The Lantern’s Ember by Colleen Houck is a standalone young adult read perfect for the fall season. The story is a paranormal fantasy mixed with romance between the characters.

Once human Jack is now a Lantern with it being his job to guard the portal to the Otherworld. Jack is meant to keep those in the Otherworld that belong and those out who do not and Jack has always been good at doing just what he should until he sees Ember.

Seventeen year old Ember is a witch and Jack should have turned her in years ago but instead found himself guarding her and watching her from a distance. Ember finds herself fighting a pull to the Otherworld and against Jack’s warnings she crosses over into the other dimension so Jack has no choice but to follow.

The Lantern’s Ember is another book that I found myself thinking don’t judge a book by it’s cover. It’s not a bad read really but not really what I was expecting either. The story felt a bit middle grade during a lot of it and focused a heck of a lot of the plot on romance instead of the scary read I’d thought I would find. I didn’t quite find myself connecting with the characters the way I should and while there’s action it just wasn’t the dark action I’d expected leaving me a bit meh in the end.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

This book was a pleasant journey to read, not quite the creepy Halloween story I thought it was going to be, but the storyline was still greatly entertaining and relatively new. I think my favorite thing about this book was the subtle hints at Halloween stories everyone knows or creepy tales involving witchcraft or magic. Though there were certainly atmospheric hints of Sleepy Hollow, this book certainly does not read as a retelling at all. I loved the play on Jack's name as pertains to Jack o'Lanterns and how the original story of how they became so popular was mentioned, as well as the weaving of historical events involving "witchcraft" such as they mysterious disappearing town of Roanoke and the witch trials of Salem. I enjoyed most of the characters and all of the steampunk themed inventions were fun to read about. This story does read a little bit more as a middle grade book rather than young adult and the love interest was a little cheesy and insta-lovey in my opinion, but I still found I was able to enjoy the journey this book took me on. This was the perfect book to read to kick off the fall season and would be great to read around Halloween as well.

If there is one thing that Colleen Houck can do well is write an imaginative story rich in lore and detail and her latest release doesn't disappoint.

Full of twists on classic tales and stories as well as old time-y lore, The Lantern's Ember is one that will be sure to capture your attention and hold it to the very last page.

Full of witch craft, magic, and adventure with a slight steam punk edge, this really was a unique story that didn't take long to read and was perfect for a cozy afternoon in the sun and will be perfect for fans looking for a story that has a fun spin on a Halloween classic.

The Lantern’s Ember was an enticing read. From the cover to the synopsis i was very excited to start this book. This is the first book i have read from Colleen Houck and it’s really stunning to read a new author’s words for the first time. The writing in this book is easy to follow, not to detailed and just enough to get the picture. It’s simple and straight to the point and for me that’s a plus. The story was beautiful and a perfect read for Fall. I loved spooky elements to this book such as the Folklore, Magic and paranormal creatures (like i said perfect for Fall) as well as the story written between all those things. The only downside to this for me was that it was written in third-person and was even omniscient as some times. This makes it a little harder for me to get into a book, but i powered through it and thought this was a great read.

Overall ⅘ stars

The minute I saw that The Lantern's Ember had Sleepy Hollow vibes I was hooked. But as someone who adores everything Sleepy Hollow, Halloween, and things that go bump in the night, I had high expectations. This book did not disappoint and from the first page’s gripping descriptions of the setting it put the book on track to be one of my favorites this year. Jack is a 500-year-old lantern who is stationed in a sleepy little town guarding the entrance to Otherworld from anything going in or out. All is going well until the Witch Wind blows and Jack’s existence gets turned upside down. Ember, the girl he is watching, crosses through the gate and monsters threaten to tear the Otherworld apart. The story is fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat. I read it in two sittings. This book was entertaining and certainly got me in the mood for all things fall and spooky. Overall, I adored this story, and can’t wait to pick up Colleen Houck’s other books. The Lantern’s Ember comes out TOMORROW, September 11th!! Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

This wasnt what I was expecting... the main problem I had with this book was it seemed a little juvenile for me and I felt like it was aimed for a younger age group. I also had a problem not connecting to the characters. The writing seemed so distant that I just never really felt like I was immersed in the story.

