I adored this book. It had an original concept, a fairly likable heroine, a hot, hot bad boy, and lovely, detailed writing.
This review contains minor spoilers.
THE HEROINE:
Charlotte was not the worst heroine I've ever some across by far, but she was not my favorite, either. For one, she was somewhat stupid, making dumb choices about half of the time. I understood her desire to be remembered. We all want to be remembered. (A line from the inside dust jacket, I know.) But still. Can you ever really fight fate? I love that she tried, but sometimes enough is enough already. She could be strong at times, like when she tried to go against the Need, but she was also shockingly weak to me.
THE LOVE INTEREST:
Mmm. Harlin is a hot, wonderful bad boy who immediately captured my attention. He's rugged but sweet, something you don't see a lot of in YA romances these days. He's definitely not good but he's not completely bad, either. However, he's kind of shallow. His character never really develops well, so there's not much to say about him.
THE MENTOR:
Now here's someone who knew what he was doing. Monroe is brave and less one-dimensional than you might think. He can seem to be one-faced at times, but that's only because he's not sure how to act any other way. Yes, he documents Charlotte carefully, a bit experimentally, but it's his job. It's the way of showing future generations how everything will play out. He seems to have more depth than all of the other characters combined. He has a romance that ended in heartbreak and a life where he's tried desperately to help others as he can.
THE PLOT:
For a shorter book, the plot dragged by awfully slowly. Nothing much seemed to happen at most points, and it was almost impossible to keep reading at some points. However, it was a very original, gripping concept, and involves much melodrama.
THE WRITING:
Young's writing is a bit on the simple side but still quite lovely. Told in Charlotte's voice, the writing sometimes has a naïve tone to it, but is generally easy to follow. There's a bit too much description in my opinion in some places, and not enough in others, but for a debut novel it is quite impressive. Even though the writing is simple, it manages to get the point across well enough.
THE ROMANCE:
Even though I liked both Charlotte and Harlin well enough, I did not enjoy this romance at all. I am a complete romantic so when I do not like a romance, it borders on pathetic. All they ever seem to do in this book is kiss and have sex. Moreover, Charlotte lies to Harlin for until the end of the book and yet he had no qualms about forgiving her. They never seem to have meaningful conversations. Even their first real meeting is lame, where they don't actually talk, except to say their names. All they do is-you guessed it-kiss. It is a completely shallow romance with no substance. I would've loved to see it develop more.
THE ENDING:
This sold it for me and is probably the only reason I'll be buying the sequel. The cliffhanger here was intriguing and I'd like to know more about what happened.
FINE.