This book was far from what I had expected.
It is, I guess, a Paranormal/Mystery/Young Adult book. It is about a high school girl named Mica who just lost her mother, and travels back to her mothers home to collect her belongings and unbeknownst to her uncover the secrets of Sleepy Hollow.
Here is the NetGalley description:
***
Tragedy has brought Micaela Burgos back to her hometown of Sleepy Hollow. It’s been six years since she chose to live with her affluent father in Miami instead of her history-obsessed eccentric mother. And now her mother is dead.
But while Sleepy Hollow was made immortal by literature, the town is real. So are its prejudices and hatred, targeting Mica’s Cuban family and the secrets of their heritage that her mother obsessed over. But ghostly voices whisper in the wind, questioning whether her mother’s death might not have been an accident after all, and Mica knows there’s a reason she’s here.
With the help of two very different guys—who pull at her heart in very different ways—Micaela must uncover the hidden secret of Sleepy Hollow…before she meets her mother’s fate.
***
This book had some details that I really enjoyed, it has historical facts, speculation, and does a really good job of analyzing and quoting Washington Irving’s Sleepy Hollow. It does a masterful job of capturing the essence of teenagers (which may have actually worked against the book in a way, I’ll explain further down) from the douchey Bram to the sterotypical teen girl who is Mica.
Other than that it doesn’t do much. It’s over ambitious, it has too much stuff going on in the background. Too many relationships, old friends, family friends, and pointless minor characters that cloud up the main plot. We jump around constantly and don’t fully understand what we’re searching for until we’re seventy five percent through the book.
Bram, Mica’s old friend and one of her love interests, is an ass, and one of the reasons I dislike this book. He seems to be so obsessed with her but then says crap like, “Which currently is in this stupid garden while HollowEve is going on, but whatever, no beef. I’m here for you. Let’s get this done.” He is always trying to ‘help’ and ‘prove’ himself but honestly he’s a jerk, and typical teenage boy who has other things to do, that are far more important.
The next thing I disliked about this was the childishness of the main character. She was very dependent on the men in her life. She constantly called her dad, even though he wouldn’t answer, she practically needed Bram to breathe, and Dane, her other interest, was constantly being brought up, even in front of Bram. She was too kid-like for my taste. Then during one of her many boring inner monologues she said, “Crud, crap, lies.” Trust me as a 20 year old who only very recently emerged from teenhood, I would not have said ‘crud’ or ‘crap’.
I had to force myself to read this book because I kept telling myself it would get better. Trust me it doesn’t, and the ending messes with you and leaves you feeling unsatisfied. It’s aimed for teens, but I feel like maybe a middle schooler would get more enjoyment from it.
2/5 Because I loved the knowledge of history and literature, the plot had potential, but it was too busy and some of the character aspects really bugged me.
Advertisements Share this:
- More
