Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Review: Tied by Laney McMann

Book Blurb:

Normal people don't believe their nightmares stalk them. They don't fall in love with boys who don't exist, either.

Seventeen-year-old Layla Labelle, though, is far from normal. Her delusions walk the earth. Her hallucinations hunt her, and her skin heats to a burn every time her anger flares.

Or is that all in her head?

Layla doesn't know what to believe any more because if none of that's true, Max MacLarnon must be an illusion, and her heart must still be broken.

No matter how much she wants to believe Max is real, doing so would mean everything else is, too. How, then, is that possible?

The answers lie in an age-old legend the supernatural aren't prepared to reveal, and with a curse that could tear Layla and Max apart forever—if it doesn't kill them both first.

In TIED, book one in the Fire Born trilogy, learning the truth will mean fighting an arsenal of demons, and being with Max will put Layla on a path toward her own destruction.

Just how far will Layla go to protect the one she loves?

The answer may never be far enough ... away.

My Review:

3 Out Of 5 Stars

Genre: Another-World, Faeries, Royal-Court, Supernatural--

Layla spends her days pushing herself dancing and her nights staying up all night from insomnia. Layla fights exhaustion, causing her to have issues at dance. When she sees her imaginary childhood friend, Layla fears that she has had a mental break. What she doesn’t know is that there is a world around her that she does not know exists, yet she plays a large role in their future.

I will start off saying that this was a very interesting concept and storyline and I can see the potential in the book. Unfortunately, the book did not meet the potential that it had but that does not mean I give up on the series. I will read the next book and hope for a more comprehensive story unfolds. The book was like a supernatural Romeo and Juliet, and yes that has been done before, but not like this with Irish Gods (which I absolutely loved that the author used) as well as Fey and Fallen Angels (who resemble gargoyles, ugly and reptilian due to their misdeeds) and a female main character who has the potential to be a badass with supernatural powers that could save the world. Everything about the plot had me interested, and all the right ingredients were there, but the execution of the story was where things went awry in my opinion.

Layla is the main character, who has the potential to be a powerful weapon/force, yet she feels more like a victim to me. She knows absolutely nothing pretty much for the entire book, and instead gets moved around (emotionally as well as physically) by everyone else in the story. She is the only person who knows nothing about anything, yet nobody ever tells her anything. And at first I felt bad for her being a pawn, but then I realized that nobody told her anything or let her make her own actions or movements because she sucked at decision making. She would run half cocked at an idea or battle with no idea what she was against, what was really going on, or what she herself is capable of. There were so many times that I wanted to shake or yell at Layla for her terrible decision making skills.

I spent a majority of the book being confused since there were almost no transitions or explanations for things. One minute she was talking to someone, the next she was in a forest, then she was in a coma listening to people around her talk, and then she had wings and was battling people. What? I could not keep up with the storyline and felt like I was missing parts of the story or reasons behind the story throughout the entire book. Maybe this is a tool used by the author to keep the reader off balance, and I felt like that at the beginning since Layla was just as confused as me. But as the book progressed, Layla caught on to everything but I was still flailing behind with no idea what was up. There was no natural flow to the story, just a bunch of random pieces that I could not fit together well enough to create the finished picture.

Another few issues I had with the book was that Layla’s mom has her hidden and changes her name, yet still calls Layla Tiene (her original name) only. What’s the point in changing someone’s identity if you don’t follow through? Also, how can Max be Layla’s protector when he can’t ever protect himself? He was left alone for a few minutes while guarding Layla and almost died, only to be saved by his uncontrolled charge. And why is Devon being dragged around all the time? He was dropped like he was hot by Layla near the beginning of the book, yet the villains bring him along for no reason at every encounter. I was unclear about the Tie between Max and Layla as well- I thought it was destiny but then it said Layla’s father forged it, but then it was broken by simple words, yet it wasn’t? Ummmm, ok, sure whatever. And the dancing played a huge role in Layla's world but it meant nothing and was cast aside later. I wanted it to have some sort of significance, but it seems to just be a filler.

Overall there were things that drove me insane and caused me to have hang-ups while reading. Even with my complaining tangents, I see potential for this series to become something special and I would like to read the next book in the series to see if I am right.

I received this title from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

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