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Gonna start off by saying that I won this book through Goodreads' First Reads giveaway and was very excited when it came in the mail. Unfortunately I didn't love the book. To be honest, I haven't finished it although I made it more than halfway through, and don't really expect to.
The story is a somewhat confusing tale of a boy coming into his family's power who comes to America to escape the danger that his outcast older brother is creating. Once there he meets a girl (who's awesome male best friend is of course in love with her) and the two form an instant connection. And this is where it fell apart for me. One, I didn't feel that Alec's character was consistent. In the chapters where you read from his point of view he comes across like a shy, modest, boy who is not used to being around other people. Afterall, he's never been to public school or interacted with girls who aren't family before he comes to America. But in his interactions with Amerie when in her head, he comes across very pompous and cocky and totally sure of himself. I just didn't buy it. And two, Rand was just so adorably sweet and Amrie was so horrible to him that I couldn't like her. If your best friend reveals he loves you and you're not sure how you feel about him and are torn, don't get excited to meet a boy just because he has an accent (which is pretty shallow in the first place). And then don't lie to him about having feelings for Alec. And then don't be insensitive to how he feels about you. I just didn't like her. She came across really shallow and self-absorbed.
Also, I felt that the mythology of the story was jumbled and hard to follow. I'm still not sure after 238 pages what the mysticriss is or why the Wizardry is so important in the first place. It just didn't reveal enough in the beginning to keep me hooked. I've been told by the author that all the questions I have get answered in the end but I guess I just needed enough to keep me going.
I probably could have overlooked both of these things and kept reading if only the writing style wasn't so difficult for me. I like a conversational style and this was just very proper and stuffy to me. It almost read like something from a victorian story. But that's personal opinion and it might appeal to others.
Overall, I'd say what I finished was okay, but I have over 200 unread books in my house and after giving this one a whole month I just can't give it anymore time.
Edit: I've recently received a personal message from this author thanking my for my iput. I feel kind of bad because I didn't even finish the book and gave it such a harsh critique so I may be going back to finish it at some point.