The Lantern's Ember is a mash-up of spooky folktales, creatures, wrapped up in a steampunk setting, and a cover that promises on something dark and dangerous but fails. Not that it is necessarily a bad thing - it is just that the cover screams goth and the book is jock, you see! The story is about Ember's adventures in Otherworld, a realm that exists alongside the human one, but has all the magical creatures in it, and whose entrances are being guarded by Lanterns like Jack. For Ember, as a strong witch, it is a dangerous place to be, but throwing all caution to the wind, she does exactly that - be in Otherworld.

The world-building is one of the highlights of the book, and blends various folktales and legends like the Headless Horseman, the Roanoke colony, the Boogeyman; it generously leans into the magic of these stories, and constructs a world where they coexist alongside creatures like trolls, vampires, and others. And combining the magical elements with technology has us a nice steampunk setting with modern amenities reflected in there. The Otherworld is technologically advanced, and runs on witch power, something that has been depleted since the ruler of the realm keeps taking witches to sustain himself. Ember, who has unknowingly been in hiding as Jack never reported her presence to his superiors, doesn't know the true extent of the danger to her when entering that world.

And speaking of Ember, it is her stubbornness and carelessness which has her following a stranger, the vampire Dev, into a world she knows nothing about. Jack, who has sought to protect her, and has warned her from ever going there, panics and follows her, while recruiting her childhood friend and amateur engineer Finney to save her before she is noticed by the rulers. As they chase across her across the Otherworld, it becomes evident that someone had wanted her to be there. There are many secondary characters of note, and their minor storylines intersect with her journey. The twist was obvious if you think about it, and the ending was wrapped up well for this standalone, so I can say it at least was a satisfactory finish.

The romance in the book is a let-down. First of all, practically everyone is falling over themselves in love with her. Jack, who has been protecting her since she was a kid, Finney who knows her since childhood and has been crushing on her, Dev, who is looking for a witch rebound from his last relationship - and every other male character who sees her, despite her saying she is plain looking (yeah, right!). There was a good attempt to give dimensions to these characters, but they are so clearly distinct tropes (especially Dev)that it got tiring very fast. Additionally, half the problems were because Ember went headfirst into any situation, thereby her having to be saved by one of her suitors, and the rest were moot because she was such a spontaneously awesome witch that it got pretty much resolved on its own. What I am saying is, the stakes were pretty low and there didn't feel like there is any true danger in this book.

Overall, it is a fun adventure, but lacks depth.

Title: The Lantern’s Ember
Author: Colleen Houck
Genre: YA, fantasy
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Jack made a deal with the devil 500 years ago. He doesn’t remember much about that. Or when he was alive. Now he spends his days as a Lantern, one of the watchmen who guard the portals to the Otherworld, which is full of dangerous creatures. And he watches Ember, a young witch who lives in his town.

Ember is curious about Jack. And the Otherworld. She wants to get to know both. When Jack refuses to take her there, she runs away with a mysterious and charming vampire with ulterior motives. But Jack knows someone powerful is after Ember—and her power—and he’ll stop at nothing to keep her safe.

I loved the steampunk feel of The Lantern’s Ember. And you have to love Jack, the Lantern. That pun alone made it worth the read, along with the Headless Horseman similarities. Ember and Jack both are pretty naïve, but her wonder at the Otherworld shines through every page. A magical read!

New York Times-bestselling author Colleen Houck’s newest novel is The Lantern’s Ember.

(Galley provided by Delacorte Press/Random House Children’s in exchange for an honest review.)

I don’t think that I have ever read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, but I know the basic story. This book is being touted as a fresh spin or re-imagining of this classic, but it really isn’t. The setting and a little bit of the plot at the beginning of the book is similar to the original, but it soon leaves it far behind. It is a good story however, but if you are looking for a retelling of Sleepy Hollow you best look elsewhere.

Once I got the Sleepy Hollow image out of my mind, I quite enjoyed the story. The Otherworld is a fascinating place, that is a little bit steampunk and a little bit horror story. Lots of great characters and creatures fill the pages with excellent descriptions of them. For those of you who hate love triangles, don’t worry there is a love square involved here, although the other two men don’t stand a chance, Ember only has eyes for Jack.

I really enjoyed Jack, the Lantern, and the only character from Sleepy Hollow. He lived a very lonely existence, but did his job of protecting the Otherworld diligently if a bit reluctantly. His one fault is caring too much for the local witch Ember, who he watched grow up. He is loyal to her and sees himself as her protector. And quite literally goes to the ends of the earth to protect her.

