PREMESSA
Non credevo che sarei stata invitata a partecipare al Release Day e al Blogtour Event da parte dell'agenzia di literary PR che lavora per la Entangled Publishing, ma è successo e sono molto felice che mi abbiano concesso quest'opportunità. Tuttavia il romanzo non mi è piaciuto molto, ci sono molte cose che non mi sono andate giù e altre che ho preferito.
SINOSSI (DA GOODREADS)
Luke può sciogliere quasi qualsiasi maleficio - essi si manifestano a lui come nessun altro. Lavorando per i Kovrov, una delle famiglie che tengono sotto scacco New York con la loro magia, trova tutto ciò eccitante e pericoloso, specialmente quando scopre che c'è una maledizione che non può spezzare. E riguarda Jeremy, l'amato e protetto principe della famiglia Korvorv - l'unica persona per la quale non dovrebbe provare attrazione.
Jeremy è innamorato dello stronzo e talentuoso Luke sin da quando erano bambini. Ma dal loro primo bacio, sente la mancanza di qualcosa. La famiglia di Jeremy detiene mortali segreti, costringendolo a scegliere tra l'amore e la lealtà. Man a mano che Luke combatte per sciogliere la maledizione, una magica guerra ha luogo nella città, ed è collegata a Jeremy.
Questa potrebbe essere l'unica maledizione che Luke non riesce a sciogliere. Se il bacio del vero amore fallisce, cosa rimane a lui e Jeremy?
RECENSIONE
"The Uncrossing" è il romanzo d'esordio di Melissa Eastlake, un romanzo che ruota attorno a Jeremy Kovrov e Luke Melnyk. E' stata una lettura molto difficile e lunga per me, in parte a causa degli errori di editing presenti e delle tante, tantissime ripetizioni. Ma prima di entrare nel merito della storia, voglio partire dal principio. Luke Melnyk (il cui vero nome è Lukonya, in Ucraino) è un giovane stregone-dottore in grado di sciogliere qualsiasi maledizione, il contrario della sua sorella gemella Camille, che può crearne quante ne vuole. Il personaggio di Luke è sempre definito super-figo, bellissimo, figo di qua, figo di là, insomma dopo la quinta volta che leggevo di nuovo questa descrizione mi iniziava a stare sulle scatole (forse perché, in generale, il POV di Jeremy è molto fastidioso). Tuttavia Luke, nella sua caratterizzazione da Gary Stu, è molto più credibile di Jeremy Kovrov. I Kovrov sono la famiglia più potente di New York, essi svolgono incantesimi con il sangue, maledizioni e non maledizioni, e sono temuti da tutti, specialmente dai Melkny, la cui storia s'intreccia alla loro. La loro storia infatti, è da ricercarsi nelle origini della famiglia Kovorv, dove un loro antenato ha lanciato una maledizione su Jeremy, che deve essere a casa entro mezzogiorno e alla mezzanotte del giorno stesso per non morire di dolore - e soprattutto, è legato ad Alexei Kovrov. Ho trovato i POV di Jeremy difficoltosi da leggere e per lo più fastidiosi, nel senso che lui si comportava come una vera e propria principessiva, e aveva delle reazioni contrastanti in merito a ciò. (EDIT: Ho appena scoperto che questo è un retelling di Rapunzel in stile queer, quindi, se l'avessi saputo prima, il suo atteggiamento avrebbe avuto molto più senso). Jeremy e Luke sono amici fin dall'infanzia, ma mentre Luke esplorava la sua sessualità e scopriva che gli piacevano i ragazzi, Jeremy viveva nella sua gabbia dorata di principe Kovrov.
La storia si sviluppa attorno a loro, che litigano, fanno pace, litigano e fanno pace, litigano e fanno pace. Luke magari sarà un Gary Stu, ma lui e i fratelli Kovorv sono la cosa migliore di questo romanzo. Soprattutto, non mi è piaciuto che venisse sempre sottolineato quanto fosse hot Luke.
Ci sono molte cose che non mi sono piaciute di questo libro, ma il finale mi ha spinto a dare 3,5 stelle perché, sebbene mi abbia fatto arrabbiare e mi abbia lasciato confusa, ha risollevato il mio giudizio generale sull'intero libro. Il libro necessita di un forte editing, a causa degli errori di editing in esso presenti e delle tantissime ripetizioni (soprattutto nei POV di Jeremy). La cosa che non mi è piaciuta per niente è la grandissima quantità di info-dump presente, che rendeva difficile capire e conoscere al meglio i personaggi. Ci sono tante cose inutili che con un editing sarebbero state tolte (come le continue descrizioni dei vestiti perfino prima di una grande battaglia oppure le inutili digressioni di Jeremy, la cui stream of conosciusness spinge il lettore a saltare di palo in frasca). Quindi, perché ho dato 3,5 stelline? Perché Luke e i Kovorov, insieme al finale, hanno portato il mio giudizio prima da 2 a 3 stelle.
