Blog Tour: Entice Review and Giveaway

Author: Carrie Jones
Release Date: December 14, 2010

Pages: 264 (ARC)

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Most Appropriate For Ages: 12+
Where I Got It: From publisher for review
Other titles in series: Need, Captivate

Zara and Nick are soul mates, meant to be together forever. But that’s not quite how things have worked out. For starters, well, Nick is dead. Supposedly, he’s been taken to a mythic place for warriors known as Valhalla, so Zara and her friends might be able to get him back. But it’s taking time, and meanwhile a group of evil pixies is devastating Bedford, with more teens going missing every day. An all-out war seems imminent, and the good guys need all the warriors they can find. But how to get to Valhalla? And even if Zara and her friends discover the way, there’s that other small problem: Zara’s been pixie kissed. When she finds Nick, will he even want to go with her? Especially since she hasn’t just turned… She’s Astley’s queen.

 I found Need to be good (once I got into it), and I really liked Captivate, so I'd set pretty decent expectations for Entice. I was shocked and saddened when I ended up kind of disappointed.

My main problem was the plot and the pacing. It starts off pretty well, with Zara and her friends dealing with her turning pixie, and everyone thinking and plotting how to save Nick.

The only problem is, this is the entire book.

Nothing else happens until the ending. Well, except a friendship blossoming between Astley and Zara, which was nice, but not enough to make me justify the repetitiveness of the plot. Personally, I felt like everything that was in these 260-some pages was enough to be in about 5 chapters or so if it was done better. It was almost like it was just filler, and like this was just a set-up for the next book in the series. It really bothered me.

Also, I remember loving the side characters more. I think this was a book in which everyone was sad, and grieving, and losing hope in their cause more and more with each day. Or at least that's what I'm hoping. The one character I did love was Astley. He's like a combination of the sweet guy, the bad-but-actually-good guy, and the tortured soul with major momma issues. And I still love Zara. It is hard not to love Zara.

In short: I didn't love this. I'll definitely read the next book in the series, because I like the characters and I love the world and the writing. But, as of right now, I think this is my least favorite book in the series so far, sadly.

Book Report:

Plot: Slow and repetitive.

Characters: I only really loved two.

Writing: I still stand by my statement that "Carrie Jones has that teen voice." (From my Captivate review.)

Ending: Another cliffhanger. Grr.

How kid friendly is it? Very. There may have been one or two swear words, and only one or two mentions of sex.

Should I read it? Yeah, despite it's slowness, it sets up for the next installment in the series pretty well.

Overall:

 

For all of you loyal Need series fans, I have one copy of Entice (and I believe a bookmark) up for grabs thanks to Bloomsbury (because it's from the publisher, this contest is US only). Contest ends midnight on December 26. Fill out THIS FORM to enter. Good luck!