I am not sure that I can say that I liked Ember, I found her to be quite trying at times. She could quite strong, clever and put together, but at others I just wanted to shake her and tell her to smarten up. She was smart, but not worldly and couldn’t see what was happening to her until it was too late. Plus every guy she meets falls madly in love with her. Now granted she is a witch and for the most part it is her power that everyone wants, but still.

Deverell was an interesting character, he is a vampire, but they are a different type than in most stories. He did have Ember’s best interests at heart, but he also wanted her for himself and sometimes those two things interfered with how he interacted with her. I loved his pirate vampire sister, Delilah and wished that we saw a bit more of her in the story.

Finney is the human boy that helps Jack find Ember. I really liked him and was rooting for Ember to appreciate him more and fall in love with him. He was nerdy but sweet, and at times offered a bit of humor to the darker parts of the story.

The plot was a bit of a mixed bag for me. It was good in the middle, but I struggled with the beginning and the ending seemed really rushed and a little bit cliched. The Otherworld is what really keeps you interested in the story. There are so many interesting things and creatures and people that Ember and her group meet, that you really want to learn more about them and the world they live in. Also the concept of the Lanterns and how and why they exist is a fascinating take on mythology.

Even with it’s faults I still liked the story. I enjoy this author’s writing style and her take on some of the halloween mythologies was interesting. Also the interesting world and some of the characters were enough to keep you reading.

I received a copy of this book thanks to Netgalley and Delacorte Press in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you Netgalley.

I don’t quite know what to say about this book. My thoughts are just so all over the place. I didn’t love it (especially not as much as I love her Tigers Curse series), but I also didn’t hate it. The reviews are abysmal, and frankly disappointing. Yes, there is a love… square? But its not your typical love entanglement where the girl is indecisive and can’t make up her mind and leads the guys on. All of the guys are in love with her, and she has always only had eyes for one of them. Jack can be bossy, Dev can be a douch, and Finney is just amazing. Each character has their own personal flaw, but overall they’re a wonderful eclectic cast of people.

I really like the incorporation of the Roanoke mystery that happened in North Carolina, and that technological advancements are due to the Otherworld and bleed over into the Mortal world. I liked that most of the characters had more to them than met the eye. I wasn’t overly fond of Ember’s persistent behavior in the beginning and the fact that she just wouldn’t listen to Jack, but why she was that way became clear to the reader later. I honestly didn’t expect the ending, at least one half of it. I’m unsure if this is a duology or standalone, but I left the book interested enough to give a second book a try.

I was given an eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

I fell in love with Colleen Houck's Tiger's Curse saga in middle school.. I read the books once, was obsessed, and then read the series a second, third, and fourth time. Collen Houck has a beautiful way of infusing so much history and mythological lore into her novels in exciting and contemporary ways. If you read any of her novels, expect some hot, hunky male characters, a mass of amazing beasts from the mythology of cultures all over the world, relatable heroines, page-turning adventures, epic battles, heart-wrenching scenes, and beautiful romance.

The Lantern's Ember is no different.

It was a bit difficult to read at the beginning. I was a little confused about how the Otherworld worked and the roles of the Lantern characters that Houck has created. I had to go back multiple times to make sense of how things in the world actually worked.

The Otherworld was truly a masterpiece. I loved the strangeness of it, and how much it seemed to incorporate steampunk elements. I enjoyed looking at it through Ember's eyes. This was an interesting concept that Colleen Houck pulled off spectacularly.

Jack was my favorite male character in this novel. I loved the way he's described in the novel, all mysterious but still hurting deep down. And I really enjoyed the banter and chemistry between him and Ember.

Ember was a really interesting heroine to delve into. She's not like the other main female characters in Houck's other books. Ember has this amazing sarcastic flair around some of the other characters. She's sassy and confident, teases people left and right, and has an interesting way of using her witch magic to get out of situations. I loved reading about her. She was interesting and quite relatable.

The other male characters were interesting too, although I wasn't necessarily rooting for them to end up with Ember, and that's entirely a 'me' thing. Usually the first male character we meet is the one I sort of automatically choose to support in their romantic endeavors. I'm also not a big fan of love triangles, so anyone who isn't a fan of this trope might feel like this novel isn't for them. I'll just say that the romance isn't necessarily upfront in the story. It's not the main genre and it isn't given as much detail as you might think. Really it's more of an adventure.