Sebbene sia un MM fantasy, l'ho trovato difficile da leggere per quanto detto sopra, e non mi sento di consigliarlo a nessuno. Le mie 3,5 stelline sono un incoraggiamento per un futuro miglioramento di quest'autrice, che secondo me nasconde grandi potenzialità che non sono state rese bene. Se vi piacciono gli MM fantasy però, provate a leggerlo. Magari a voi piacerà e ne potremo parlare insieme.
Vi saluto con una citazione tratta da questo libro:
“He was a mess of contradictions. Here to threaten, or to beg. Here to apologize, or to demand answers.”
(Jeremy Kovrov)
Hi, sweeties! I’m finally back reviewing Italian and American books, altough I preferred writing my on novel, the huge changes in my life have taken apart my inspiration so I decided to go back reading. I must say that I didn’t like very much The Uncrossing, for a list of reasons I will enumerate later, but I got me three and half stars, so I wasn’t bad as you may think.
PREMISE
I love MM romances, so what there could be better than fantasy MM romance? Nothing! The synopsis captured me from the first time I’ve read it, but I haven’t totally enjoyed the book. Why? You will discover reading.
SYNOPSIS (FROM GOODREADS)
Luke can uncross almost any curse—they unravel themselves for him like no one else. So working for the Kovrovs, one of the families controlling all the magic in New York, is exciting and dangerous, especially when he encounters the first curse he can't break. And it involves Jeremy, the beloved, sheltered prince of the Kovrov family—the one boy he absolutely shouldn't be falling for.
Jeremy's been in love with cocky, talented Luke since they were kids. But from their first kiss, something's missing. Jeremy's family keeps generations of deadly secrets, forcing him to choose between love and loyalty. As Luke fights to break the curse, a magical, citywide war starts crackling, and it's tied to Jeremy.
This might be the one curse Luke can't uncross. If true love's kiss fails, what's left for him and Jeremy?
REVIEW
This was a hard read for me, although, as I said before, I love MM fantasy romances. The fact is that the book was bad structured, it had long chapters (56 little chapters) and some of them were very long and full of repetitions and “information exposition” as my beloved critic at Cinema Sins would say. But before explaining that, and believe me, it will be very long, I must start from the beginning. Luke Melnyk (whose full name, in Ukrainian, is Lukonya) is a young witch doctor who can uncross everything, he’s a super-hot-cliched guy who appears to be perfect and oh-so-beautiful that every guy in the Bronx would like to hook up with. But Luke was the best character for me, the one I simply couldn’t stand was Jeremy Kovrov, the one Luke’s is working for. But their story find its origins in an ancient world, in which a witch made a tripwire crossing (that is a curse) to Jeremy, which impede him to go outside and do whatever he wants because he is binded with Alexei Kovrov, and must be at home by noon and by midnight. Jeremy’s character is very annoying, I found his POVs hard and difficult to read, and the fact that he acted like a princess everytime didn’t help (EDIT: I’ve discovered today that this was a queer retelling of Rapunzel, so in a sense his attitude now makes sense). Jeremy and Luke have always been friends since they were six years old, but while Luke discovered and accepted the fact that he liked boys, Jeremy has lived in a golden cage for years and years, always dreaming of his first kiss.
The story develops around these two, who argue, make up, argue again and finally make peace. Luke may be the character on which the clichés are most on, like the fact that he is always described as hot, after the fourth time I read it, was annoying but I liked his evolution. Luke being as a cocky character and will do everything to save everyone. I will not say how and why, you will read that on the book. Jeremy, on the other hand, acted like a whiny one-dimensional character, who didn’t have its evolution, I found him very flat. The finale let me angry and confused, and again I won’t say anything, but you have to know that the finale has an open ending, and will not understand a thing. Their true love’s kiss finally worked? They will break up or they will stay together? Aaagh, why after a long read like this I can’t have answers? Maybe it’s planned an ending like this, maybe we will have another story about Jeremy and Luke, which I am willing to read, because I would like to see Jeremy’s character finally develop.
There are many things I didn’t like about this book, but this finale made me increase the judgment and take it to 3,5 stars. The book needed a very strong editing, especially because I found one big editing error and multiple and multiple repeating. What I didn’t like was the huge amount of info-dump, that made my reading boring. So, I gave 3 stars mainly because of Luke and the Kovrovs, which I liked better than anyone else in the book. The info-dump was the major problem of this book: it didn’t make it easier to read and comprehend the character, but it made more difficult with more and more descriptions about clothing and other things that had nothing to do with the book in itself (many digressions in Jeremy’s POV were unnecessary, his stream of consciousness wasn’t well made and it made the reader jump from one topic to the other without aim).
