Review: refreshing and interesting
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 2, 2013
When I originally heard that this wasn't a book for anyone under sixteen, my first thought was "Oh great, there's gonna be lots of sex in this, isn't there?" Thankfully, although there was sex, it wasn't overdone or worded in a way that made me laugh and there were other things that weren't sex that gives this book it's 16+ rating - such as murder, swearing violence etc. Those also managed to avoid being overdone which, again, I'm thankful for - there's nothing more annoying than a character who keeps swearing every other sentence.At first I thought that the story was mixing up its details in regards to whether a wife stops being fertile when she turns twenty-four years old, like the synopsis states, or whether it was "twenty-four, the age just before all Wives stopped being fertile" (as stated in chapter one) which implies that the wives can possibly get pregnant at age twenty-five. This was a little thing that bugged me when I first noticed it, but the further I read into the book, the more I forgot. Which is just as well, because there's nothing worse than having some little thing nag at you the entire time you're trying to read a book.I really enjoyed the characters and liked that all the sisters were different from each other. I felt that the contrast between Sumarra and Dilara was well played, as they are similar (in the protectiveness of their sisters) yet different (in their approach to the rules). It was really interesting to see and I hope to see more interaction between them in the future. A couple of other reviewers have mentioned that they didn't like Mina and that they found her annoying, which I partially disagree with but I do hope that she gets a chance to redeem herself in a later book.Like other reviewers, I felt that the book could have benefitted from being longer, even if it was just by a few chapters. When I first started reading this book and realised that POVs were going to switch as well as times and places (i.e., we go from modern day America to Ancient Egypt) I wasn't too sure if I would like that and the author could pull it off, but once I finished reading the book the switches kind of grew on me and I decided that I like how the book was structured in that respect. It was nice to have the explanation behind the curse at the end, rather than at the start, for once.As for the concept and plot, the idea was new to me so they refreshing although, again, the plot would have benefitted and been more smooth if the book wasn't so short.But I guess the author has to draw us into reading the second book somehow ;)