**Warning: Spoilers May Abound**
High school senior Hanna Loch just suffered a
blackout in front of her entire homeroom class. She hasn’t had one in over ten
years, and she’s terrified—the last time she blacked out, she woke up with no
memory of her life before. To make matters worse, no one can explain why it
happens. For Hanna, bad things tend to come in threes.
And that doesn’t even begin to cover it . . .
When she learns she could be a descendant of someone
who lived once upon a time, Hanna must put her trust in William Vann, a
descendant of one of the most hated villains ever known. Their histories are
intertwined in more ways than she expected, and he has answers about her past,
answers even her family won’t share.
But is it safe to put her trust in someone who appears
to be danger reincarnate, while trying to escape the darkness that tried to
kill her ten years ago?
A loose
fairytale retelling, GOLDEN is a story that’s just right, weaving together lost
secrets, vengeful enemies, and what happens when fiction becomes reality.
Narrative-GOLDEN is told from the first-person POV of Hanna Loch, a girl smart enough to know when something's amiss in her small town (like the fact that everybody seems to be secreting some knowledge about her life that even she doesn't know about). Her voice is very simplistic, and very analytic: she's unafraid of pointing out the obvious, which made her voice strong and easy to relate to: even if she didn't say anything to others about her suspicions, she tucked them away for use later.
Now, there were a few chapters that switched POV from Hanna's, to William's. Personally, I didn't like it. It was too inconsistent, and everything that I learned from William's point of view was something that could have been learned through Hanna's very easily. With his knowledge, however, of the world that Hanna knew nothing about, I honestly wished there was more from his perspective (I know, I know, I'm contradicting myself): if there was a better balance of perspectives from the very beginning, Williams' POV could have had the potential to set up a lot of tension and suspense.
★★★☆☆
Now, there were a few chapters that switched POV from Hanna's, to William's. Personally, I didn't like it. It was too inconsistent, and everything that I learned from William's point of view was something that could have been learned through Hanna's very easily. With his knowledge, however, of the world that Hanna knew nothing about, I honestly wished there was more from his perspective (I know, I know, I'm contradicting myself): if there was a better balance of perspectives from the very beginning, Williams' POV could have had the potential to set up a lot of tension and suspense.
★★★☆☆
Plot-Admittedly, the plot through me for a loop; I was convinced there would be a lot more fairytale folklore than there actually was.
However, I'm not letting that get in the way of everything else I thought about it:
Hanna's got massive memory loss (she can't remember anything before she was eight years old), and by the time the novel starts she's suffered two blackouts with no clue why she gets them. Coinciding with that weirdness is the arrival of one William Vann, whose family is somewhat less than highly though of, since their name is basically synonymous a few murders that happened about ten years prior.
While Hanna's trying to trace her family history back to ancestors who may or may not have been the inspiration to modern-day fairy tales, she also stumbles upon a few answers to her own past as well as a not-so-subtle attraction for Vann (and the romance was pulled off perfectly and rather adorably). And as her family continues acting obviously strange and she starts getting hunted by some strangers who come to town (who may or may not have something to do with her missing memories), things start really heating up (literally: the school gets set on fire).
However, I'm not letting that get in the way of everything else I thought about it:
Hanna's got massive memory loss (she can't remember anything before she was eight years old), and by the time the novel starts she's suffered two blackouts with no clue why she gets them. Coinciding with that weirdness is the arrival of one William Vann, whose family is somewhat less than highly though of, since their name is basically synonymous a few murders that happened about ten years prior.
While Hanna's trying to trace her family history back to ancestors who may or may not have been the inspiration to modern-day fairy tales, she also stumbles upon a few answers to her own past as well as a not-so-subtle attraction for Vann (and the romance was pulled off perfectly and rather adorably). And as her family continues acting obviously strange and she starts getting hunted by some strangers who come to town (who may or may not have something to do with her missing memories), things start really heating up (literally: the school gets set on fire).
The pacing in the beginning was rather slow; slightly too slow for my personal tastes. There was also a point where I was a bit tired of the wink, wink, nudge, nudge hints that came popping around, when it was obvious that certain characters knew things and I wanted Hanna to just stop being nice and demand answers. So, in the respects of there being too much tug-and-pull between the characters and not enough action in the plot, that's why I'm ultimately taking a star out of my rating. I simply felt like there was room for more.
But if you absolutely adore mysteries (especially the kinds that involve kidnappings), like I do, then GOLDEN is definitely worth picking up; there's so much world in there; not world-building, just world. I'm excited to see what Michaels comes up with next and how far she's able to expand the ties to fairy tales while keeping up with the magical realism flair.
★★★★☆
Characters-I've already pointed out Hanna's inquisitive and demanding search for answers; once the weirdness in her life started popping up more than unusual, she was determined to chase down her family's secrets. She was suspicious in all the right places, and what I loved most of all was the way she reacted to the thrills of things. She's reckless, but in ways that I can relate to: she's a safe person, but when the chance comes to feel a little something extra in life, she takes it, and I felt it was a great flaw to keep poking at without it being overdone.
William, as her bad-boy male protagonist, was also really extremely interesting, due to his interest in good vs. evil and the fact that Hanna had a little bad in her, therefore maybe he has good in him. He tempts fate for the whole book (if the legend about how their repeating story lines is to be believed), but he never came across as creepy or overly intense.
So, basically, both of the main characters were pretty well developed, in my opinion.
★★★★☆
Final Answer: 3.66 / 5
Interested in reading GOLDEN, yourself? You're in luck: there's a Rafflecopter giveaway happening right now!
William, as her bad-boy male protagonist, was also really extremely interesting, due to his interest in good vs. evil and the fact that Hanna had a little bad in her, therefore maybe he has good in him. He tempts fate for the whole book (if the legend about how their repeating story lines is to be believed), but he never came across as creepy or overly intense.
So, basically, both of the main characters were pretty well developed, in my opinion.
★★★★☆
Final Answer: 3.66 / 5
Interested in reading GOLDEN, yourself? You're in luck: there's a Rafflecopter giveaway happening right now!
Meet the Author:
Melinda Michaels is the author of Golden and
currently lives in Milford, Pennsylvania. A self-proclaimed historian with a
rare sense of humor, Melinda finds an immense amount of joy in knowing useless
facts, exploring historical places and drinking copious amounts of coffee. When
she’s not writing she can be found researching obscured time periods for her
own amusement or refurbishing old furniture.
Melinda loves Philadelphia and visits often to enjoy
the city with her husband Andrew. Together they have three rambunctious pets.
Archie the Beagle, Winston the Boston Terrier and Beatrice the cat.
Golden is
the first in a Young Adult magic realism series.
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On this blog stop, blogger @Rae_Slater reviews #Golden @MJMichaelsBooks, a thrilling mystery with a fairy tale twist (Click to Tweet)
On this blog stop, blogger @Rae_Slater reviews #Golden @MJMichaelsBooks, a thrilling mystery with a fairy tale twist (Click to Tweet)
Hmm....I think I'll probably pass on this one, I like more fairytaleness in my retellings. Although it does sound interesting!
ReplyDeleteGreat review :)
Kaitlin
I know I was wishing there was more fairytaleness in this one, too; the prospects of a mystery were too great for me to pass up, though! Don't worry; hopefully you find some other fairy-tale books :)
DeleteThanks for stopping by, Kaitlin!