Monday, April 15, 2013

Review: Prophecy Girl by Cecily White

From Goodreads: I was born to slay Crossworld demons. Big black flappy ones, little green squirmy ones. Unfortunately, the only thing getting slain these days is my social life. With my high school under attack, combat classes intensifying, and Academy instructors dropping right and left, I can barely get my homework done, let alone score a bondmate before prom. Then he shows up. Jackson Smith-Hailey. Unspeakably hot, hopelessly unattainable, and dangerous in all the right ways. Sure, he’s my trainer. And okay, maybe he hates me. Doesn’t mean I’ll ignore the wicked Guardian chemistry between us. It’s crazy! Every time I’m with him, my powers explode. Awesome, right? Wrong. Now my teachers think I’m the murderous Graymason destined to bring down our whole race of angelbloods. Everyone in New Orleans is hunting me. The people I trusted want me dead. Jack and I have five days to solve the murders, prevent a vampire uprising, and thwart the pesky prophecy foretelling his death by my hand. Shouldn’t be too difficult. Getting it done without falling in love ... that might take a miracle. 

My Rating: 1 heart

Thoughts on the Novel: When I first saw the synopsis of Cecily White’s Prophecy Girl, I got excited about reading the book because it reminded me a little of Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy and Jennifer Armentrout’s Covenant series, two of my favourite series. Unfortunately, after reading Prophecy Girl, I can say that it is nowhere as well written as the previously mentioned series. The worldbuilding wasn’t fully fleshed out, the plot ended up thoroughly confusing me, the characters were hard to care about, and the romance wasn’t at all what I was expecting it to be.

Let’s start with the worldbuilding. When we first meet Amelie, she’s out demon hunting with her friend Lisa. Considering she’s a Guardian, I figured we’d eventually learn all about the different types of demons in her world – kind of like with Jana Oliver’s The Demon Trappers. Instead, the demons in Prophecy Girl appear to be mere distractions that crop up once in a while to supposedly show off how badass Amelie is. Another thing, for example, that was hardly touched upon in Prophecy Girl was the angel bloodline. It appears that a Guardian’s bloodline isn’t based on genetics, but we aren't told what it’s based upon nor is there a clear reason as to why it couldn’t have been based on genetics. We’re also not given much information about the benefits or drawbacks of having one bloodline as opposed to another. 

Initially, the focus in Prophecy Girl was on why Amelie’s instructors at school were dying. Later on though, the original conspiracy turns out to be part of a greater plot to cause problems with other Crossworlders – namely, vampires and werewolves. By the end, I had no idea how White made everything tie together as I was just waiting for the book to be over.* I did however accurately predict who the villains would be. 

In terms of the characterization, I found most of the secondary characters – Luc was an exception – to be unmemorable. Meanwhile, I thought Jack lacked complexity – oh, and he wasn’t Amelie’s trainer; thanks a lot misleading synopsis! – and disliked how Amelie became more and more special over time, especially since she was so foolhardy.

Although I disliked Amelie and Jack as individuals, they were even worse as a couple because Amelie kept throwing herself at him and he kept giving her mixed signals. As well, the romance was a total insta-love situation despite the author trying to make it appear not as such. 

An incredibly frustrating read, Prophecy Girl was released by Entangled Teen on April 2, 2013. 

Comments About the Cover: It’s okay. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it either. 

In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher (Entangled Teen) for free via Rockstar Book Tours.   

*Sidenote: The climax was absolutely ridiculous! Highlight for spoilers: We of course can’t have the romantic lead dying so Amelie is able to save Jack with her super special abilities. The problem is that for her to give life back, she has to take a life. But, that would mean that our main character is now the one who’s dying and we definitely can’t have that! Luckily for Amelie, Jack has a vampire friend who can prevent her death. Problem solved!  

8 comments:

  1. Yikes. I read the blurb first before your review and thought it sounded like it would have a ton of potential, as you thought as well. But nope! It sounds like there is all kinds of wrong in this book, unfortunately. And as I have no plans to read this after reading your review, I read your hidden climax spoiler - ridiculous is right! haha!!

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  2. Hmmmm. I'm sorry this one was so disappointing Z! It's always frustrating when the paranormal aspects of a world aren't fully explained and we're just sort of left to fend for ourselves. It always leaves me out of sorts and disconnected. Also, the resolution of the climax is definitely a bit convenient, but at the same time, I would have been pissed if I'd made it all the way though this book just to have what almost happened happen:) Hope you're next read is AWESOME.

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  3. Wow, I'm going to stay far away from this one. Sounds like there was a lot of potential but the story went nowhere. Really hope you get over this bad book-after taste, Z!

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  4. Yikes, one star! I know you don't do that too often, so I'm going to take that as a sign to keep my distance from this book. A shame, the premise sounded interesting. Thanks for your honest review.

    Wendy @ The Midnight Garden

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  5. I'm so relieved that I didn't agree to review this one now. The synopsis makes it sound exactly like something I'd like (I was getting Covenant vibes, too), but it looks like the book doesn't follow through. All the reviews I've read so far have been pretty negative. Sorry it didn't work for you, Z! I hope your next read is better. x

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  6. Hm. I'm sorry this was such a disappointment for you. I doubt I'd like it much either, what with the lousy worldbuilding and the disappointing romance. Combined with the ridiculous climax, I'm certain I will pass. I read the spoiler and all I can say is pffft.

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  7. The synopsis reminded of Vampire Academy when I first read it too. Too bad it wasnt better but at least you gave it a shot and finished reading it.

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  8. Ugh too bad =( I was sort of on the fence about this one... something held me back from wanting to review it or even buy my own copy. I'll check out a few other reviews, but for now I think I'll stay away from it.

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