Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Betwixt by Tara Bray Smith Book Review

Betwixt by Tara Bray Smith
(Little Brown, Hardcover)
Rating:

I read this book a few months ago and forgot to write notes about it, so bear with me. To give you an idea of the plot, here's the excerpt from the back of the book:

"Beautiful Morgan D'Amici wakes in her trailerpark home with dirt and blood under her fingernails. Paintings come alive under Ondine Mason's violet-eyed gaze. Haunted runaway Nix Saint-Michael sees halos of light around people about to die. At a secret summer rave, the three teenagers learn of their true, changeling nature and their uncertain, intertwined destinies."

If you liked A Great & Terrible Beauty, Tithe, or Wicked Lovely, you'll like this book. Odine was my favorite character - I especially liked how paintings seemed alive when Odine looks at them. She was a little more fleshed out than the other main characters, maybe because the book started with her. I usually cling to whatever character a book starts out with...do you do that? I'm giving this book only two stars because it was hard for me to keep track of all the characters at first and because, well, after a few months the details just fade away.

Oh, and let's talk about the cover for a second...it kinda turns me off. Maybe because it's an ugly bright yellow with tints of green. What do you think? "Yay" or "No Way" on the cover?

7 comments:

  1. The cover is, frankly, hideous...

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  2. With only two stars, I was expecting an unfavorable review but it sounds like you enjoyed it well enough. That's good because I have it in my TBR.

    As for the cover, it enticed me to pick it up. I think it's interesting. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. ;-)

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  3. Definitely no way. The color is jarring and the image looks like one of those Rorshach inkblots.

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  4. I definitely enjoyed it...I just can't remember the details very well. Although, I have a horrible memory when it comes to books, so it's probably not a reflection of the writing.

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  5. I think the cover is more disturbing (and somehow because of that a bit compelling) than ugly, although the yellow is a bit much.

    I just finished this book yesterday, and had sort of the same thoughts you did, but maybe I didn't enjoy it as much. The characters seemed flat but the author still had to give every detail of their lives at the beginning, which made the story take *forever* to get going. Then all the stuff about dust and pets and basically all the teens' powers confused me. The climax was pretty good, and the end leaves you wondering, but it just wasn't what I expected. I'll probably try reading the sequel(s) when they are released, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'll finish them.

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  6. I read the book, but i didn't like it that much. I couldn't connect with the characters very well and had trouble following the plot. It didn't interest me as much as I thought it would.

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  7. the edition i read had a different cover that i have to admit is way more attractive than the one you have pictured. I enjoyed the book but it wasnt as good as i expected it to be and at times i was so confused it just wasnt funny. is dust just a drug? so what is morgans power thing? and is ondine's only thing that she is half fay and half human? i got nix's ring thing though...

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Like it, love it, or really hate it? Leave a comment and let me know. I love hearing from other people! And if you'd like to email me, my email address is emsbookshelf@gmail.com.

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