by Rebekah L. Purdy
Book: Stand Alone
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Pub Date: Sept 2 2014
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: eBook
Source: NetGalley
Book Links: Goodreads Amazon
An engrossing, complex, romantic fantasy perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore or Maggie Stiefvater, set in a wholly unique world.
Salome Montgomery fears winter—the cold, the snow, the ice, but most of all, the frozen pond she fell through as a child. Haunted by the voices and images of the strange beings that pulled her to safety, she hasn't forgotten their warning to "stay away." For eleven years, she has avoided the winter woods, the pond, and the darkness that lurks nearby. But when failing health takes her grandparents to Arizona, she is left in charge of maintaining their estate. This includes the "special gifts" that must be left at the back of the property.
Salome discovers she’s a key player in a world she’s tried for years to avoid. At the center of this world is the strange and beautiful Nevin, who she finds trespassing on her family’s property. Cursed with dark secrets and knowledge of the creatures in the woods, his interactions with Salome take her life in a new direction. A direction where she'll have to decide between her longtime crush Colton, who could cure her fear of winter. Or Nevin who, along with an appointed bodyguard, Gareth, protects her from the darkness that swirls in the snowy backdrop. An evil that, given the chance, will kill her.
My Review: Salome had done well to avoid the winter woods. But after being in charge of her grandparent's home, she is about to head back to those woods. Salome has magic around her all the time and she is about to jump into that world.
Doing her chores that her grandma wants her to do, it leads her into the woods. She does it because she asked, no matter how much the winter has scarred her. There is also three guys we get to meet and you can probably imagine the love triangle. The good guy, the bad guy, the protective one, the mysterious one. You know the usual. But, these three guys were better developed than some I have read in a love triangle, so Rebekah did a super awesome job with that! She feels for each guy, but which one would be the best? Who can she go to when the voices are stronger and she has no idea what to do and how to deal with it.
Salome doesn't exactly get a break here. She already fears winter, and now this winter she may lose her life if she doesn't stay focused. Having a family curse can really suck. Salome has to take all the fight she has a make it through the winter, or just let it take her life. Salome is an amazing character and I loved watching her become strong and pull through everything. Despite the past about what winter has done to her, and no matter what, you'll feel for her and keep rooting until the very end. Plus, it could have gone smoother if the boys would just tell her everything right away. They knew so much about this world and it wasn't far to keep her in the dark about things. Salome is the one who has everything riding on her, so why not just spill! I mean come on people. I swear guys like driving us crazy and never say things right off the bat, at least never the super important stuff.
Oh well...I loved this whole book. I may have lost sleep just because I didn't want to put the book down, but once I was in, it was just hard to leave this world. Rebekah did an awesome job and I can't wait to see what else she can write up!
My Rating:
✪✪✪✪
