Author: C.M. McCoy
Genre/Age: Paranormal/NA
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Format: ebook via YABound
Rating: ✺✺✺✺✺
Links: Goodreads
Synopsis: Hailey’s dreams have always been, well...vivid. As in monsters from her nightmares follow her into her waking life vivid.
When her big sister goes missing, eighteen-year-old Hailey finds the only thing keeping her safe from a murderous 3,000-year-old beast is an equally terrifying creature who has fallen “madly” in love with her. Competing to win her affection, the Dream Creature, Asher, lures her to the one place that offers safety—a ParaScience university in Alaska he calls home. There, she studies the science of the supernatural and must learn to live with a roommate from Hell, survive her ParaScience classes, and hope the only creature who can save her from an evil immortal doesn’t decide to kill her himself.
"EERIE, full of voice and romance, is a thrilling and beautifully crafted story that had me up late, racing through the pages to get to the end. " - Author Brenda Drake
**Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for honest review.**
Well, huh...
I am not entirely sure how to rate or review this book. I just finished it and my head is filled with so many questions and emotions and even more questions. It was dark, yet funny. Sweet, yet sour. Magical, yet twisted. I just can't put my finger on it.
Hailey... Poor girl. She really goes through the ringer in this book. Our leading lady starts off as a high school senior, invisible to most other kids, working at her family's pub, and planning to attend college with her sister. Typical, socially awkward chick that we're used to reading about. But this one has secrets that even I couldn't have predicted. Receiving visits from a strange creature, in her dreams, is only the beginning of her problems. Throughout the entire book, this girl just can't seem to catch a break.
Asher is a tormented lad. Stuck in a world he shouldn't be in, for much longer than his sanity can endure, he has become inflicted with human emotions that he can't stop or control. Forbidden 'feelings' are dangerous for him and for Hailey. Yet, he can't seem to stay away from her, developing an intense attachment to her.
Then we have Fin, who I didn't even realize was going to be an important part of the story, early on. I would have paid more attention to him, had I known. Yet, even if I had absorbed every word pertaining to Fin, I would still be confused because he is such a fickle character. His words and actions were so extreme (and inconsistent) that he even fooled me a few times.
There was so much to love about this book. The writing is fantastic, yet complex. I am a speed reader and if I get bored in a part, I often find myself skimming. I don't think I skimmed once in this entire book. I couldn't. The story is so intricate and filled with information that I would have missed something if I had skipped even one paragraph. So much happens that it's imperative to be a diligent reader. I'm sure if I were to re-read this one, I would discover several things I missed the first time.
Clues and hints are dropped all over the place, which is both good and bad. It's good in that you can begin to piece together a theory about a person or conspiracy, intentions, secrets, etc. Yet, it also meant I had to re-read some scenes to make sure I really understood them. Everything seems to happen for a reason and it was somewhat of a chore trying to remember all of the details of every part of the book. Yet, several of the characters, especially Fin and Asher, would do such outlandish things that I didn't know what to believe most of the time.
The world building is incredible. It's so extraordinary that I was constantly surprised by the author's creativity. But I must say that it was a bit excessive, at times. If we are to believe that this incredible paranormal world exists among modern society, I expected to see more aspects of traditional society included. It was daunting, trying to remember all of the new words, meanings, creatures and their behaviors, etc. I almost felt the author was trying too hard to convince us of the uniqueness of her world, introducing so many different things at once. Still, I applaud the effort, considering a lot of authors lack the ability to world-build this way.
For the love angle of the story, I was intrigued, surprised, confused, disappointed, excited, confused again, sad, hopeful and a heap of other emotions. Halfway through the book, I wasn't sure if I really trusted or liked either of the love interests. As time progresses, my doubts are only further solidified. At one point, I thought Hailey should just flee from the both of them and live as a hermit, instead.
One of the men would finally earn a bit of my trust and then... squander it.
The ending showed promise, finally answering a couple of my questions. But then, I found myself shocked, yet again, and needing more. I read that this is supposed to be at least a three book series. I sure hope so and I definitely would continue with the sequels. Though, to be honest, I might be rooting for Hailey to just flee the planet and live alone on Mars by the time this is over. She might finally find some peace!
This book stirred so many of my emotions that I have to congratulate the author for writing such a gripping and compelling story. It was astonishing to me, the number of times I put this book down just to stare off into space for a moment, trying to wrap my head around what had happened. I am not easily surprised but was stunned over and over while reading this book. Five suns to Eerie and I can't wait (though, I am a bit afraid) to see what the author comes up with in the next book!
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