly and pleasantly surprised (haha, ok understatement, i was kind of ecstatic when i realised that the fantasy element was magic and sorcerers.) Urban fantasy is huge nowadays, but so much of it is... well... vampires and werewolves... (and we all know who to thank for that.) And, in my opinion, there's not enough magic (i'm a sucker for good magic based stories anyway...) The story was amazing, to put it simply - about a boy living in a small town that no one can escape from and a girl who moves into the 'haunted' house down the road. (i love two sentence summaries =) Of course there was more to it, because Lena was a sorceress from a family of sorcerers who, on their sixteenth birthdays, have their fates chosen for them. The whole good vs. evil spiel (which, i of course, love. I also love that throughout the whole book, the likelihood of her turning 'dark' is made quite clear.) The magic made me smile however, it was fantastic. And none of the characters were flat at all. I could keep them all straight and didn't forget any even though it's been a while since i finished the book. Macon was probably my favourite, frankly, he was fantastic until the end. The only problem i had with this book, however, was how Ethan dropped everything to be with Lena. I mean, i know that's a popular way to keep the plot rolling... but it's not very practical. I know that it stated that he really only had one friend in Gatlin and he really didn't desert Link... but the way he deserted his team and everyone else just seemed a little non realistic. And yes i know 'but this is an urban fantasy.' and that may be, but when you're writing an urban fantasy you have to keep that realistic element.Really though, that was the only thing i didn't like. This book really was all that on a stick like everyone was saying it was. And you know what? Whatever to what everyone else said it was. I'M saying that it was all that on a stick. A truly freakin' fantastic urban fantasy for those like me who are sick and tired of good honest magic being overlooked. =)
