Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (2009)
Pages: 360
Content: L- None, S- Kissing, V- Mild
Recommended Age: 13+
Source: Dorchester County Library
Front Flap Description
Wyldcliffe Abbey School for Young Ladies, housed in a Gothic mansion on the bleak northern moors, is elite, expensive, and unwelcoming. When Evie Johnson is torn away from her home by the sea to become the newest scholarship student, she is more isolated than she could have dreamed. Strict teachers, snobbish students, and the oppressive atmosphere of Wyldcliffe leave Evie drowning in loneliness.
Evie's only lifeline is Sebastian, a rebellious, mocking, dangerously attractive young man she meets by chance. As Evie's feelings for Sebastian grow with each secret meeting, she starts to fear that he is hiding something about his past. And she is haunted by glimpses of a strange, ghostly girl--a girl who is so eerily like Evie, she could be a sister. Evie is slowly drawn into a tangled web of past and present that she cannot control. And as the extraordinary, elemental forces of Wyldcliffe rise up like the mighty sea, Evie is faced with an astounding truth about Sebastian, and her own incredible fate.
My Thoughts
Let's start with the good. I loved the atmosphere- the moors, the sea, the old abbey, the lake, the ruins. It was such a darkly romantic setting and I longed to wander the grounds at night. This was enhanced by the language of the story, which flowed nicely- the imagery was beautiful, the descriptions and dialogue felt natural, and it was easy to forget the words on the page and just get lost in the story. I also enjoyed the main character, Evie's, interactions with the other students. Her friendships and enemyships rang true and I could empathize with her loneliness in coming to a new, strange school so far away from home. I also appreciated how neatly intertwined the stories of the past were with the stories of the present- a difficult task for an author and one executed well.
I did, however, have a few difficulties with this book. The major issue for me was Evie's relationship with Sebastian. I never trusted him, I never felt that he was a good enough person to form a romantic bond with, and I could not understand why Evie became so immediately attached to him, apart from the fact that she was lonely and he was handsome and intriguing.
Another problem was with the interspersed journal entries of Lady Agnes from the 1800's. They did draw nice and, as it turned out, integral parallels with the story happening in the present, but I felt that they were sometimes too long and too frequent, thus detracting from the momentum of the main storyline. They also tended to reveal too much information too early, so that the reader understood what was happening with Evie way before she caught on.
My final issue may be one more of taste than execution. As far as fantasy is concerned, witches and ghosts are definitely not my favorite supernatural beings, and as this book focused heavily on both, I did not find it as interesting as other types of stories. (Just to be clear, I'm not biased against all books containing witches and ghosts- I love Harry Potter and that series contains many of both. I also thought Paula Morris's Ruined was a good ghost story. But the ones in HP were fun. I'm not into covens of witches who call on the elements and perform sacred rites and such- just not my thing).
While I wrote far more about the negative elements of the story than the positive, that does not mean that I didn't think it was good. I did enjoy it and definitely thought it was worth reading once. But I think the story ended in a fine place and I'm not going to bother with the sequel if there is one.
Rating
3.5/5
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