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kimal25's review against another edition
3.0
Book: Returning Eden
Author: Maria Mellins
Series: Returning Eden series, Book One
Who might like this book: I would suggest this book to someone who likes a mystery-fantasy book with a side of romance. Due to the style of writing and types of characters I would also say this is more geared to teens than adults. However, I would also say that to any adults that generally like to read young adult books this would be enjoyable.
Summary: The summary provided for this book says, “In a world of monsters, sharks, castles and corpses it is up to Eden to keep the ocean's beasts at bay. Eden Hollow is being hunted. A dark secret from her past has followed her to the remote island of Cantillon, where she is due to start college. Before long, a corpse dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, is found floating in the ocean. Together with her friends Niamh, Amira, Riley and the handsome but mysterious Dylan, Eden must confront her dark past in order to find the predator. In doing so, the teenagers stumble into a sinister world that stretches the realms of reality, as they discover just what is causing the uncanny ripples on the ocean’s surface.
A grotesquely beautiful tale of love, friendship and transformation.”
This summary makes this book sound very different from what it actually is like. Yes, the book has all of these elements, but it puts them together in a different way. The book really is about a girl named Eden, who after years of having disappeared suddenly in the night with her parents, comes back to go to college in her hometown, hoping to again find the boy/best friend she left behind. But, Eden is not the same girl as she once was and her dark secret threatens everything she holds dear and everyone she cares for in her newfound life at Cantillon. *It is worth noting that this is not a book based in America where college occurs at 18, but in England (I think) where it happens at 16.
The book starts with a brief look at the childhood of Eden (and Dylan), though for my liking it was too brief. It did not give us long enough to solidly build the characters and though they could have really engaged us, these characters were not developed enough. The author tried to quickly to hook us into both characters and the result was two half-formed characters.
The book then took us into college life fairly quickly, but it was somewhat idealized and therefore unrealistic. Yes, of course within one night of being at college we all have five new best friends we would trust with our lives. I do love the best friends described. They are all so unique and wonderful, but it just seemed so quick.
Shortly thereafter things began deteriorating at Cantillon with a quick spike in the mystery element which was actually very well done. And there was some twists and turns that occurred here that I found quite unexpected. I loved that the focus was not entirely on the weird either, that the teens of course had their own dramas and lives. Enter the third part of the love triangle, Oregan. I think the book would have been even more lovely if this part could have been built upon even more. It is the human element in a book which engages us in the characters, and if we had seen more of their domesticity and college life it would have easily engaged me more in feeling for the characters.
The last part of this book was action packed with the teens looking into the mystery. It was very engaging, but very sudden to me and unexpected with almost no lead up to it, unless you are much better at sleuthing than I am. The ending felt very incomplete, as though the author stopped in the middle of a thought. I kept trying to flip to the next page before realizing the book was over. Though, knowing that the author intends to continue this series I suppose this was intentional. This makes me hope that she publishes the next book quickly because I dislike a cliff hanger so big.
What distinguishes this book from other books: For me it is the setting first, because I am unused to reading a book that is so clearly set in another country that I have never been to. It made it somewhat difficult to picture the setting but also made it more intriguing. The second thing for me is the big secret that Eden is hiding/ somewhat unaware of and the smaller secret that Dylan is hiding, that I definitely did not see coming.
Overall would I recommend this book: Yes.
Will I read the sequel: Yes, definitely. The book definitely engaged me and left me on such a cliff hanger that I anticipate the sequel.
Author: Maria Mellins
Series: Returning Eden series, Book One
Who might like this book: I would suggest this book to someone who likes a mystery-fantasy book with a side of romance. Due to the style of writing and types of characters I would also say this is more geared to teens than adults. However, I would also say that to any adults that generally like to read young adult books this would be enjoyable.
Summary: The summary provided for this book says, “In a world of monsters, sharks, castles and corpses it is up to Eden to keep the ocean's beasts at bay. Eden Hollow is being hunted. A dark secret from her past has followed her to the remote island of Cantillon, where she is due to start college. Before long, a corpse dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, is found floating in the ocean. Together with her friends Niamh, Amira, Riley and the handsome but mysterious Dylan, Eden must confront her dark past in order to find the predator. In doing so, the teenagers stumble into a sinister world that stretches the realms of reality, as they discover just what is causing the uncanny ripples on the ocean’s surface.
A grotesquely beautiful tale of love, friendship and transformation.”
This summary makes this book sound very different from what it actually is like. Yes, the book has all of these elements, but it puts them together in a different way. The book really is about a girl named Eden, who after years of having disappeared suddenly in the night with her parents, comes back to go to college in her hometown, hoping to again find the boy/best friend she left behind. But, Eden is not the same girl as she once was and her dark secret threatens everything she holds dear and everyone she cares for in her newfound life at Cantillon. *It is worth noting that this is not a book based in America where college occurs at 18, but in England (I think) where it happens at 16.
The book starts with a brief look at the childhood of Eden (and Dylan), though for my liking it was too brief. It did not give us long enough to solidly build the characters and though they could have really engaged us, these characters were not developed enough. The author tried to quickly to hook us into both characters and the result was two half-formed characters.
The book then took us into college life fairly quickly, but it was somewhat idealized and therefore unrealistic. Yes, of course within one night of being at college we all have five new best friends we would trust with our lives. I do love the best friends described. They are all so unique and wonderful, but it just seemed so quick.
Shortly thereafter things began deteriorating at Cantillon with a quick spike in the mystery element which was actually very well done. And there was some twists and turns that occurred here that I found quite unexpected. I loved that the focus was not entirely on the weird either, that the teens of course had their own dramas and lives. Enter the third part of the love triangle, Oregan. I think the book would have been even more lovely if this part could have been built upon even more. It is the human element in a book which engages us in the characters, and if we had seen more of their domesticity and college life it would have easily engaged me more in feeling for the characters.
The last part of this book was action packed with the teens looking into the mystery. It was very engaging, but very sudden to me and unexpected with almost no lead up to it, unless you are much better at sleuthing than I am. The ending felt very incomplete, as though the author stopped in the middle of a thought. I kept trying to flip to the next page before realizing the book was over. Though, knowing that the author intends to continue this series I suppose this was intentional. This makes me hope that she publishes the next book quickly because I dislike a cliff hanger so big.
What distinguishes this book from other books: For me it is the setting first, because I am unused to reading a book that is so clearly set in another country that I have never been to. It made it somewhat difficult to picture the setting but also made it more intriguing. The second thing for me is the big secret that Eden is hiding/ somewhat unaware of and the smaller secret that Dylan is hiding, that I definitely did not see coming.
Overall would I recommend this book: Yes.
Will I read the sequel: Yes, definitely. The book definitely engaged me and left me on such a cliff hanger that I anticipate the sequel.
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