"Simple things are often the most challenging"

In case you missed them: 
Paul's Pre-Reading
Paul's Review
My Pre-Reading

Going into this book, I was expecting a pretty epic self discovery novel. And I wasn't really disappointed. There wasn't as much adventure as I had originally anticipated, but I think there was enough to keep it interesting and keep the story moving along. And plus, any story with dragons and other mythical creatures attacking humans is bound to be pretty awesome!

I really enjoyed that this world has creatures that don't exist in our world. At least in the same capacity. Dragons and centaur roam the wilds, and sylphs are always waiting to attack. Apparently, sylph have no mythological background, and I think it was really nice how Meadows took a relatively unknown, unexplained creature and made it her own. I am curious as to why the dragons attack Heart, and why they seem to hate the temple so much

Speaking of which, I think the temple is ridiculously creepy. I completely agree with Ana on that one. I would not want to go near it, and if I ended up inside of it I would freak out. So kudos to Meadows for describing the temple like that. And the outer walls of everything too. Stone should NOT have a heartbeat...

I thought Ana was written very well, and I liked that (as terrible as this might sound) she didn't have a purpose and was a mistake of no consequence. What does that mean for her future? Will Janan reincarnate her? I'm excited for the rest of the book to find out if these and other questions will be answered.

I also loved Sam. I saw that romance coming, but I was very glad that it wasn't forced. It almost reminded me a little bit of the romance between Amy and Elder in Across the Universe, only Ana was not against loving Sam like Amy was Elder.

I think my favorite scene in the book though was the ball. I would love to go to something like that in my lifetime. Meadows' description of it was outstanding, and I almost felt like I was there.

I would recommend this novel to YA readers looking for something totally different. A new world with a little action/adventure and a little romance and a lot of mystery and self discovery. 5/5 for sure.


--Ashley