Suspicion

Inhalt: Das geheimnisvolle Vermächtnis von Rockford Manor. Sieben Jahre ist es her, doch nie gelang es der 17-jährige Imogen jene Nacht zu vergessen, als ihre Eltern bei einem Brand im Garten des englischen Familiensitzes starben. Aufgewachsen in New York, gerät Imogens Welt abermals völlig aus den Fugen, als sie erfährt, dass ihre Cousine Lucia verunglückt ist und sie nunmehr das Erbe als Herzogin von Rockford antreten muss. In England erwarten sie nicht nur die ungewohnten aristokratischen Pflichten, sondern auch Sebastian, Imogens heimliche Liebe seit Kindheitstagen. Doch ihr Wiedersehen auf Rockford Manor wird durch die mysteriösen Vorkommnisse hinter den uralten Mauern überschattet: Waren die Todesfälle in ihrer Familie wirklich ein Zufall? (Quelle: Klappentext) Meine Meinung: Lilienfeuer ist das neue Buch von Alexandra Monir, der Autorin der Timeless-Reihe. Obwohl die schon Ewigkeiten auf meiner Wunschliste steht, muss ich gestehen, dass ich sie bisher noch nicht gelesen habe. Dennoch habe ich viel Gutes gehört, weshalb ich mich schon sehr lange auf Monirs neuen Roman gefreut habe. Mich hat direkt das Cover angezogen und auch der Klappentext klingt super und verspricht eine Mischung aus royalem Leben und etwas Mystery. Sprich: Es spielt in einem ähnlichen Setting, wie Selection und Co aber ist etwas ganz anderes. Imogen ist eine tolle Protagonistin. Ich liebe sie! Selten habe ich gesehen, dass eine Autorin einen Menschen so liebenswert und authentisch beschreiben kann. Imogen ist das Girl Next Door aber keineswegs die unscheinbare Bella. Sie hat die typischen Probleme, die jedes Mädchen in ihrem Alter hat und da keiner weiß, dass sie adelig ist, kann sie bei ihrer Ersatzfamilie ungehindert leben. Das alles verändert sich aber, als sie erfährt, dass ihre Cousine verstorben ist und sie nun die neue Herzogin von Rockford Manor ist und so von New York nach England ziehen muss um ihr Erbe anzutreten. Das klingt alles so weit weg von uns und man könnte denken, man hätte keinerlei Identifikationspotential mit Imogen. Aber ist es nicht so, dass wir alle früher oder später einmal ins kalte Wasser geschmissen werden, wir nicht alle mal vor neuen Herausforderungen stehen? Nichts anderes ist Imogens Kampf und so können wir uns alle ein bisschen in ihr wiederfinden und genau das macht sie in meinen Augen so perfekt. Das Buch vereint zwei richtig tolle Themen. Zum einen ist es ganz klar die royale Welt und ja, dieser Aspekt gefällt mir in Lilienfeuer fast schon ein bisschen besser als in Selection und Co. Zwar ist Rockford eine erfundene Grafschaft in England aber es ist einfach sehr vieles an wirklich existierende englische Adelshäuser und generell an den englischen Adel angelehnt. So gibt es die Uni in Oxford, Polospiele, Diner und organisierte Feste. Es gibt Benimmregeln, Intrigen und eine Dienerschaft und ich habe mich in dieser Welt pudelwohl gefühlt. Ja, ich liebe Royals und ich liebe diese ganzen Geschichten über Babys und Hochzeiten. Auch, wenn ich in dieser Beziehung dann 80+ bin. Das bin ich dann gerne. Dieser Aspekt wurde von Alexandra Monir sehr gelungen umgesetzt. Das zweite große Thema ist definitiv das Mystery Thema, dass sich durch den ganzen Roman zieht und anfangs sehr undurchsichtig ist. Aber ist das nicht immer so? Am Ende geht es ein kleines bisschen in die Fantasyrichtung aber mehr kann ich euch natürlich nicht verraten. Diese Idee ist absolut toll aber leider finde ich, dass die Umsetzung ein bisschen schwächelt. Der Anfang zieht sich sehr und wir tappen lange Zeit im Dunkeln. Das liegt zwar auch an der Vorgeschichte, die ich auch ziemlich wichtig finde, aber bis Imogen dann endlich mal nach Rockford Manor kommt, ist schon fast das halbe Buch rum und es ist noch nicht wirklich etwas passiert. Dafür ging mir dann allerdings die gesamte Auflösung ein wenig zu schnell. Die war aber wirklich genial und hätte ich nur mal ein bisschen besser mitgerätselt, hätte ich sie vielleicht entschlüsseln können. Hier hätte es meiner Meinung nach einfach gereicht, wenn das Buch ca. 200 Seiten länger gewesen wäre, sodass Hinführung und Auflösung von der Gewichtung her besser harmonieren würden. Shortlist: Genre: Mystery, Royal Themen: geheime Gaben, Intrigen und Lügen Idee & Umsetzung: Idee ist perfekt, Umsetzung ist gut, schwächelt aber hier und da ein bisschen Setting: New York und Rockford Manor, eine erfunde Grafstadt in der Nähe von Oxford Stimmung/Atmosphäre: düster und geheimnisvoll Charaktere: soweit wie nötig für ein Jugendbuch ausgebaut, genau die richtige Anzahl Protagonist/in: Imogen ist für mich die perfekte Protagonistin Schreibstil: schlicht aber fesselnd Ende: überraschend und zufriedenstellend Bewertung: Ich bin begeistert von Lilienfeuer! Ich liebe Imogen, die Welt der Royals und natürlich Alexandra Monirs tolle Idee. Hier und da schwächelt die Umsetzung, was man aber meiner Meinung nach mit ein paar Seiten mehr hätte beheben können. Deshalb gebe ich begeisterte 4,5 von 5 Füchschen, die ich auf 5 aufrunde. Vielen herzlichen Dank an cbj für das schöne *Rezensionsexemplar.

