The Veil

I tried SO hard to like this book. I couldn't even finish it and I almost never give up on books, even if they're dreadful. I was so close to end but I just couldn't force myself to finish it. I'm not sure what went wrong. The writing wasn't too bad, but everything just seemed so forced. The world building was terrible. There were times I just got super lost and confused. The plot overall also just doesn't make sense to me. I understand not wanting to leave your home or let the culture of your home disappear, but they are literally living as if they are in some dystopian reality when they aren't. And they could EASILY, just pick up their things and live somewhere less dangerous, and more functional. I mean, they are literally living like scavengers. If the author wanted to make the setting of the book dystopian-like, she should have committed. It would have been SO much better and make SO much more sense. I also did not like the MC. There's no actual reason, she just seems so corny to me. The chemistry between Liam and her seem forced as hell and then the author just created the whole tension and I can't love you but I want to angst between the two for literally the hell of it. I wish I could have liked it, but it just seemed so half assed.

This book wasn't bad as such. It was just dull. I'm not sure what I expected but it wasn't this. The story was interesting if not completely original but then it was really let down by the fact I couldn't have cared less about our main characters. They failed to make any impact on me as characters so I can barely tell you a thing about them. I was hoping together they might hold enough spark to keep me interested but they didn't. You might as well have had cardboard cutouts, that was how bland they were to me. Anyway, enough about dull characters. In the end this was just a bland read which left me disappointed. I actually ended up skimming to the end of the book because I wanted to know how it ended without wasting too much time actually reading.

Originally posted at Booklovers For Life I’ve been a fan of Chloe Neill for a while, ever since I read and loved her Chicagoland Vampires series. So of course I was excited when I heard she’d be writing a new series called Devil’s Isle. The Veil is the first book in the series, and it was good for a first book. There’s a lot of world building and descriptions, unsurprisingly, but sadly, the book just didn’t wring that many emotions out of me. The premise is interesting and holds a lot of potential for future books, but The Veil just wasn’t the exciting read I’d been hoping for. The Veil takes place in dystopian New Orleans, where the paranormal world and the human world collided and went to war seven years ago. Now, when The Veil that separated the two worlds was repaired, the paranormals that remained in New Orleans were sent to prison at Devil’s Isle. Magic and all paranormal activity is outlawed, though our heroine, Claire, is a Sensitive human with magic powers and does her best to avoid getting caught using magic. Claire Connolly tries to keep a quiet life, surviving in this dystopian world and running her family’s shop, but she gets into trouble when she uses her magic out in the open to help out a woman in need. Liam Quinn, a bounty hunter, helps Claire out and also aids her in training her magic. He’s a man with secrets, but he and Claire become somewhat friends, despite the slight chemistry they have between them. The romance is SUPER light in this book. It’s more a potential for a romance, and I’m hoping there will be more in the following books. The Veil centers around Claire honing her Sensitive powers so that she won’t turn into a wraith, a deadly, inhuman creature. There’s also an overarching, bigger plot that I’m sure we’ll see unravel more as we get the other books in the series. I enjoyed The Veil for the most part. It’s a fairly good read, with well-developed characters and a highly detailed dystopian world. I liked how the author wrote the city of New Orleans in such a way that it felt like its own character. However, I struggled to connect with the story in some way – the main characters felt boring to me, and none of the action had my heart pumping. Plus, this is the type of book that leaves you with lots of questions and few answers. Still, I will most likely be reading the sequel because I love the idea of the story, and I feel this series has a lot of potential to become better as it progresses. Thanks to the publisher for generously providing me an ARC to review. Amazon Ebook: http://amzn.to/1oX8qHW Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/1sVMNEg Liked this review? Subscribe to Booklovers For Life for more!