I think a lot of people were disappointed that this book wasn't "scary". Just because it has Halloween elements and incorporates monsters, ghouls, witches, etc. doesn't have to make it paranormal and terrifying. This book is light, fun, and almost whimsical in a way. I like what it does with spooky elements- gives us the lore with a light twist. It was kind of like Halloweentown meets steampunk.

This book is a light and fun read. It's one of those that doesn't necessarily stay in your mind long after reading, but it occupies your time with epic adventure and relatable characters!

I hate when I have such high expectations for an author and I'm let down. After the Tiger series and even falling into the Reawakened series I am fan of Colleen's work. This story however was a DNF for me....
I slogged through the first seven chapters hoping Ember would get less annoyingly naive. Don't get me wrong I'm all for a fair amount of naivete, this just bordered on Disney channel saccharine sweet that made me not want to finish. Maybe it's someone else's cup of tea.

I totally loved this story the descriptions of the various steampunk items in the otherworld was done so perfectly that i could picture them clearly. I did feel that at first Ember did not fit with the idea of a 17 year old more like a 13 or 14 year old but by the time she gets done in the otherworld she comes into her own. I really was routing for jack to be with ember and i like the fact that this not just a story about a witch in love with a lantern. This is also a story about a world on a brink of failing, a love story between vampires, werewolves and witches, a story about magic and heartache. I think colleen wove a fantastical tale based on a story we all know and love. Her spin on it was a delight to read.

A very enjoyable read! The story revolves around a young witch, Ember, and a lantern, Jack, who monitors one of the crossroads between the mortal world and the Otherworld. Jack watches over Ember as she is growing up and becomes very fond of her. Ember gets through the crossroads to the Otherworld, feeling as if something is drawing here there. Interesting , adventurous and with a bit of romance and steampunk, too.

Just finished Colleen Houck's "The Lantern's Ember." I enjoyed this fantastical reimagining of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow at least that's what I thought of as I read it. We meet Jack, a lantern. He is a guardian of the crossroads. He is always on the look out for things that go bump in the night to return them to the Otherland. Jack has been a lantern for over 500 years. During this time, he has been commissioned to also watch for witches. He is suppose to report any witch he comes across to his boss, Rune. Up until Jack meets Ember, a young witch, who lives near his crossroads, Jack has never shirked his duties as a lantern. Ember causes Jack to start to question everything. He watches her grow from a child to a beautiful young woman. He guides her on her way. Ember starts to feel a calling or beckoning to go to the Otherworld. The Otherworld is beyond the veil. It is where the monsters live so to speak. Once Ember enters the Otherworld, Jack is sure to follow. We are then introduced to some familiar creatures from folklore: werewolves, vampires, sea monsters, witches, ghosts and more. This more a tale about love than horror. It is a budding love that blossoms. The Otherworld is a bit of a Steampunk setting with Witchlight being the power of all things mechanical. In the other books that I've read by Colleen Houck, there is always this underlying romance between two ill-fated characters. It remains me of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." Will it end in death? You will have to read it to find out.

I've been a long-time reader of Colleen Houck's and she has never failed to produce a book that I have LOVED. Ever. And, the streak continues.

This book, however, seemed to me a little different that her usual works. It still had the romance, adventure, and intrigue of her stories--as well as her standard well-planned plotline...But, this book had an entirely different feel... If that even makes sense.

I honestly felt like fall was here, reading this story. It made me think of fall leaves, pumpkin-spiced things, warm blankets, and Halloween! All things that make me happy!

The characters were endearing. Ember, she may not be my favorite heroine that Colleen has written, but she rang of innocence and sweetness. And she most definitely was a character that grew throughout the story.

My favorite of all the characters would be Jack, however. A true moral compass, admirable loyalty, and a kind heart--yet, also full of surprises!

I'm fairly certain this is a stand-alone. However, I'm sincerely hoping it's not. I would love to get a look at some of the side characters in the future. Either way, I will be reading this one every year around this time to bring me that fall feeling.

Another excellent work from Ms. Houck! I can't wait to see what she'll bring next!

Jack has spent 500 years guarding the portals to the Otherworld in order to ensure that no one passes from the mortal plane. He is very successful at this job until Ember O’Dare comes on the scene. Ember is a natural-born witch who feels the need to go to the Otherworld and when she goes against Jack’s advice and travels there with a vampire, the adventure truly begins. Will Jack be able to get Ember back to the mortal world safely? How can someone save a strong-willed young lady who doesn’t want to be saved?

