Review: Interesting concept but the writing was a little bland.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 10, 2013
First thoughts and the story: So, where to start? I love fantasies...where anything is possible and new worlds are created. And look at that cover, it's gorgeous!! The premise sounded interesting, and by the time I was able to get to the book I had forgotten what it was about. However, it was on my list so I  jumped right in. Well, I wish I had reread the blurb because that might have helped me understand what was going on. The book starts with Emmy being ripped from her home in the human world and transported to a world far away: Methelwood. She is so confused when she arrives there, and to top it off her mother is taken away and sent to prison. Emmy is left living with virtual strangers and promises to attend a new type of school and take a test in a short period of time. She soon starts to learn what powers she has, makes friends, enemies, and oh, she also hears a voice in her head. This is her journey of how she must fight to stay alive, and keep others alive too.The MC: While Emmy said she was sad and depressed because she was removed from her home, it didn't really seem that way. She may  have skipped a few meals, but before we knew it she had a job at the coffee shop with one of her new friends.  She was an OK heroine, I think I would have liked her more in the human world, it was a little harder to connect with her in the orbs, but maybe she really was out of her element. When she was turned down by her counselor Willow to look into her dreams again, she thinks breaking and entering is the way to go. I kind of wanted to strangle her with the foolish and impulsive decisions. She did grow on me, as well as grow up and I liked her a lot more by the end.The Rest of the Cast: The other characters were a mixed bag. None of them really stood out at first, but then Breckin finally did....and Emmy hated him but I couldn't understand why. It didn't add up for me, but she finally came around and saw that he really was a good guy. I also loved, loved, loved Cyrus. LOVED him. He was so real and totally my favorite. ;)The Romance: It took a while but then I was like, "Ah! There it is!"  It was pretty cool how Breckin and Emmy were the two complements to each other but yet they had other love interests. That was a great twist and made it quite interesting.Surprises and the ending: There was so much suspicion as we knew Thoreoux had to have eyes in Methelwood. I was totally surprised by who it was! But in hindsight I should have totally seen it :) Oh, in case you didn't know I love to be surprised. The supposed assassin was definitely interesting. I had suspected he wasn't thrilled with his assignment from the beginning, but had no other choice I grew to like him more and more and more.  The book ended in just the right way, all the loose ends tied up nicely.Final thoughts: While the idea of the whole book was interesting and quite unique, the writing itself was a teensy bit one dimensional. I wanted to feel more of what I knew the characters should be feeling. It's one thing to write the words, but conveying the emotion is a much harder task. So, all in all the creativity was fantastic, but it was the execution that fell a little short for me. The last third of the book was the part I really enjoyed....the part before that was a lot of scene setting. For you fantasy lovers: if you are looking for something different this is a great book to add to your collection.