I really wanted to like this.  It's a Hallmark book at Christmas, so I knew exactly what to expect.  And if this was a movie, I probably would have ate it up.  However, the main character is so worried about the danger her son could be in, because his dad dies doing something dangerous, that she cant enjoy life.  And I do not speak of daredevil escapes.  Her son, at 6 wants to be a firefighter, and he loves everything firefighting.  He makes friends with a local firefighter.  And mom worries about the danger of firefighting.  He constant worrying grated after a while, and took the enjoyment our of what was supposed to be a Hallmark movie on paper.

I am sorry to say, but this was a DNF.  I had high hopes from the description, a century years old vampires are expelled and forced to live among the humans of Iowa.  Sign me up.  But it didn't work as an audiobook.  I am not sure of the pace of the story, the narrator, or the story itself.  I tried to listen to this book at least 3 times and and never got further then an hour.  Maybe if I was reading it, I might enjoy it, but not as an audiobook.

 this book was really promising. I think if I was reading it, instead of listening to it I would have finished it. It is about a girl, who was 5 years old when a fantasy world grew from under Central Park new York. the fantasy world took over, most adults died, and the children were taken by the queen. Not it is 10 or so years later. There is no emotion in this fantasy kingdom, and our girl is now part of the night watch. She goes after the Queens son, when he is discovered around the city. She follows him to Ohio, where she is quarantined, (held Prison) so she can clear herself of the spell and feel again.

It was the quarantine that lost me. It was slow and lacked the charm of the rest of the book. I found my mind wondering and not caring what was happening. I DNFed. if I was reading and could have skimmed through this, i probably would have. But that was not really possible with the audiobook. I set it aside and never picked it back up. 

This book had promise.  But for me, it did not work as an audiobook.  It seemed to be all "girl drama".  And I hate girl drama.  It was about the friendship lapsing, and what the two girls feel for each other much more then about the adventure.

The world building was interesting.  One girl was a witch, been that was since birth, the other was a witch, but was turned vampire by a mother who wanted to steel her magic.  The vampire was kept locked away from her friends and the community was told she was sick, for years.  When the girls rediscover each other they think if they can get to the magical city they can save themselves and their community.  Once again, the story was so much more focused on the "girl drama".

I wanted to know more about the magic system, and why the forest was eating people!  But the drama kept dragging on, and I turned it off.

This book was unique.  It is told as Julius Caesar, the play.  And at first that part was a bit jarring, but at the same time, one was sucked in.  the format grew on you as you read.  It was almost like reading Clueless full of villains.  I enjoyed it.  The cover DOES NOT do it justice.  In fact the cover is entirely wrong.

This isn't one of those books that someone would generally pick up off the shelf.  This is one of those books that is stumbled upon, and then is forced by friends to be read and talked about.  

 

This book is very reminiscent of the movie sky high. Where a kid comes from a family of superheroes, but doesn’t get their power and all the sudden they have it but troubles about. In the case of this book, however it’s not superheroes but magical entities, such as unicorns, wizards, demons, angels, etc. 

 

Overall, this book was a fun read. Depending on where you look both, including the back of this version as well as certain areas of good read, it says this is a series. However, having finished this book, there’s no place to go. In fact, this book spent so much time on the buildup that it rushes through the end and the explanation of all the magical folks and what’s going on. That is a drawback. It also at times feels like twilight fanfiction where you have faded mates, chosen ones my power gives you power, etc.. The first half of the book would be considered clean but there is a sex scene at about the 70% mark. It does play into the story but it also gives that faded mates Trope that is very heavily handed in this book. 

 

Now on to small things, first off a unicorn, and a Pegasus are not the same thing. Ggas are never mentioned in this book but the unicorns have wings. That annoys me plus there are times where the references seem odd. There are multiple Harry Potter references throughout the book which makes sense. However, differences, for example, like Fabio and romance, novel covers seem out of place. I know our main character is a book, loving nerd, and does read romance, but it’s still out of place. You can tell the age of the author in the story. Because even if you had a modern 17-year-old reading romance novels, they wouldn’t be reading 40-year-old romance novels most likely. and someone could say that that’s in the library that is an integral part of the story that needs to be replaced but most of the Fabio romance novel don’t exist in public libraries anymore. It dates the book and takes the reader out of the experience, there are other small things like this throughout the book that are a tad bit annoying. They’re not bad they just scream older adult writting for YA. 

 

Overall, I like this book but I didn’t love it. It took way too long to finish because there was so much buildup for not much to happen. I also think things that hinder it is it’s got the wrong title and the wrong cover. The current cover on my version is like looking through a hole in the tree to wood with leaves falling and the book is titled with discovery. According to Goodreads, the original title was Out of the Woods. That title is better, and does come to play at the very very end of the book but I don’t think either fit the book well. The cover is atrocious and seems like a indie published romance for middle-aged women to be more appealing to their demographic may be a more cartoon cover or a cover that has people on it. And maybe some of the animals maybe some as humans some as they are Characters. I could see something like the title with Iggy and I think it’s Gabby the demon in the angel sitting up and looking over Piper and Z. It needs to appeal more to why because this is very solidly. Why. It could be acceptable to young, but there is Sex scene that not specifically graphic does exist and is appropriate for the age and what’s happening in the book. So once again overall, I’d like this book but I didn’t love it.