The Lantern’s Ember is a stand-alone novel that attempts to explain some natural and not so natural folklore. Houck has developed a cast of characters that are wide in their characteristics, yet easy to relate to. Scenes that seem inconsequential in the first half of the book have far-reaching effects toward the end, so readers should make sure they don’t gloss over those first few chapters. The Lantern’s Ember is a fun fantasy adventure that will leave readers feeling satisfied even though it isn’t a long series.

Five hundred years ago, Jack made a deal with the devil. It’s difficult for him to remember much about his mortal days. So, he focuses on fulfilling his sentence as a Lantern—one of the watchmen who guard the portals to the Otherworld, a realm crawling with every nightmarish creature imaginable. Jack has spent centuries jumping from town to town, ensuring that nary a mortal—or not-so-mortal—soul slips past him. That is, until he meets beautiful Ember O’Dare. 

I received this book in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley. I was drawn to this book by the gorgeous cover and the autumn-based mythology surrounding the Jack O'Lantern. It may still be Summer, but I'm craving the Fall so so bad! I was looking forward to jumping into the haunted, spooky world of The Lantern's Ember. 

Jack is a mysterious and brooding main character. I enjoyed learning about his history and his position with Run as a Lantern for the Otherworld. I also like Ember, who is a charismatic and lovable mirror to Jack. I wasn't expecting to like the switching of Point of View between Jack and Ember, but it definitely enhanced the tension between the two characters and the others in the book. I also enjoyed the relationships between Jack, Ember and the other characters in the book. Rune's relationship with Jack was especially intriguing. 

The Otherworld is extremely vivid, terrifying and chilling in all it's Halloween-esque and monster-infused glory. I loved diving into this unique place and getting to explore it with Jack and Ember. However, the real world that the story starts in and that Ember is from, falls flat  by comparison. In the beginning of the book I constantly asked myself not only where am I, but when am I? While Jack's perspective lead me to believe we were based in the current year, Ember's language and references led to believe that we're in a much earlier year. While the entirety of the novel doesn't take place in our world, it definitely distracted me in the beginning. 

While the summary and hook of this book promised a fast-paced and exciting story line, I felt like the story, in reality was much slow than I'd anticipated. I was about 20% of the way into the story before what I felt like the true plot was really began. The story really picked up after that point but I was disappointed with the amount of time it took to get to the point that I actually felt invested and excited about the story. 

The Lantern's Ember has excellent characters and an exciting setting in The Otherworld. If you enjoy Supernatural and Halloween, you'll love the character-driven and tension-high story in this book. The author is excellent at writing point of view characters and has created a truly unique world. I struggled with the pacing of the novel and some aspects of the setting.

[Review will be posted on Reader Voracious Blog on 8/29/18.]

Friends, I was really excited for The Lantern's Ember from the moment I saw this stunning cover and read the synopsis, and I was so excited to get an opportunity to read an advanced copy for review. While the book started strong and appeared to be full of spooky folklore, overall it unfortunately this book did not live up to my expectations as it quickly descended into drama, angst, and a predictable plot. While it is a fast read, I found the characters to be one-dimensional and mostly unlikable, lacking growth, and I was left wanting more about the characters and the world.

The premise of this book is so interesting: the Otherworld is a realm where all those creatures that we thought were fictional live. Goblins, werewolves, vampires, and more are all real! The worldbuilding for tinkers and the technological advances that the Otherworld has made with the harnessing of witchlight was really interesting but I found that outside of the witchlight the worldbuilding was nonexistant.

The synopsis led me to believe that Jack's past and his five hundred years of experience as a Lantern would play a bigger role than it did. I was drawn in by the idea of his role as a gatekeeper of the Otherworld, and quite frankly I am a sucker for stories that involve characters that have long lives... there is something so interesting about watching a character see cultural change and this is something that I think was definitely missing.

Ember O'Dare is an orphaned witch that lives in a town near Jack's Crossroads. He's been watching her from afar ever since she was a young child, and while she hadn't seen him she always felt his presence and protection. I thought it was kind of cute how she kept trying to entice him to show himself to her, and their interactions throughout the book honestly are the only characters that I liked. I love strong female characters, but there is a fine line between strong and indignant and she gets herself into huge messes because she thinks she knows everything when she knows nothing. Like 90% of me reading this book was screaming at her being like "oh, I didn't know it was so dangerous" when she literally had been told repeatedly that it was dangerous. Ugh she frustrated me to no end.