Suspicion is like a paranormal Princess diaries, only it’s also a gothic thriller. Alexandra Monir, the author of Timeless series, creates a spooky mystery surrounding the Rockford family, which, as every rich and powerful family, has a few skeletons in wardrobe. This is also a YA retelling of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, which I haven’t read, so no further comments about it. This book is either love or hate. You can do as I did, which is to ignore all the plot holes and enjoy the story. But it won’t be easy. Our main heroine is Imogen Rockford – a grand-daughter of the Duke of Wickersham. It`s not her parents who will inherit Rockford and the title, but they are still pretty important. The story starts with 10-year-old Imogen coming to visit her grandfather. All the Rockford family gathers in the Manor in England, but the party is spoiled by the big tragedy: her parents and aunt with uncle die in a fire. There is no one left, except for her, her old grandfather and her cousin Lucia, with whom they were great friends in childhood. After it Imogen moves to her adopted family in NYC and decides to cut the ends with her previous family because it’s too painful to think about them. Then we meet a 17-year-old Imogen. She’s a typical teenager thinking about graduation and her future. But all her plans collapse when she is informed about the death of the last two members of her family. Now she’s a Duchess and is supposed to move to Rockford Manor. Struggling with her new role, Imogen starts to unravel secrets about her family and herself. Imogen is not one of those characters that seem to come to life from the pages of the book. She has no personal traits, no hobbies, nothing in particular to say about her personality. More like she was created just to tell the story. The only exception is that she can do magic, which is also not a developed topic in this book. She used it only when it was convenient to the plot, never tried to train herself, wasn’t curious about her abilities. They were based on mythology, but I still don’t understand their extension. (Like, she could control the earth, but since when this kind of power gives you the ability to project a memory on a bush?) It was told that Imogen moved to NY because she couldn’t bear life in a place where her parents died. Okay, I can understand that. But she totally dismissed her cousin and grandfather, though they were her only remaining family. She never called or wrote to them, even on holidays! I can hardly believe that you can just cut the threads that connect you to people with whom you’ve spent your life in one day. Still, it took her only a minute to decide to become a new Duchess. A teen who is now close to the royalties. It’s unbelievable how easy it was to set up a new heir. Imogen starts her training, visits such events like polo games and invites all the important people to a ball at her estate. It seemed like her new role came to her naturally, though she never did anything like that before. Coming back to England, Imogen meets her childhood crush – Sebastian. That’s where all the fun stuff starts. She and Sebastian were besties before her parents died, and the girl was deeply in love with him, never mind that she was only 10-years-old. But Sebastian was with her cousin Lucia, becoming a forbidden fruit. Imogen claims that she never forgot him and didn’t pay much attention to the other guys, though she and Sebastian didn’t talk for seven years and weren’t supposed to meet again. That’s hilarious! Anyway, all those years he was Lucia’s boyfriend, and now that she’s dead, hooooraaaay, the place is available. It annoyed me so much! There was nothing to like him for. I can say nothing about his character, except that he is good at playing polo. This romance was based on nothing, just another insta-love. Nevertheless, I’ve read this book in one sitting. The main reason I couldn’t turn my eyes away from it was a mystery behind a not-so-accidental death of Imogen`s family. There were so many suspects; I couldn’t wait to find the truth! And I liked the idea of a final twist, though that’s where the major plot holes are. I give the book three stars because, even though there are many cons, I still enjoyed it. SPOLERS AHEAD! Moments that made me laugh like hell: (view spoiler)[ - So you like me? Well, maybe I wasn’t THAT fond of your cousin. Even though we were together for years. - My brother might have killed your sister. Tsss, don’t tell anybody! - So, I and your cousin decided to switch places. We dyed our hair and guess what? Nobody noticed that we changed our identities! Yes, all this time we were living with people who knew us all our life. Who cares? We have one father, we’re practically twins! - Want to know who killed your family? Hedge TV will show you some memories and light the way to killer! Our sponsor: the Elemental magic. (hide spoiler)] What are your favorite parts? Leave the comment below :) *This beautiful fan art was made by my dear friend geborn-zu-sterben

