This book was just OK, which was really disappointing. I love YA fiction, love victorian/gothic influence, love the 12 dancing princesses short story from the Grimm Brothers... which means I should have loved this book... and didn't. The marketing for this book was INSANE, I have literally seen it everywhere. There were some really nice descriptions, lots of dress description (If you like that) and some really cool worldbuilding elements and that's pretty much it as far as the good things go...
The plot was disjointed and the red herrings were obvious. And there was a huge exposition/backstory/info dump in the last third of the book to make the explanation for the mystery of her sister's death make sense... and it fell VERY flat.
The Romance was just OK but lacked any emotional depth or true emotional intimacy... which is fine, but I prefer if you include a romantic sub-plot that it be fully realized. I wanted to like this book so much and there's nothing worse than to invest your time and excitement into a book only to feel like you've wasted your time at the end. And I REALLY wish she hadn't added the epilogue... that just made me roll my eyes.
I hope you don't have the same experience that I did reading this book, and I think if I had clearer expectations... I wouldn't have been so disappointed. But again, the marketing trumped this book up as if it were going to be the next Hunger Games or something, and I've read more fully realized novels from Self-Published authors than this. If this were an impulse purchase or a 'trash read' then it does the job. Otherwise... not impressed.
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