MY THOUGHTS
This was an enjoyable book. I didn't really have any problems with it, but it's not a new favorite. Still, it had a very unique premise and I liked it.
Jae's father recently moved the two of them from LA and now she has to deal with living in a new country, go to a new school, and a grandfather who may hate turns. Well, things get worse when it turns out that her family is cursed. A majority of the females in her family have been kidnapped by a Korean demi-god and Jae has just popped up on his radar.
The fact that this book involves Korean mythology (and even Korea in general) makes this book unique in the realm of YA. There are very few YA books that don't take place in America or European countries and I've never read a book with a premise revolving around Korean mythology! The setting didn't come into play as much as I hoped, but I did found some of the mythology very interesting.
Sadly, I felt like the mythology was added in oddly. I don't know how it explain it. During many points in the book when something very unreal happened, I felt like it was awkwardly placed into the story. I don't know, it just felt strange. Again, I did the idea and the mythology, but sometimes it just felt odd.
As for the book as a whole, I liked it, but I really can't say more. Oftentimes this book felt like a lot of other YA novels. The plot is great, but still nothing that overall wowed me. Jae, despite being Korean American, is just like many other MCs I've read. I'm not saying these things to be harsh, I did like this book, but this book just has an "inbetween-ness" in my mind that makes it hard o review: I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it.
As far romance, again it wasn't anything new. It didn't annoy me, but I wasn't shipping it either. I do think the romance went too fast and was borderline insta-love at points, but it was okay. Marc is a nice guy, but, again, pretty typical YA guy (he was even white. Why?)
IN CONCLUSION
This review makes it sound like I was meh about this book, I DID ENJOY THIS BOOK. I liked the premise, the mythology, and it was very entertaining. Some things fell short, but I overall liked it and I do intend on continuing the series.
This was an enjoyable book. I didn't really have any problems with it, but it's not a new favorite. Still, it had a very unique premise and I liked it.
Jae's father recently moved the two of them from LA and now she has to deal with living in a new country, go to a new school, and a grandfather who may hate turns. Well, things get worse when it turns out that her family is cursed. A majority of the females in her family have been kidnapped by a Korean demi-god and Jae has just popped up on his radar.
The fact that this book involves Korean mythology (and even Korea in general) makes this book unique in the realm of YA. There are very few YA books that don't take place in America or European countries and I've never read a book with a premise revolving around Korean mythology! The setting didn't come into play as much as I hoped, but I did found some of the mythology very interesting.
Sadly, I felt like the mythology was added in oddly. I don't know how it explain it. During many points in the book when something very unreal happened, I felt like it was awkwardly placed into the story. I don't know, it just felt strange. Again, I did the idea and the mythology, but sometimes it just felt odd.
As for the book as a whole, I liked it, but I really can't say more. Oftentimes this book felt like a lot of other YA novels. The plot is great, but still nothing that overall wowed me. Jae, despite being Korean American, is just like many other MCs I've read. I'm not saying these things to be harsh, I did like this book, but this book just has an "inbetween-ness" in my mind that makes it hard o review: I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it.
As far romance, again it wasn't anything new. It didn't annoy me, but I wasn't shipping it either. I do think the romance went too fast and was borderline insta-love at points, but it was okay. Marc is a nice guy, but, again, pretty typical YA guy (he was even white. Why?)
IN CONCLUSION
This review makes it sound like I was meh about this book, I DID ENJOY THIS BOOK. I liked the premise, the mythology, and it was very entertaining. Some things fell short, but I overall liked it and I do intend on continuing the series.
This is the first book in the Gilded series. I enjoyed the Korean setting and mythology but the writing itself was technically lacking and the story was predictable and boring.
I listened to this on audiobook. The narrator did an excellent job with different characters voices and accents. The narration was probably the best part of this book for me.
Some of the technical issues with this book were that the dialogue between characters was very simple and awkward sounding. Additionally, there were places where the wrong tense (past and present) are used interchangeably. This book could have benefited from better editing.
The story was also lacking. Our heroine makes the same mistakes over and over again and never seems to grow or change as a character despite, her experiences. The ending was predictable and the at times just plain boring.
Overall this was a poorly written book and I was happy when it was over. If I hadn't been listening to it on audiobook I probably would have stopped reading it. I won't be continuing with the series which is too bad because the Korean setting and mythology were intriguing.
I listened to this on audiobook. The narrator did an excellent job with different characters voices and accents. The narration was probably the best part of this book for me.
Some of the technical issues with this book were that the dialogue between characters was very simple and awkward sounding. Additionally, there were places where the wrong tense (past and present) are used interchangeably. This book could have benefited from better editing.
The story was also lacking. Our heroine makes the same mistakes over and over again and never seems to grow or change as a character despite, her experiences. The ending was predictable and the at times just plain boring.
Overall this was a poorly written book and I was happy when it was over. If I hadn't been listening to it on audiobook I probably would have stopped reading it. I won't be continuing with the series which is too bad because the Korean setting and mythology were intriguing.