This book was awesome. I love that fact that the main character is a great heroine and face the changes in her life with grace and elegance. This is a book for any girl who dreams of finding out that they nobility and having to face it. Love and everyone should read this book.

I had never heard of this author before but the description sounded interesting so I decided to give it a chance. I did enjoy this book. I loved the mystery with a hint of romance and it didn't take me long to read it because it was entertaining. I know some reviewers didn't like this book but personally I really did enjoy it. I though it is well written and I loved the fact that most of the book takes place in England . Characters and location are well described and I could very well imagine it all. Heck I even had a dream about this book last night. I now want to read more books by this author and I have added all of her books in my to buy list. I give this 4 out of 5

Before anything else, can we please all take a moment to exclaim in delight over this cover? I can't pinpoint exactly what prompts it, but this cover makes my Fantasy loving heart all aflutter. I won't even attempt to deny that my choice to read this was a serious case of cover lust. In fact, I only skimmed the synopsis for this before I started. Honestly? I think that was the perfect way to go. Everything that came next was a surprise. All my love goes to Alexandra Monir for bringing to life a world of wealth and opulence. The beginning of this story grabbed my hand, and led me into Imogen Rockford's life. A life filled with sprawling mansions, elegant libraries, and enough hidden secrets to keep me wanting to read on. I loved the disconnect between Imogen and Rockford Manor. Monir artfully keeps our heroine away from everything until she's older, which makes for a much more in depth look into the secrets her family hides. I felt like, despite the fact that this is set in current times, it was almost an older tale of sorts. The kind that lies hidden until someone is ready to uncover it. In fact, Imogen is a rather likable character overall. I never found her pompous, or overbearing, despite her family's wealth. Imogen is the exact opposite of all that. She sees the people around her for what they are. Simply, people. As she navigated the ins and outs of the British peerage, I couldn't help but be amused. Imogen's view of the whole thing was candid and enjoyable. It made for a nice balance between her observations of her wealth, and the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the way she obtained it. Where the story fell apart, in my opinion, was near the ending. Up to that point, you would have gotten nothing but love from me if you asked how I was enjoying the book. Imogen and Sebastion were stellar characters, the world they inhabited was lavish, and the history they were uncovering intriguing. The problems started when the twist near the end of the book hit. It wasn't what I was expecting, to be sure, but moreover it left so many things untouched. I can't really explain what I was hoping for without spoilers, but I can say that I genuinely hope that there are more of these books. I absolutely must know more about the Rockford family.