I find it, above all, a nice and difficult read. I can’t say I would recommend this book to you, but if you’re into MM fantasy, maybe you can give this book a chance. I will read it again later, maybe it wasn’t the right time for this book, maybe it’s because of that, that I found so many things that I disliked. I salute you with a quote from this book:
“He was a mess of contradictions. Here to threaten, or to beg. Here to apologize, or to demand answers.”
(Jeremy Kovrov)
xoxo,
Giada
(Jeremy Kovrov)
xoxo,
Giada
Hi, sweeties! I’m finally back reviewing Italian and American books, altough I preferred writing my on novel, the huge changes in my life have taken apart my inspiration so I decided to go back reading. I must say that I didn’t like very much The Uncrossing, for a list of reasons I will enumerate later, but I got me three and half stars, so I wasn’t bad as you may think.
PREMISE
I love MM romances, so what there could be better than fantasy MM romance? Nothing! The synopsis captured me from the first time I’ve read it, but I haven’t totally enjoyed the book. Why? You will discover reading.
SYNOPSIS (FROM GOODREADS)
Luke can uncross almost any curse—they unravel themselves for him like no one else. So working for the Kovrovs, one of the families controlling all the magic in New York, is exciting and dangerous, especially when he encounters the first curse he can't break. And it involves Jeremy, the beloved, sheltered prince of the Kovrov family—the one boy he absolutely shouldn't be falling for.
Jeremy's been in love with cocky, talented Luke since they were kids. But from their first kiss, something's missing. Jeremy's family keeps generations of deadly secrets, forcing him to choose between love and loyalty. As Luke fights to break the curse, a magical, citywide war starts crackling, and it's tied to Jeremy.
This might be the one curse Luke can't uncross. If true love's kiss fails, what's left for him and Jeremy?
REVIEW
This was a hard read for me, although, as I said before, I love MM fantasy romances. The fact is that the book was bad structured, it had long chapters (56 little chapters) and some of them were very long and full of repetitions and “information exposition” as my beloved critic at Cinema Sins would say. But before explaining that, and believe me, it will be very long, I must start from the beginning. Luke Melnyk (whose full name, in Ukrainian, is Lukonya) is a young witch doctor who can uncross everything, he’s a super-hot-cliched guy who appears to be perfect and oh-so-beautiful that every guy in the Bronx would like to hook up with. But Luke was the best character for me, the one I simply couldn’t stand was Jeremy Kovrov, the one Luke’s is working for. But their story find its origins in an ancient world, in which a witch made a tripwire crossing (that is a curse) to Jeremy, which impede him to go outside and do whatever he wants because he is binded with Alexei Kovrov, and must be at home by noon and by midnight. Jeremy’s character is very annoying, I found his POVs hard and difficult to read, and the fact that he acted like a princess everytime didn’t help (EDIT: I’ve discovered today that this was a queer retelling of Rapunzel, so in a sense his attitude now makes sense). Jeremy and Luke have always been friends since they were six years old, but while Luke discovered and accepted the fact that he liked boys, Jeremy has lived in a golden cage for years and years, always dreaming of his first kiss.
The story develops around these two, who argue, make up, argue again and finally make peace. Luke may be the character on which the clichés are most on, like the fact that he is always described as hot, after the fourth time I read it, was annoying but I liked his evolution. Luke being as a cocky character and will do everything to save everyone. I will not say how and why, you will read that on the book. Jeremy, on the other hand, acted like a whiny one-dimensional character, who didn’t have its evolution, I found him very flat. The finale let me angry and confused, and again I won’t say anything, but you have to know that the finale has an open ending, and will not understand a thing. Their true love’s kiss finally worked? They will break up or they will stay together? Aaagh, why after a long read like this I can’t have answers? Maybe it’s planned an ending like this, maybe we will have another story about Jeremy and Luke, which I am willing to read, because I would like to see Jeremy’s character finally develop.
There are many things I didn’t like about this book, but this finale made me increase the judgment and take it to 3,5 stars. The book needed a very strong editing, especially because I found one big editing error and multiple and multiple repeating. What I didn’t like was the huge amount of info-dump, that made my reading boring. So, I gave 3 stars mainly because of Luke and the Kovrovs, which I liked better than anyone else in the book. The info-dump was the major problem of this book: it didn’t make it easier to read and comprehend the character, but it made more difficult with more and more descriptions about clothing and other things that had nothing to do with the book in itself (many digressions in Jeremy’s POV were unnecessary, his stream of consciousness wasn’t well made and it made the reader jump from one topic to the other without aim).
I find it, above all, a nice and difficult read. I can’t say I would recommend this book to you, but if you’re into MM fantasy, maybe you can give this book a chance. I will read it again later, maybe it wasn’t the right time for this book, maybe it’s because of that, that I found so many things that I disliked. I salute you with a quote from this book:
“He was a mess of contradictions. Here to threaten, or to beg. Here to apologize, or to demand answers.”
(Jeremy Kovrov)
xoxo,
Giada
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