It's normally really easy to determine whether I like a book or not after I've read it. Did it amuse me? Did it take two months to finish because I was bored? Did I hate or love the main character? Was the love story realistic?
These are all questions I ask myself while reading to make my rating decision, but this book just doesn't fit into any of my usual categories.
Let me explain myself: I absolutely LOATHED the main character, but I LOVED the world built around her (picture Alice in Wonderland meets Pan's Labyrinth meets everything steampunk). I'm actually even confused as to why I hate this girl. She is everything any normal person would be if thrown into this situation; confused, lonely, a bit at odds and underwhelming since she's up against monsters that aren't supposed to exist in the real world.
Even though I know this, (and knowing I wouldn't do any better in this situation), after reading about so many kick ass heroine's I can't help but feel that she's weak and I just want to slap her.
I get that Julie Kagawa was trying to make us feel like it could be any one of us stuck in this situation and make it seem more realistic by making this girl weaker than the fey, but at the same time, if I'm reading a fantasy novel, I want to read about someone who ISN'T like me.....I want a human who is thrown into this world of terror and shows that humanity is the strongest of the bunch; she can fight like a wildcat, doesn't show fear, learns the ways of the creatures in this strange place and outsmarts them, etc, etc.... It's fiction after all, right? Why shouldn't I be able to have that?
Don't even get me started on the love story. The guy is likeable sure (most of the time), but it seems like insta-love plays a huge role in this. The first time they kiss, instead of having a Little Mermaid "don't be shy, you know you want to kiss the girl; just do it already!" moment, I had more of a "wait, why are we here, why are they doing this, did I miss something?" moment.
I had already bought the second book at the same time as I bought the first, thinking since I loved The Immortal Rules that Julie Kagawa could do no wrong, so I'll read it, but I don't know if I'll continue beyond that,sadly. Too bad, since after seeing all the other reviews I thought this would be my new "must buy the next one right now" series.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
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