When eighteen-year-old orphan Evan Richardson signed up to work at Eyre House, on the sleepy tourist getaway of Edisto Island, SC, he never expected to find himself dodging ghosts. But Eyre House seems to have more than its fair share of things that go bump in the night, and most of them seem to surround his employer’s daughter.
Back from her freshman year of college, Ginny Eyre is dangerous from word one. She’s a bad girl with ghosts of her own, and trouble seems to follow her everywhere she goes. But living or dead, trouble isn’t just stalking Ginny. When her ex-boyfriend is found murdered in the pool, Evan knows he’s got two choices – figure out what’s going on, or become the next ghost to haunt Ginny Eyre.
Review:
When Eyre House first landed on my radar a few weeks ago, I knew I had to read it. Not only did I LOVE the cover, but also I thought the premise sounded awesome. Ghosts, an eerie setting, and a murder mystery....what's not to love about that? Unfortunately, I didn't end up enjoying this one nearly as much as I had hoped I would.
Eyre House begins the story of Evan Richardson. Fresh out of the foster care system, Even plans to spend his summer working at the Eyre House. At first sight, the Eyre House is exactly the type of home he's wished for his entire life. With warm, welcoming people, a room to himself, and plenty to keep him busy, he's content with his new life. There's one tiny glitch, though, in the form of Ginny, his boss's daughter. Flirty and charming, Ginny is the type of girl no guy can deny, and for good reason. However, Evan knows no good will come from hooking up with her, especially with her love them and leave them policy. Everything begins to change, though, when Ginny's and Evan's lives are threatened by a dark, possibly supernatural force.
To start with, I'm going to talk about the aspects I did enjoy about Eyre House, and one of those was the setting. I loved reading about Edisto Island, SC. From the Eyre House to the ruins to the beach, Caitlin painted vivid, detailed portraits of the whole island, which allowed for the setting to jump off the page and come to life. I especially loved when the island's past stories and tales where intertwined with what was currently occurring. Another aspect I liked was the premise. This book is a retelling of Jane Eyre, and it was cool to see the different parallels between the two.
However, where this book feel short for me was within the execution of the premise as well as the characters.
In the premise area, I wish more of the book focused on the ghostly happenings as well as the murder mystery instead of the lackluster romance between Evan and Ginny. I felt that those two parts where oftentimes just thrown to the wayside, and even at the end, everything was quickly summed up with some closure, but I still felt like something was missing....development perhaps. The romance between Ginny and Evan, the main focus of the book, just didn't do it for me. I didn't find it particularly believable. Plus I never could really see a clear connection between the two. It seemed like a random matching, and even as the book progressed and they spent more time together, it never seemed like a real spark occurred between them.
As for the characters, they were okay for the most part. Evan was a likable guy, and I loved seeing his life turn around for him. However, I didn't particularly like Ginny. I felt for her, I really did, but she was just too whiny and secretive for me. I hated how she continually hide important things from Evan, as it allowed for annoyance to form rather than suspense. The variety of other characters introduced were interesting, though.
While containing great potential, Eyre House failed to deliver what I had been hoping for. However, if it seems like something you may be interested in, give it a try. Maybe you'll be able to see something I didn't.
Grade: C
Eyre House (Amazon, BN, Goodreads) is now out!
Source: MOBI file provided by author for review
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love comments so never be afraid to leave one!