Hello there guys!
This week's Saturday Pages is a bit later than usual because I was supposed to write this review last night, but I was way too tired to write a coherent review for it!
I was so surprised in the best way when Simon Pulse approved my request for Compulsion on Edelweiss! Thank you so much Simon & Schuster! I finally got to read it during my flight from Chicago to Atlanta on my way back home from vacation. As an ARC it counts towards my 2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge!
Compulsion by Martina Boone
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I fell in love with the cover for Compulsion and the very intriguing summary, so when I was approved by Simon Pulse via Edelweiss for an eARC I was elated!
I really enjoyed the story and the setting, even though if I felt as frustrated as Barrie was in the beginning, because you feel like there's so much more behind all that is presented at first and you need to know!
Barrie is a girl that might have been a bit hard to understand, given the way she was raised and what she was dealing with, a dead mother and a dying godfather that sent her to the place her mother was born and lived and where whatever is left of her blood family lives. Watson Island, and she is a Watson. She has social anxiety, and isn't used to change, so all the new people and the changes she has to face by leaving the only home she ever know are extremely hard on her.
There are so many unknowns for her, about her family history, the history of the small town and of the three families that were the founders of the town, the Watsons, the Beauforts and the Colesworths. She tries to make her own choices without letting the generations old prejudices colour her opinions, but she discovers that there's more than just prejudices and that the "compulsions" are as real for the others as it is for her, with her "finding lost things" gift (or curse).
I loved the atmosphere and finding out about the history of the three families and the legends and reasons behind the different curses/gifts. I kept turning pages quickly hoping to get more hints and more insight and I was a bit annoyed at the swoon-worthy Eight Beaufort and Aunt Pru for failing to realize than information is power and you can't expect Barrie to like being in the dark!
Barrie might be trying to overcompensate on her anxiety by being rather rash and headstrong a few times, and that ends up landing her in situations that are rather dangerous. With what she doesn't know and how she seems to be determined to not listen... well, she gets a few hard lessons and finds herself entering bargains that she doesn't know the first thing about!
Barrie and Eight (no, that's really not his name, but everyone calls him that; yes, it took me a while to stop either snickering or rolling my eyes at seeing Eight as a name, even if it's not a name; and yes, it makes sense him being called Eight) have a great teasing and flirting relationship, and even though at some point you feel like pushing their heads together and say "KISS ALREADYYYY!!!", it is a fun relationship to see develop.
We don't get all the answers, and given that this is the first book in a trilogy, it does make sense. But we do get quite a bit of information and we get resolution for a few of the family mysteries and ghosts in Watson's Landing.
A great read that will have you turning pages and rooting for Barrie and Eight and a few mysteries that you won't see coming too easily. Very well deserved 4 stars and I cannot wait for Persuasion!
View all my reviews
This week's Saturday Pages is a bit later than usual because I was supposed to write this review last night, but I was way too tired to write a coherent review for it!
I was so surprised in the best way when Simon Pulse approved my request for Compulsion on Edelweiss! Thank you so much Simon & Schuster! I finally got to read it during my flight from Chicago to Atlanta on my way back home from vacation. As an ARC it counts towards my 2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge!
Compulsion by Martina BooneMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I fell in love with the cover for Compulsion and the very intriguing summary, so when I was approved by Simon Pulse via Edelweiss for an eARC I was elated!
I really enjoyed the story and the setting, even though if I felt as frustrated as Barrie was in the beginning, because you feel like there's so much more behind all that is presented at first and you need to know!
Barrie is a girl that might have been a bit hard to understand, given the way she was raised and what she was dealing with, a dead mother and a dying godfather that sent her to the place her mother was born and lived and where whatever is left of her blood family lives. Watson Island, and she is a Watson. She has social anxiety, and isn't used to change, so all the new people and the changes she has to face by leaving the only home she ever know are extremely hard on her.
There are so many unknowns for her, about her family history, the history of the small town and of the three families that were the founders of the town, the Watsons, the Beauforts and the Colesworths. She tries to make her own choices without letting the generations old prejudices colour her opinions, but she discovers that there's more than just prejudices and that the "compulsions" are as real for the others as it is for her, with her "finding lost things" gift (or curse).
I loved the atmosphere and finding out about the history of the three families and the legends and reasons behind the different curses/gifts. I kept turning pages quickly hoping to get more hints and more insight and I was a bit annoyed at the swoon-worthy Eight Beaufort and Aunt Pru for failing to realize than information is power and you can't expect Barrie to like being in the dark!
Barrie might be trying to overcompensate on her anxiety by being rather rash and headstrong a few times, and that ends up landing her in situations that are rather dangerous. With what she doesn't know and how she seems to be determined to not listen... well, she gets a few hard lessons and finds herself entering bargains that she doesn't know the first thing about!
Barrie and Eight (no, that's really not his name, but everyone calls him that; yes, it took me a while to stop either snickering or rolling my eyes at seeing Eight as a name, even if it's not a name; and yes, it makes sense him being called Eight) have a great teasing and flirting relationship, and even though at some point you feel like pushing their heads together and say "KISS ALREADYYYY!!!", it is a fun relationship to see develop.
We don't get all the answers, and given that this is the first book in a trilogy, it does make sense. But we do get quite a bit of information and we get resolution for a few of the family mysteries and ghosts in Watson's Landing.
A great read that will have you turning pages and rooting for Barrie and Eight and a few mysteries that you won't see coming too easily. Very well deserved 4 stars and I cannot wait for Persuasion!
View all my reviews
Wow, this book isn't my usual read but it sounds like a really fascinating family saga with ghosts and legends! It would definitely be interesting with the different families and how they act towards each other, although the relationship dragged out a bit too much. Hope you continue getting your answers in the next few books!
ReplyDeleteAnd I think there's a lot more to come in the next books! I'm quite excited to get more answers!
DeleteThank you Jeann!
I really liked this one as well! I definitely wanted more from the romance, but the slow-build burn was well-done :D Excellent review, Pili!
ReplyDeleteAlyssa @ The Eater of Books!
Thank you Alyssa!
DeleteAw, yay :D I'm glad you loved this book Pili. <3 I have seen so much about it. I still don't know if I want to read it or not :p Heard bunch of awesome things. Bunch of negative things. Hmph. But I do want it, hih :) Thank you for sharing sweetie. <3
ReplyDeleteI've read mixed reviews too, but the biggest complains were that the characterizations of Southern people was not done well, and since I'm not from there I cannot know and it can't really bother me... Barrie can be a bit infuriating but there is no love triangle! Just give it a chance at some point sweetie and see if you like it!
DeleteI really want to read this book. It sounds great, and also, the cover is so pretty!!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to meet Eight!
Great review, Pili!
The cover is such a stunner, isn't it??
DeleteI cannot wait to hear what you think of this one Lis!
I've been trying to win this book. I didn't request it on Edelweiss because with the name, and the cover, I thought it was a Contemporary Romance at first, lol. I saw some chatter on Twitter about it and went to Goodreads to read the synopsis and found out it was something that would interest me. If I don't end up with a copy by the time my review tbr calms down, I'll get it from the library (or hope for a good ebook deal). I am happy to hear that you liked it.
ReplyDeleteI do hope you'll get one Linda!! I'll keep my fingers crossed!
DeleteI really liked this one, although I only gave it a 4 out of 5 as well. Great review!
ReplyDeleteWe gave it the same rating, Lisa!
DeleteGreat review! I really loved Compulsion, too! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Hannah!
Delete