Review: Elegy by Amanda Hocking

Elegy

By: Amanda Hocking

Series: The Watersong Series

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy, Mythology

Length: 542 pages

Synopsis From Goodreads:

An ancient curse robbed Gemma Fisher of everything that matters most—her friends, her family and the guy she loves. But now that she found the scroll that binds the curse, she finally has a chance to get her old life back. She just needs to destroy the scroll—but it's not as easy as she hoped. Protected by ancient magic, it seems utterly indestructible. Making matters worse, Penn has grown even more obsessed with stealing Daniel for her own…and she's about to succeed.

Gemma's frantic search leads her to someone who might be able to help—the mysterious immortal who cursed Penn and her sisters thousands of years ago. As Gemma and her friends unravel the tragic history of the curse, they plunge deeper into a world of shocking secrets and twisted vendettas—and it'll take all their courage, love and the power of their friendship just to survive. Gemma has so much to fight for and she's never wanted anything more, but will it be enough to stop her enemies?

My Review:

Rating:

People always say to "never judge a book by it's cover," however with covers this gorgeous how can you not expect to fall in love with the series. If you have followed my previous posts you know that I have never been a huge fan of mermaid tales, however when I saw these beautiful covers I thought why not give this series a shot. Between the covers and recommendation from a good friend I jumped all in expecting to love this series. However, from the very beginning I was a bit disappointed. 

Between the writing and the characters themselves I found it hard to remain interested in the story. Gemma while she appeared to be strong-willed and determined to fight her battles, when it came to the sirens she appeared weak and defenseless at every turn. Sure she snapped out some snarky comments here and there but they never really portrayed her as a strong character until the very end when she battles Penn. But even then the battle seem short and lacking in detail. 

Then we have Harper, who from the very beginning annoyed me with her overprotective behavior and constant need to fix Gemma's problems. Being a sister I can understand the need to protect ones sister, however Harper seemed to take it to the next level. On top of that her character felt underdeveloped and lacking in personality. Even when she was with Daniel she was constantly worrying and determined to fix the problem by herself. 

The dialogue between each character seemed awkward and forced. Their comments at times didn't  feel real, like no real life person would say those things; especially to someone they claim to love or be their best friend. The dialogue made it hard to truly find a connection with the characters. 

While I can say this isn't my favorite series, I am glad I read the series. It has given me a new perspective on books about mermaids and I would like to read more of them in the future to see if I can find one that truly pulls me under. 

Published by: K