On Roanoke Island, the legend of the 114 people who mysteriously vanished from the Lost Colony hundreds of years ago is just an outdoor drama for the tourists, a story people tell. But when the island faces the sudden disappearance of 114 people now, an unlikely pair of 17-year-olds may be the only hope of bringing them back.
Miranda, a misfit girl from the island’s most infamous family, and Phillips, an exiled teen criminal who hears the voices of the dead, must dodge everyone from federal agents to long-dead alchemists as they work to uncover the secrets of the new Lost Colony. The one thing they can’t dodge is each other.
The premise of this book has had me fascinated since I first saw it, but I was kind of scared to read it because it had the potential to be very good or very bad. Thankfully, for me this book was extremely good, it had it's faults but overall I was extremely impressed.
I loved the setting of this book. The small island makes for a very cramped feel and the world building was fantastic, I could imagine the island as I read the book. I did think that some things didn't because of the setting. For example, a scene where Miranda's 'Dad' is walking around and nobody recognises him doesn't make sense since Miranda is constantly saying that everybody knows her family.
One of the best parts of this book was the romance, both Miranda and Phillips were fantastic characters on their own but when you put them together they make an awesome team. This is a relationship that develops slowly, considering how fast paced this book is in places the development seems real. I loved the almost moments and I really liked how they got along as friends and allies and didn't just lust. I really liked Phillips, though he was completely different to what I expected from an 'exiled teen criminal'.
At times this book confused me because of the fast pace and I got some characters mixed up, I felt like the end especially had me reading really quickly because of the fast pace and then IO ended up backtracking a few times.
Overall, Blackwood was a well-written book due to the great romance and setting. I never thought I'd say this but at times the narrative wasn't completely clear and the pacing was maybe too fast and I got a little confused.
Overall Rating: A-
Book released September 4th 2012 by Strange Chemistry
Book received from publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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