The third-person omniscient narrative style constantly shifts perspectives between the characters (often mid-page), and as a result I never really felt connected to any of the characters. I would have expected Ember and Jack to be the main characters, perhaps with dual-POV storytelling from their perspectives, but I found the narration a jumbled mess that was at times difficult to follow. The story may have been stronger with a more dedicated narrative perspective.

While the book's blurb definitely is accurate, I feel that it was a bit misleading as so much of the actual narrative seemed to center around romantic feelings. There was kind of a love rectangle and it was kind of weird as none of the characters were really developed. While I am not a huge fan of the romance genre, I do not mind it as part of the story but it kind of grated my nerves - particularly Dev's character, who I found to be incredibly obsessive and possessive.

All of the characters in this book were essentially the embodiment of a trope: Ember is "not like anyone else," Dev is the "Edward Cullen kind of obsessed love interest," Finney is the "guy in love with his best friend," and Jack is the "honorable love interest that wants what is best." The characters do not really act outside of their trope and are largely unchanged at the end of the book.

I really enjoyed how folk legends such as the lost colony at Roanoke, the Headless Horseman, and the boogeyman were "explained" in this fictional world, and like I previously said I really loved the concept of the Otherworld! I just wish that more time had been dedicated to worldbuilding and that there was a clear narrative POV - I think that would have made this story a lot stronger. Honestly the "twist" at the end I picked up on at the beginning of the book so I was hardly surprised (except that it was meant to be a twist lol).

The theme of life and what makes it worth living is there in the text, especially given that most of the characters are otherworlder's that have had long lives. It is most evident with Jack and his life as a lantern, one that he would not have chosen for himself. "Maybe the purpose of life is to experience those things, however fleeting. I'll never know now what my life might have been."

Overall I found The Lantern's Ember to be an interesting story with a lot of promise but lacking in character development. Since I read an ARC it is possible that some additional editing happened and some of the issues I had could be addressed in the finished copy. I think if you go in expecting it to be an angsty romance with some steampunk & fantasy elements you will enjoy this book. Honestly it kind of reminds me a lot of Twilight, which I didn't like, so if you enjoy that kind of story this may be for you. This book is a standalone (which I really appreciate because they are so rare in YA fantasy) and truly wraps up everything at the end with a neat little bow (which seemed too perfect but honestly is the least of my issues here).

Many thanks to the publisher for providing me an electronic advanced reader copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I was so excited to read this book because it seemed like the perfect spooky book for the fall season or Halloween, and the premise sounded super interesting, but I was so disappointed with the story and the character that I ended up being mad. There was hardly anything that I enjoyed about The Lantern's Ember, and I was so sad about that.

I found the story and the narrative so juvenile to be a young adult book. The characters were very naïve and childish, and overall the tone wasn't what I hoped it would be. I was expecting a dark, eerie book, and there was nothing spooky about it whatsoever. It was a very lineal and plain story, and though I wanted to DNF it multiple times while reading it, because I wasn't enjoying it, I wanted to do a review about it, so I kept reading The Lantern's Ember with hopes that the ending would redeemed the book a bit for me, but that wasn't the case.

The story had a nice start. We learnt a bit what was going on and about the characters, but from then on it went downhill. It hardly had a plot and some things were super inconsistent, and I didn't really understand the character's behavior. It was fast paced and it took me not long to finish it, but it was one of those stories where the concept was super intriguing but the development wasn't that great or remarkable.

The characters weren't my favorites. They were so simple and plain and like every other characters I've read in other previous books. Their interactions were super cringy sometimes, and their interactions and dynamics were a bit forced and rushed. There was a love triangle that basically came out of nowhere, and because I wasn't the biggest fan of Jack or Ember, I didn't particularly care about their relationship throughout the story.

I feel the romance was quite insta lovey and unrealistic, and some of the things the characters did throughout the story didn't relate to the characters' personalities, and were a bit weird and odd to me. The ending was just so strange and had hardly anything to do with the rest of the story, and I hated it.

As much as I didn't like the characters, I was hoping to learn more about the Otherworld and magic and world systems in general, but they weren't addressed in the book, which left me quite confused. It's like the author threw us into this magical world and expected us to know what was going on, and I was hoping to see a much complex world, after the characters and the plot being so weak to me.

Overall, I was super disappointed with this book. I had such high hopes and the synopsis sounded so unique and cool, but it ended up being such an unremarkable story, with very plain characters that had almost no evolution, and relationships that were cringy and juvenile.