I have two exciting reviews for the Twisted Series by Jessi Elliott! Below is the first book review, if you want to read my review for the second book scroll a bit further down! :D (Hint: I loved them both. ^_~ ) Let me know what you guys think of them if you have read them!
-Aisa
BOOK #1
![Twisted Fate by [Elliott, Jessi]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/514mfi5itvL.jpg)
Review
SPOILER-FREE
Being kidnapped by the leader of the fae really puts a dent in your senior year.
Aurora Marshall is sharp, witty, and always has a plan. Ready to finish her business degree and graduate, her life is going smoothly—until the night she meets Tristan Westbrook.
Tristan, the overbearing, gorgeous Fae Leader, and an admired businessman in the human world, is all kinds of dangerous. While he finds Aurora intriguing, her refusal to bend to his will keeps them locked in a constant power struggle.
Entering into a deal is the only way to escape Tristan’s clutches, which only plunges Aurora deeper into the fae world. With her future at stake, she is forced to handle his arrogance and extraordinary fae abilities as she fights to stay grounded in her mundane life.
Not to mention her struggle to ignore the growing attraction she knows she shouldn’t feel for the man who kidnapped her.
When people said college would be the most exciting time of her life, Aurora never thought this is what they meant.
Wow, I picked up this book and fell right into the story! I've been in a bit of a reading slump but have been devouring non-fiction audio books but this is the first fiction book I've binge read in awhile and it reminded me why I love to read fiction books!
The characters are great! I love how sassy Aurora (the protagonist) is but what made me love her more was how aware she was of her decisions! Some protagonists make crazy decisions but don't act as if they know it's crazy but not Aurora, she's fully aware and struggles internally which makes her relate-able to me as as I've always done that. It's refreshing to see this play out in the book. I just loved her witty remarks, it had me laughing aloud.
Tristan, now I was unsure about him at the beginning. In fact, I wasn't sure I'd like him at all after the kidnapping but seeing how he treated Aurora afterwards made me start to like him. I don't want to spoil it too much but he becomes patient and kind so it's hard to dislike him. I loved how Aurora made several comments about Stockholm Syndrome because I would have thought the same after what she had been through. The banter between the two is some of my favorite and I'm totally rooting for these two.
I enjoyed the other side characters, they all had a personality and I had no problem imagining them. Although Aurora did go a little easy on Max in my opinion. I feel like she hated Tristan more than Max which I feel like should be the other way around. I liked the complex friendship Skylar had with Aurora and loved Allison and Aurora's best friends friendship.
The pacing kept me entranced, in fact, I didn't want to go to work or sleep because I wanted to finish the book (but I forced myself to)! I found the writing read easily and sucked me into the book so that made it hard for me to put the book down. Not that I'm complaining!
Now it's not flawless, as all books have at least one flaw. I do feel like I was able to predict the story a bit BUT I didn't predict the full ending, perhaps it's my author analytical side of me that thought of it but I liked how it all played out. I did get confused at the end and it frustrated me how Aurora wouldn't demand answers about the fae when she was so involved with them. There were some scene transitions that confused me but they were minor. I feel like any of the issues I found didn't deter me from my appreciation of this book nor did it really jerk me out of the book. In fact, if I didn't know Ms. Elliott was self-published I wouldn't be able to tell her work from a traditionally published work!
I liked the ending and I don't consider it a cliffhanger as you can figure out what Aurora will do next but not exactly how. I couldn't fully understand the reasoning behind Aurora's actions at the end even though she acknowledges it. I hope that is explained more in the next book.
Overall, I feel like the quality and story of the book impressed me and I found myself easily diving into the story and liking the characters. There are some unanswered questions which I hope will be answered in the next book but none of it stopped my enjoyment of this book. Ms. Elliott's writing made it easy for me to imagine the story and characters and I couldn't help but root for the main characters. If you're a romance and paranormal fan, you should definitely consider picking up this book!
4.8 out of 5 for me!
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BOOK #2
Review
MINOR-SPOILERS
Being the new leader of the light fae really puts a dent in your post-grad plans.
Aurora, once a snarky business major, struggles to adjust to fae life—and the diet of human energy that comes with it. A change made worse by the overwhelming ability to feel the emotions of everyone around her, especially when she can barely manage her own.
Agreeing to work with her dark fae counterpart, Tristan, in an attempt to bring peace between their people is a painful reminder of how strong they are together. Even still, Aurora fights the urge to keep her distance. She needs to be sure what she feels for him is real, and not a result of the former light fae leader’s manipulation as a part of his plan to eliminate Tristan.
Aurora thought she’d encountered the worst thing since early morning lectures when she stumbled into the world of the fae. She’s about to find out that they may not be the most twisted creatures out there.
We start off where the last book left off which I liked. I was torn about how Aurora handled her situation after gaining her faerie powers. Now she does admit her terrible choice and I commend that she acknowledge it but I still don't love how she handled it but it does create tension. Personally I felt like it took her longer than she should have and didn't love that she didn't turn to her trusted friends and family but to a near stranger. It just seemed like it dragged out and made the story pace slow down in comparison to the previous book.
That bit of Aurora's past surprised me! I really wanted to hear more about that connection but it kind of faded out which disappointed me. I thought things would tie up well there but I guess it was a minor plot bunny.
I still enjoyed the snark between Tristan and Aurora when they do get back together. Just as good as the first book. It did wreck me how much it tore Tristan apart when Aurora pushed him away. He's such a sweet guy I couldn't believe she'd give him up. Even for a little bit! haha The whole gang is back and I like how Aurora eventually becomes friends with the faeries. I do feel like for an all powerful fae I thought he'd exert his powers a bit more than we've seen but I do like Tristan but I find it hard to believe that he hadn't made any enemies in his long immortal life.
Ms. Elliott does an amazing job at making characters I don't like and make me change my mind about them. I totally felt that way for Max and Sterling. I could care less about them, in fact I was ok if they both got the axe but I appreciated how the author actually make me care about them in the end. I do have to admit I was surprised that Tristan considered Max his best friend. They seemed more like reluctant allies in the first book but I guess I could see that opposites attract.
Now 3/4 to the end of the book had me struggling to love it the way I did the first book. I wanted to like it more but I feel like the tension diffused there and it gradually plateaued. I didn't feel like the pacing of the story was on par to the first book. Part of it may be because I didn't like the way the end went. The other part may be because the main characters were no longer intimately involved. It confused me.
I mean I see why it played out and it was executed decently but it wasn't the way I had expected it to go and I feel we as a reader missed out on the huge climax. It's a good ending, just not the way I wanted it to end. It seemed too mild and felt a little cheated that I couldn't have that huge ending I thought I'd get from a fae war. The author did mention that the things we missed in the war will be told in her next book so that could be why the ending played out as it did. Nevertheless, I still felt compelled to continue reading and find out the end of the book.
Overall, this is still a fast and entertaining read! Sequels are usually rarely on par to the first book but I think Ms. Elliott still did a fantastic job in continuing the story and keeping the reader entranced until the end. I still found myself pushing through to finish reading to the end and still enjoyed the characters, world, and story. I recommend it if you enjoyed her first book because I think you'll still enjoy this book.
3.7 out of 5 for me!
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