Monday, March 11, 2013

A Touch Menacing - Leah Clifford

Synopsis: Eden is dying. For real, this time.
She is crumbling to ash, and an unnatural plague is ravaging mortals and immortals alike. With both Heaven and Hell out to destroy her, Eden can no longer tell the difference between good and evil.
Friends become enemies. And enemies are everywhere.
But don't underestimate Eden. She'll fight for her life, for the lives of those she loves, and for every life she has ever touched.
She'll fight for revenge. For redemption. For—just maybe—the chance to be mortal again.
Everything began with forbidden love.
What will be sacrificed at the bitter end?
The dramatic conclusion to Leah Clifford's dark, alluring trilogy of life, death, and epic love. (From Goodreads)


I just don't even know how I'm supposed to articulate my thoughts and feelings about this series. It's awesome, it blows my mind, it makes me swoon and cry and freak out and it never does what I expect it to. It's unique. That's for sure.

There are two things I absolutely adore about this series:

1- The plot doesn't follow traditional guideposts. There's no real way to mark the beginning, middle, and end. It doesn't have an arc - or it doesn't have just one. Even though these characters are pathless, the way their story is told feels like a path - there are turns and they unexpectedly cross one another, their lives intertwining at different moments, their destination unsure. It feels a lot more like life - people don't just show up when their supposed to or things don't feel like they happen because it's convenient to move the story along. Also- there are a lot of different players in this game. There isn't just one girl who the fate of the whole world seems to revolve around. Technically, I guess Eden is the main character, but she's by no means the most important person in this equation.

2- The lines between good and evil are so blurred, I'm not even sure they exist. In fact, even by the end I'm not sure who is on which side. Generally, I like my lines to be a little more clear; however, I love the way the blurring of good and evil is executed here. Because you don't get behind a character because of what their fighting for, you get behind them because you like who they are. I was rooting Eden because I've been with her from the beginning. But then you root for Gabe even though he's made some bad choices because I feel like he has a really great heart. And Kristen, I root for her because she's crazy and I love it. Then, the really baffling one - I root for Luke, even though he's supposedly the big bad. I can't help it, because somehow the big bad totally stole my heart.

Of course there's so much more to love - like the dark humor, the fact that some characters make me irrationally angry, or the way it's still a new and surprising world even after 3 books. I'm going to miss Kristen and her grave robbing and Luke and his strawberry lemonade. I'll miss Eden and Az dancing at Rockefeller and Gabe running around trying to make everybody happy. These are characters I've come to adore and admire and it's a little hard for me to let this series go.

Monday, March 11, 2013

A Touch Menacing - Leah Clifford

Synopsis: Eden is dying. For real, this time.
She is crumbling to ash, and an unnatural plague is ravaging mortals and immortals alike. With both Heaven and Hell out to destroy her, Eden can no longer tell the difference between good and evil.
Friends become enemies. And enemies are everywhere.
But don't underestimate Eden. She'll fight for her life, for the lives of those she loves, and for every life she has ever touched.
She'll fight for revenge. For redemption. For—just maybe—the chance to be mortal again.
Everything began with forbidden love.
What will be sacrificed at the bitter end?
The dramatic conclusion to Leah Clifford's dark, alluring trilogy of life, death, and epic love. (From Goodreads)


I just don't even know how I'm supposed to articulate my thoughts and feelings about this series. It's awesome, it blows my mind, it makes me swoon and cry and freak out and it never does what I expect it to. It's unique. That's for sure.

There are two things I absolutely adore about this series:

1- The plot doesn't follow traditional guideposts. There's no real way to mark the beginning, middle, and end. It doesn't have an arc - or it doesn't have just one. Even though these characters are pathless, the way their story is told feels like a path - there are turns and they unexpectedly cross one another, their lives intertwining at different moments, their destination unsure. It feels a lot more like life - people don't just show up when their supposed to or things don't feel like they happen because it's convenient to move the story along. Also- there are a lot of different players in this game. There isn't just one girl who the fate of the whole world seems to revolve around. Technically, I guess Eden is the main character, but she's by no means the most important person in this equation.

2- The lines between good and evil are so blurred, I'm not even sure they exist. In fact, even by the end I'm not sure who is on which side. Generally, I like my lines to be a little more clear; however, I love the way the blurring of good and evil is executed here. Because you don't get behind a character because of what their fighting for, you get behind them because you like who they are. I was rooting Eden because I've been with her from the beginning. But then you root for Gabe even though he's made some bad choices because I feel like he has a really great heart. And Kristen, I root for her because she's crazy and I love it. Then, the really baffling one - I root for Luke, even though he's supposedly the big bad. I can't help it, because somehow the big bad totally stole my heart.

Of course there's so much more to love - like the dark humor, the fact that some characters make me irrationally angry, or the way it's still a new and surprising world even after 3 books. I'm going to miss Kristen and her grave robbing and Luke and his strawberry lemonade. I'll miss Eden and Az dancing at Rockefeller and Gabe running around trying to make everybody happy. These are characters I've come to adore and admire and it's a little hard for me to let this series go.