Book Review: Escape from Witchwood Hollow by Jordan Elizabeth

Title: Escape from Witchwood Hollow
Author: Jordan Elizabeth
Pages: 178
My Rating: ❤❤❤❤

Everyone in Arnn - a small farming town with more legends than residents - knows the story of Witchwood Hollow: if you venture into the whispering forest, the witch will trap your soul among the shadowed trees.

After losing her parents in a horrific terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, fifteen-year-old Honoria and her older brother escape New York City to Arnn. In the lure of that perpetual darkness, Honoria finds hope, when she should be afraid.

Perhaps the witch can reunite her with her lost parents. Awakening the witch, however, brings more than salvation from mourning, for Honoria discovers a past of missing children and broken promises.

To save the citizens of Arnn from becoming the witch’s next victims, she must find the truth behind the woman’s madness.

How deep into Witchwood Hollow does Honoria dare venture?

I was asked to read Escape from Witchwood Hollow in exchange for an honest review. I read the description and knew it was different from my typical fluffy, angsty paranormal reads. But, I thought "Hey, why not?" and ended up giving it a shot. And yeah, this was different from my usual reads, but I actually really enjoyed it!

Going into this book, I didn't know that there is actually some switching between points of view. This absolutely made the story that much better! It reads like an awesome mystery, where you get random pieces, but finally towards the end, everything starts to click into place and make sense.

I absolutely loved how everything came together and clicked! This book definitely gave me one of those lightbulb moments where I just had to stop and think "Wow, so that's how all of this works!" And as for how exactly everything does work out, I've got one word for you...WOW! I don't know if there is any other possible way the book could have wrapped itself up. It was just meant to happen that way.

Elizabeth truly managed to weave together a young adult story not about angst, but about grief. There was no whiny teenage girl, but instead one that is broken and completely relatable. Escape from Witchwood Hollow shows just how important and what individuals will go through for family and a sense of belonging.

"The school should teach a class on deciphering obscure images in bad photography. Amanda's photos could make up the textbooks."

"The darkness became an envelope and she the letter, seeking a destination she couldn't foresee." 

Book Review: Everlasting (The Night Watchmen Series Book 1) by Candace Knoebel

Title: Everlasting
Author: Candace Knoebel
Series: Night Watchmen Book 1
Pages: 428
My Rating: ❤❤❤❤

What if your destiny lay on the other side of death?

The annual Culling ceremony is a day every coming-of-age novice looks forward to within the Primeval Coven. It’s the start to being initiated into the Night Watchmen, humankind’s protectors, and it’s the long-awaited day when novices discover if they’re a Hunter or a Witch.

But this day is not a happy one for Faye Middleton. Not when she’s known her whole life that she’s a Defect and is about to face banishment in front of her fellow novices. She’s forced to attend the Culling with little hope for her future, but what she discovers about herself is far worse than she could’ve imagined. And far more dangerous.

Thrown into training and separated from her friends, Faye must learn to adjust. She struggles to find her place within the Coven, and with Jaxen Gramm, the darkly handsome and extremely unnerving man assigned to watch and protect her. Emotions run high, and when she discovers a deadly secret about him, her struggles deepen. As corruption within the Coven begins to unravel, Faye pieces together her role in saving the future of her people, and within Jaxen’s life...but will the truth save her, or be her undoing?

I know you have probably heard me say this already, but I love free books!! I got Everlasting on my kindle, along with several other free books. I just cannot help myself, I see a free book in a genre I like and immediately click purchase! Sometimes I try to stick to the 4 1/2 or 5 star ratings, but Everlasting sounded pretty interesting, but had a 4 star rating. I also loved that it had 428 pages!!

Everlasting follows Faye, a girl who is dreading the Culling ceremony. In this ceremony, it is decided whether you will be a Hunter or a Witch. This ceremony also gives you an affinity mark. This mark will be shared with one other person, who in turn will be your partner for life. I know scary right? This is not what Faye is worried about though. Her whole life she has suspected or known that she is a defect. She believes that she will be forced to leave the Coven and have a normal human life. She already has her college acceptance letter and everything.

As like any paranormal book, we all know that things do not always go the way that the main character thinks it will. For Faye, circumstances really throw her for a loop. Not only is she a myth (you'll understand later), but she is somehow linked to the moody Jaxen Gramm, her best friend isn't having as good a time as she thought she would, and something has happened to her parents!!

This book is full of action! I thought that there was no way there could be another fight scene, but Knoebel would surprise me and throw another one in. Knoebel uses all of those 428 pages, they are not just fluff!!