I like fantasy, I like young adult novels, I love pretty colors, I adore a good retelling/fairy tale vibe, and I (generally) like enemies-to-lovers style plots, and so I should have really loved this one. So, why did I only give this three stars then?

Characters are important to me, as our their development and motivations. When it comes to my YAL novels, I do expect there to be some sort of growth that I can grab onto throughout the novel (even if it is part of a series, I want there to be growth from book to book). There needs to be something that makes me like the characters (and not just lust for them, because that's easy, anyone can lust for Jacks... but who is this character as a person that wants me to do more than just fantasize about him in the buff, right?). The characters should, usually, be strong figures that are making tough choices to keep moving the plot forward.

But in this book we have Evangeline and she's so flat! Pancake flat, I swear. She isn't really making her own choices as much as things happen around her and she gets caught up in them. You want to think that she makes the choices at the beginning (stone people and then, essentially, taking their place) but even that is such a small, small commitment from this character that it doesn't even seem like she made a stance to make those initial choices. She's also just kind of oblivious to what's going on around her. I can spot the "bad people" instantly in this book and she's like nah, nah, this is family. SMH.

I just couldn't fall in love with the book because I was so disappointed in the lack of character building we had when it came to our heroine, Evangeline. Honestly, I'd read a book without her in it and it would be better. I just... I left feeling "meh" and don't foresee myself picking up the next installment in this series (a pretty bad sign, for me).

3/5 stars.