Author: Ellie James
Series: Midnight Dragonfly
Published: 5 July
by Quercus
Length: 300 pages
Source: Publishers
Other info: This
is Ellie’s debut. The next will be called Broken Illusions then Fragile
Darkness.
Summary : Trinity has
never known who she really is. Strange dreams haunt her nights, and she has
always been able to sense things that others can't. When Jessica, the most
popular girl at school, disappears, Trinity realises she will have to draw on
her secret abilities to help find her. Soon, Trinity is subject to visions that
terrify her and make the police sceptical. As her dreams grow darker and the
visions more frightening, Trinity realises she must risk her reputation and her
sanity to save a girl who hates her.
Review: It was
just a game in a haunted house. Teenagers daring each other to do things in the
abandoned house soon takes a darker turn when Jessica goes missing and the
investigation soon becomes a murder one. Trinity gets dreams. She doesn’t know
why, but she can see things happening. Which then actually happen. while being
pulled into the police investigation, Trinity also gets pulled into another-the
one looking behind her family.
I didn’t know about this before I got hold of it, so I can’t
say I had high(or any) hopes for it. The whole psychic-mystery thing isn’t that
new, but I always like reading these kinds of things.
The first half is good.
it’s a quick start, and there’s a lot of intrigue. My favourite bits
were the parts in the haunted house. The writing is exceptional in those bits
and I felt both a little bit creeped out and really wanting to know more. The
visions are also done well.
The missing-girl line is carried on. obviously, Trinity is
the only one who can solve it, but she doesn’t know what her visions really
properly mean. I really enjoyed the mystery, the guessing, and all that.
The other part is Trinity’s personal life. Romance with
Chase, the hot guy developed nicely, but it wasn’t the main thing, so that was
good. more emphasis was given to Trinity’s past, about her mother and her
psychic powers. These were nice, but weren’t amazing. And then there was
something else that I don’t really get...somehting about Pitre and Dylan and so
on..I really wasn’t following any of that.
The characters were good. Trinity is very inquisitive, and takes
everything in good stride. Chase is a little boring, but I didn’t really care
about him when he might have been in danger. Some characters seem to appear
randomly, just to clear something up, make something else more complicated and
leave, for example that fortune teller girl. I hope she comes back.
The pacing isn’t great and the scenes are a bit random, in a
bad way. Something happens and then something completely different happens and
it’s hard to understand. The big final scene seems a bit rushed. The guy who
took Jessica especially seems to have come out of nowhere and I didn’t really
care.
The paranormal bit takes the back seat, which you may or may
not like, depending on your preferences. The murder mystery is the main thing.
I’d like a bit more of Trinity’s psychic-ness in the next book too.
Overall: Strength 3 tea to a thriller that really pulls
you in, but also messes with your head. I’ll read the sequel in the hope that
it gets better.
I don't think this book is for me, but the cover is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great review! :)
Nice review! This sounds like a pretty decent mystery. nothing extraordinary, but enjoyable nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteHmm, I would have liked more of the paranormal aspect, but the mystery sounds quite good. Not sure whether I'll read this one, but thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteTheres something putting me off this book and I dont know what it is. it sounds good and from what you say I'll probably really enjoy it as I prefer Muder Mystery over paranormal, but enjoy that too so it should be a good blend for me… I might wait til the second is out and see what people think of that then decide :)
ReplyDelete