Title: The Crow Box
Author: Nikki Rae
Genre: New Adult Dark Paranormal Romance
Published: January 15, 2016
Series: Shadow and Ink #1
My rating: ★★★
SynopsisThe small wooden box is dirty, the size of a human fist, and sealed with wax. When Corbin takes it upon herself to clean it and break the seal, a voice she has tried to ignore gathers strength. Shadows play on the walls at night, and with a family history of mental illness, Corbin fears the worst. But the voice tells her it is real. That its name is Six and it will prove it in time.
Drawn to this mysterious entity, Corbin isn’t sure what to believe and the line between reality and her imagination blurs more every day.
Some doors should not be opened; can this one be closed?
My Review I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.A paper plane.
At the beginning of its journey, it flies high in the sky, slowly losing its strength and falling to the ground.
The Crow Box reminded me of a paper plane. By use of this analogy, I am referring to the book’s ability to hold my interest and NOT the quality. Let me explain this a little further.
The story revolves around a girl who hears a mysterious voice inside of her head claiming to be more than just her imagination. A girl who is attracted to, as well as confused and maybe a little scared by the sudden appearance of the voice.
It was an intriguing story which had me captivated in the beginning because of the suspense and mystery. But, as the story progressed, I found that none of the questions that had arisen were being answered. Instead, more questions just kept popping up. When I was 60% in the book, I still had no idea where it was headed.. That’s not a very good sign.
Another thing that’s been troubling me is the relevance and emergence of the box. Maybe this is answered in the next book, maybe it is not but I just have to put it out there. The box came into the picture with Corbin’s mom finding it in a garage sale. Pretty random, right? Now, considering the voice is connected with the box, it would make sense for it to follow the object and for Corbin to start hearing the voice AFTER acquiring the object. BUT, that was not the case. Corbin was already hearing the voice without ever procuring the box. So, what if someone else had bought the box? What if Corbin had never come into contact with it?
The acquisition of the box appeared extremely random to me and I sincerely hope that it has a logical explanation given in the next book.
That said, there are also things that I love about the book. I have not randomly given it three stars.
I loved the easy flow that the story possessed, I loved the writing style (especially when it comes to romance) of the author and most importantly, I loved Corbin and Six together even though I am highly skeptical about Six’s intentions.
All in all it was a good book. Even though it has its flaws, it has successfully pushed me towards reading the next book.
A Talk With Nikki Rae
Nikki Rae is an independent author who lives in New Jersey. She explores human nature through fiction, concentrating on making the imaginary as real as possible. Her genres of choice are mainly dark, scary, romantic tales, but she’ll try anything once. When she is not writing, reading, or thinking, you can find her spending time with animals, drawing in a quiet corner, or studying people. Closely.
Why do you write?
I write because honestly, I feel weird when I don’t. If you have a story in you, characters, plots, imagery, it becomes pretty hard to keep it all inside and at some point it has to come out in some way.
What is your writing process? Do you listen to music while writing or do you prefer silence?
I write mostly late at night when no one is around. I like to have it cold for some reason, and I pile on sweatshirts and a hat and put something on TV for background noise, but I’ve never really been able to write with music on.
What do you consider to be the most rewarding part of a writer’s life?
Readers! I love getting feedback from people who have read what I’ve written. If they connect in some way to what I’ve done, I know I’m on the right track.
