Monday, May 4, 2015

Hexed by Michael Alan Nelson

Series: The Sisters of Witchdown #1
290 p.
Publisher: Pyr
Published: 5/5/15
Source: From publisher for review
Luci Jenifer Inacio das Neves, Lucifer for short, isn't your typical teenaged girl. She's a thief who survives by stealing bad things from bad people in the magical and mystical underworld hidden beneath our own. So when a policeman's daughter, Gina, is kidnapped by a force he can't explain, Lucifer is the only one who has a chance at getting his daughter back.

With the unsolicited help of Gina's friends, including Gina's boyfriend David, Lucifer's investigation leads to the unfortunate truth of the kidnapping. Gina was taken to an otherworldly dimension by a creature of unspeakable evil: one of the Seven Sisters of Witchdown. Against all odds, Lucifer must use every magical tool hidden in her trick bag to steal her way into the Shade and bring Gina back before the Sister sacrifices her for her own dark ends. But the closer Lucifer gets to Gina, the closer she gets to David. And David to her. Lucifer must risk her life by confronting demons, witches, and the cruel demigoddess controlling her destiny - all to save the one girl who stands in the way of Lucifer finally finding love.
My thoughts:
This is a book that is based on a comic series. I haven't read the comic so I was curious as to how this translates into book format. It is well written and I think that even those YA readers who are rather young would enjoy this one. It does have a horror element to it so I guess it depends on the reader as to how well they would be able to handle it. Those that read adult horror will have absolutely no problems with this one.

While I did enjoy Lucifer and how she got her name, I did not enjoy the romance that developed here. I also didn't care for her attitude about the romance. It was someone I just didn't see her falling for but I did get how she craved normalcy. The distraction of the boy just didn't ring true to me and I would have loved to see her more confident at least when she wasn't directly dealing with the relationship. She might be a girl, but one that supposedly lived though a great number of tragedies.

While I didn't enjoy her foray into a romantic relationship, I did like the adventure and the insurmountable odds she was pitted against. It was a bit repetitious in the telling of the story, but I do think kids wouldn't mind it at all. I give this book 3 stars and do recommend it to the young YA crowd that likes horror. It's not too scary but gives enough horror to satisfy.

21 comments:

  1. If romance is a big part in this one and it doesn't work, that's a pretty big flaw one has to overlook. But I suppose, when the rest is good enoguh, which it certainly seems to be, then it's kind of worth it. So definitely worth a try, especially since I enjoy horror stories very much.

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    1. I'm not sure if it is a big part of it since they are so young. It does "feel" young.

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  2. I liked it but yes the romance part, nah

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  3. Confession time. I cheated and read the end of this one because I didn't have a good feeling about the romance based on the blurb, and it seems I was right in that feeling. Boo. I'm glad this one was a solid read other than the romance though Melissa! Maybe if the second book is a bit more successful on the romance front, I'll give it a whirl:)

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    1. *gasp* :) Yea, I know you won't like the romance. You might like the adventure though.

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  4. Hmm.. after reading your review and Jenny's comment, I think I will pass on this one. It seems like a good read with action and all that, but a bad romance and now I am talking Lady Gaga.... is enough to put me off.

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  5. That's disappointing on the romance side of things. Glad you were able to enjoy parts of it.

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  6. Too bad the romance didn't work, bits sounds good. I am not familar with the comics it is based on

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  7. Too bad that the romance didn't work out. Lucifer sounds like an interesting character, but think I'll skip this one as I already have plenty of books with interesting characters in my TBR pile. :(

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  8. I'm curious to know which comic book franchise this one is plugged into; DC or Marvel? I love graphic novels; although, this one does seem a bit dark for me :P

    Claudia @ My Soul Called Life

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  9. That's cool that it's based on comics. And what a coincidence ... people call me Lucifer too. lol

    Btw, the blog looks cute!

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  10. Too bad it wasn't more than that for this one, I was curious about it. I didn't know it was based on a comic series though, that was quite intriguing.

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  11. www.paperboulevard.com
    That romance that doesn't ring true to you is what I dislike most with books like Hexed. I love the synopsis so much and I'm wanting to get a copy but that romance? Oh no, please. I'm in 50/50 right now. Whether to read or not to read Hexed. UGH.

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  12. Intrigued by this being adapted from a comic but this doesn't otherwise appeal to me.

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  13. Ooh a book made from a comic? That's new, I don't think I've ever heard of one until now! It's a shame that the romance wasn't all that great.

    Lovely review, Melissa <33

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  14. Interesting that this is based off a comic, very different. That's too bad the romance didn't work well though. :(

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  15. Hm, that romance sounds a bit iffy to me, but I have never heard of a book based on a comic before! Great review, Melissa :)

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  16. Hmm. I didn't know it was based off a comic series. Interesting. Thanks for sharing about this. :)

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  17. I started to like this book, until you told about the horror aspect and how the romance did not work for you. So nope, pass.

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