Review: Stolen Away by Alyxandra Harvey

Stolen Away by Alyxandra Harvey
Publisher: Walker Children's Books (Bloomsbury)
First published: January 17th, 2012
Source: NetGalley
Format: eARC
Pages: 288

Goodreads Summary:
For seventeen years, Eloise Hart had no idea the world of Faery even existed. Now she has been abducted and trapped in the Rath of Lord Strahan, King of Faery. Strahan was only meant to rule for seven years, as Faery tradition dictates, and then give up his crown to another. But he won't comply, and now chaos threatens both worlds.

The only one who can break his stranglehold on the Faery court is his wife. . . Eloise's aunt Antonia. Using Eloise to lure Antonia, Strahan captures his wife, desperate to end the only threat to his reign. Now Eloise must become the rescuer. Together with her best friends Jo and Devin, she must forge alliances with other Fae, including a gorgeous protector named Lucas, and Strahan's mysterious son, Eldric-who may or may not betray them.

My Rating: 3.5 / 5

First thoughts:

This is a very intriguing fae story that definitely made me want to read more of Alyxandra Harvey's books. While I would have loved for the world building to be a little bit more elaborate and had a few little problems to connect with some characters, I definitely enjoyed this novel and can recommend this for people who want to read a bewitching story about faeries.

More detailed:

Since I've heard many good things about Alyxandra Harvey's books, I was really looking forward to read Stolen Away. And while it's not necessarily going to become one of my favorite novels, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I can definitely imagine reading more of her novels. Despite being very busy during the time I read it, it was easy to remember the storyline and to get back into it.

The story is told from two different points of view - Eloise and Jo. While Eloise is the "real" main character of Stolen Away and I thought her story to be very interesting, I definitely preferred reading Jo's narrations. Especially her love story was a lot more intriguing, although that might be because of my unexplainable weakness for the bad guys.

I have to admit that I was a little bit indifferent to some characters' fates which is one of the very few reasons why I didn't rate this book higher. Somehow I couldn't connect with most of them and even though I was hoping for a happy ending, I would not have been devastated without it.

I also had hoped for the faerie world to be a little bit more magical. While I might be biased after having read the amazingly creative and unique Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa, I felt as though this world was lacking some more explanations. I could definitely see a high potential and loved the basic idea of Alyxandra Harvey's faeries, but in comparison to other fae novels, I missed something special.

But all in all, I definitely enjoyed Stolen Away and can recommend it for everyone who is looking for an easy and fast paranormal read or who wants to try reading a faerie story which is not as complex as most of the others.

Alyxandra Harvey online:
Goodreads | Website | Twitter

Have you read Stolen Away? What did you think about it?
Do you plan to read it?
Carina

Review: Fracture by Megan Miranda

Fracture by Megan Miranda
Publisher: Walker Books (Bloomsbury)
Expected Publication: January 17th, 2012
Source: NetGalley
Format: eARC
Pages: 272

Goodreads Summary:
Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine
-despite the scans that showed significant brain damage. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she's far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can't control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?

Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she's reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy's motives aren't quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature-or something much more frightening?

For fans of best-sellers like Before I Fall and If I Stay, this is a fascinating and heart-rending story about love and friendship and the fine line between life and death.

My Rating: 4.5 / 5

First thoughts:
I had heard good things about this before starting it and it definitely lived up to my expectations. It was creepy and heart-breaking but conveyed hope at the same time - a mixture I really enjoyed. The only thing I didn't like was the somewhat open ending. But besides that Fracture was a great novel that you should read!

More detailed:
Fracture is a thought-provoking and emotional read which I devoured as quickly as possible. Delaney's experiences after her accident kept me intrigued and I was hoping for her to be happy again until the very last page.

This novel is told from Delaney's point of view by a first person narrator. She has a very relatable voice which is easy to follow and makes it possible to understand her and her motivations quite fast. She is in a situation not many people have (luckily) ever been in after having survived an accident even though everyone expected her to die.

After this accident her life is turned upside down by her new ability to sense death. It takes a while for her to figure out what is happening to her, but even before her realization she asks many thought-provoking questions. Throughout the novel she is wondering about life and death and about what makes someone human. People who love thinking about philosophical questions will love Fracture.

Not only does Fracture concentrate on Delaney's feelings, but highlights her family and friends' reactions to her accident and to the obvious changes in her. It's interesting to follow how her parents start treating her differently and how her friends change their attitudes toward her. Megan Miranda managed to capture these things perfectly, making me feel exactly like Delaney in certain scenes - happy, sad, exasperated.

It also has a perfect mixture of different characters who are realistic: some you'll fall in love with immediately, some you'll want to shout at, but you can't really hate any of them. The reason why I didn't rate this 5/5 is the open ending that left me a little bit disappointed; I was expecting some more closure because I always need to see whether a character will be truly happy or not.

But all in all, Fracture is an amazing read which you need to put onto your 2012-to-read-lists. It is so suspenseful that I wanted to read faster than possible, but at the same time I wanted to savour the beautiful writing. Since I read an eGalley of this, I'm sure I'll get a finished copy of it to add it to my collection of books I love.

More about Fracture:

view the trailer | read the first two chapters

Have you read Fracture? What did you think about it?

Do you plan to read it?

Carina