Review: 4.5 stars
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 31, 2012
It's been two weeks since I read this book and it's 2nd one (Buried Castles) and I STILL think about the characters. That speaks a lot for the series.I won't give a synopsis of the book b.c others have and honestly when I read these reviews I'm looking for what people did and did not like, not what it's about. And this review covers both books as a whole because once you read the 1st you have to read the 2nd. Otherwise the 1st book would have the worst ending ever.At first I didn't think I was going to like the writing style of the book. But getting half way through, I enjoyed it more and ended up really liking the series. So even if you don't love the first couple of chapters stick with it. I wasn't really into all the detail with Emily and Ben because I was hoping they weren't going to make it. I would rather have less of Ben and more of Zack.This 1st book has a lot of the good stuff in romances. Lots of times where the couple is getting to know each other and you get swept away into their love. That's the stuff I could read about all day. I know... I'm so cheesy. The 2nd book however is kind of depressing and it feels like it takes a loooooong time for them to finally get their act together. But it did have a great ending and the author extended the ending past where most authors would stop. Don't you hate when you're reading a book where the couple never gets together til the last page and now that they're happy it's over? I hate that. Alexander didn't do that. =)The one thing that was kind of annoying about this book was the obvious giveaways for what would happen. The red flags were blatant. And I didn't know if the author thought we were stupid, or she was making the point that Emily was stupid. I hate to list them here b/c they would spoil it for those who haven't read it yet, but there were quite a few things that were beyond obvious of what was to come.On a totally side note I went to college and lived in this area that the 2nd book takes place so that was really fun to read about. And I remember the music scene being a big part of my college career. I used to follow Weekend Excursion and Vertical Horizon (before they made it big and became one-hit wonders :) ) so that was easy to imagine this story being so real. And I listened to the author's playlist while reading the book.I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it! I look forward to seeing what else the author puts out. :)