Amber Smoke(The Escaped #1) by Kristen Cast

Genre: Mythopoeia
Group: New Adult
Page Count: 275
Publication Date: June 9,2015
Rating: 5/10
*Source: Netgalley*

Goodreads Blurb:

There is a world that runs parallel to our own, a world in which the souls of the damned are caged, where they are looked over by the Furies, and where they spend eternity in torment, mirroring the devastation and mayhem they created when alive.

Someone has opened the cage.

The worst of terrors has crossed the barrier that separates our world from theirs, and the Furies send a great, albeit untested warrior—their only son, Alek—to try to bring those souls back. He is young and handsome, headstrong and impulsive, and he won’t be able to do it alone. 

Eva has grown up, beautiful and beloved, but surrounded by secrets. First, she will be hunted in an ancient feud that will threaten her life. Then, she will become the hunter.

With the police closing in and two worlds on the verge of crumbling around them, Alek and Eva must find each other, discover the limits of their powers, and work together to save everything they hold dear, including one another. Blending elements of mythology with the dazzling storytelling that her fans have devoured through the House of Night series, Kristin Cast weaves a spellbinding and passionate tale that starts a thrilling new series with an explosive charge.

Review:

Honestly? This is not Kristen Cast's best work. This book to me was more of a prequel than an actual book in the series. The blurb sounded way more interesting than what the book and set the bar way too high. 

I love Mythopoeia, especially Greek mythology. It's one of my obsessions. This book did add a interesting twist to Tartarus. So basically one of the Furies, Maiden, fell in love and enacted a curse. So she gave birth to a son, the Immortal Warrior of Tartarus, to save their home. In order to do so, he has to find the Oracle. I find it interesting because usually Tartarus is usually where the bad guys are. But in this book it actually doesn't sound like that bad of a place. Showing that there's a good side and a bad one to one place.

So Eva is a normal girl. Has a pretty cool mom, a best friend and is single. The only weird thing she's known is her grandmother. Then a series of events happen that changes that. It was a pretty predictable plot. It goes rising action and 'bam', the big reveal. Then the hero and heroine conquers all these problems. Yada yada. Then come the Great Depressing Ending. The ending was so bad! So towards the end I was just nodding along, not realizing it's to the end because the action just started. Then I flicked to the next page and I was like:

 


Like what the heck happened? Did the book say Epilogue or is my eyes going blind? It was so abrupt. Even cliffhangers are better than the ending because at least you know what's going on. I really thought I was missing a few pages of something. I. Was. Mad.

Throughout the book, the author did give each character a unique set of mind but none of them really made a lasting impression on me. You know in books, at the end, you realize you care about the character? Yeah, that did not happen. It wasn't because of the length of the book or anything, it's just they seemed pretty bland to me. I really hope the author takes some time to develop character for the next book. 

Ok, let's move on to the Epilogue.  Ok, I started reading the Epilogue confused and mad. The Epilogue made me more confused and mad. The Epilogue was about something completely different from the content of the book. There's no explanation what-so-ever and it was just plain confusing. But at least there's a cliff hanger. Words I thought I'd never say...

I don't know if I will be capable of reading the second book. I mean, I want to find out what happens but I don't know. So it's a 30% chance I'll read it. Overall, the background was interesting but the book was not that good.