Name: Janne Janssens's review of The Path Keeper by N. J. Simmonds
Item: The Path Keeper
Rating: 2
Author: Janne Janssens

N. J. Simmonds

The first in a thrilling new YA fantasy series by N J Simmonds, The Path Keeper is a tale of passion and secrets, of first loves and second chances, and the invisible threads that bind us. Can love ever be stronger than fate? What if every coincidence was a tiny miracle? What if our life was already mapped out before birth? What if someone had the power to change the path we were destined to follow? Ella hates her new life in London, she misses Spain and she's struggling to get over her past until she meets Zac. He has always loved her but he isn't meant to be part of Ella's story. Not this time. Not ever. Little does she know that his secret is the one thing that will tear them apart and will force her to live in a world that no longer makes sense, a world more dangerous than she could ever imagine.

The Path Keeper Series

The Path Keeper

Janne Janssens

What if every coincidence was a tiny miracle? What if our life was already mapped out before birth? What if someone had the power to change the path we were destined to follow? Ella hates her new life in London, she misses Spain and she's struggling to get over her past until she meets Zac. He has always loved her but he isn't meant to be part of Ella's story. Not this time. Not ever. Little does she know that his secret is the one thing that will tear them apart and will force her to live in a world that no longer makes sense. A world more dangerous than she could ever imagine.

Narah Quinn

I 100% admit that the cover (and title) drew my attention to this book first - then the synopsis had me intrigued...

"What if our lives were mapped out before birth? Does anyone have the power to change their destiny?

Ella hates London. She misses her old life in Spain and is struggling to get over her past—until she meets Zac. He’s always loved her but isn’t meant to be part of her story. Not this time. Not ever. Little does she know that his secret is the one thing that will tear them apart and force her to live in a world that no longer makes sense. A world full of danger, lies and magic.

The Path Keeper is a passionate tale of first loves, second chances and the invisible threads that bind us. Can love ever be stronger than fate?"

***********Possible Spoilers**************

I have a tendency to forget the descriptions of books when I am reading on kindle and so as I began I was thinking - Who is Zac? Who is Ella? What is his Job? And as I continued to read I wondered if he was her guardian, did he only watch over her or others too, was he a fate, some kind of destiny, cupid even? 

Ella as a character was fun, well written and was refreshingly normal despite what was occurring, I loved her slips into Spanish whenever something went wrong! Zac was instantly likeable despite his outbursts, but you have a good idea that something is not as it seems and make allowances! Her mother had her moments, but mostly she annoyed me, later on I realised why she could be the way she was and it didn't make it okay but it did allow for some understanding,

The switch to the 1940s initially threw me but by this point I had figured out enough to realise Evie was one of Ellas previous incarnations, and as the war time story progressed with Dolly and Ted and we gained insight into the workings of everything. I love the concept. 

From this point we learned more and more (though Ella did not straight away) and I adored how everyone in the different time periods came to be who and where they were. I was glad that we heard her mums story and I loved the way everything tied together with all our characters. It made me happy, but also sad because she didn't know who Julianna was and I also really liked the little link to the de Silva's. I don't know if this will become more relevant down the line? 

I really liked this version of history, I liked that they (Ella and Zac) had been together in their first lives, that they were the ones who were really meant to be and that we discover important things towards the end that are going to be vital moving forward but we don't fully understand the consequences yet. 
We have to wait, and we have to have faith. And I love it!

Anyaconda

In the Path Keeper we follow Ella and Zac, who has a secret to hide. I won't spoil it here, but I think it was sort of obvious through the book cover.

The premise was interesting, but a few things didn't add up. 
First Ella is this bad-ass girl and then she needs saving all the time. For my taste she's a bit too needy and the story has quite a few tropes. 
Then it's said that the other "race" we're dealing with cannot like, but in the end we found out that he was able to lie, which annoyed me.
It wasn't really for me, but if you enjoy a YA urban fantasy romance including some common tropes, I can definitely recommend this book to you. If you liked the Shadowhunter Series you might like this a lot.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an eARC.

Ebook provided by the publisher through NetGally in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

It took me a while to put my thoughts about this book in order. From the start I found the concept of reincarnation and life paths that cross each other very interesting, but that didn't mean that I got dragged into the story immediately.

I struggled with liking the main characters. In my opinion, Ella and Zac are overdramatic. As stated in the synopsis, nothing is a coincidence, everything in life is planned, but nevertheless it feels forced that everything is 'too accidental to be accidental'.

I soon tended to DNF, but the first flashback about Evie and Dolly aroused renewed interest. This chapter seemed almost written by another author. I felt great sympathy for both girls and the writing style suited their personalities. 

The chapters about Ella could only hold my attention after Ella had reached her peak in dramatic behavior and had to flee America. There was more action in the story, drawing more attention to the actions of the characters and less to their behavior. The end matched the rest of the story in terms of events and drama, but it didn't feel dramatic anymore. I felt myself a very superficial spectator. And this is how I felt the whole time reading The Pathkeeper actually.

Solange Bello

I'm honestly not sure where to start with this one except that at 63% I DNF. I just couldn't bring myself to finish this one unfortunately. I've read a lot of other reviews about it and they're all spot on when they say its the weird child of twilight x fallen but even though those were somewhat trash I could finish it cause I loved the love story. But in the path keeper I honestly don't care about Ella and Zac one bit. I'm sad cause I don't like negative reviews and I tried really hard to finish it but once we got to the religion part of it that's what killed it for me. It's one thing to make up your own mythology but to say that God does not exist all together Im sorry but you're bound to drive readers away. It sucks to say but I just wouldn't recommend this. I'm not sure who I would recommend it to because theres sex scenes so I can't recommend it to a young reader and the characters aren't mature enough for an adult reader. Bleh you win some you lose some I guess.

Beth Bartholomew

Please note that this book contains trigger warnings for rape and abuse. Whilst the e-copy of the book I received did not have a warning, I have been assured by the author there will be one in the finished copy.

This book was definitely strange and it managed to succeed in being unlike anything I’ve read before. The premise was sort of Twilight-esk, but with a different creature instead of Vampires. There was certainly a mirrored obsession surrounding the male characters though. As usual, we have a normal female lead who comes across a sexy male and can’t stop thinking about him. If you’d have told me the premise of this book in great detail before I read it, I may not have picked it up, but I did and I ended up enjoying certain aspects of it.

I really liked the mystery and intrigue behind this book, when I started it I had forgotten the blurb so I went in fairly blind. I was definitely taken away with the guessing game of the plot, I wanted to uncover the secrets of the story. I wanted to know who Zac (said sexy man) really was and why he was so into Ella.

I liked seeing this book from both perspectives, Zac and Ella as well as some dipping into the past. I can say for sure that this book wasn’t boring, there was always a new angle/direction that it was taking. I also found it hard to predict where it was going, so that was another good thing because usually with this genre you can tell from the off.

Character-wise I found myself annoyed with Ella as a lead, she seemed very dependent on Zac and that bugged me because she was clearly able to function on her own from when we first meet her. Her mother is a stunning woman, married to a rich guy who seems to provide anything the two desire. This book certainly had the glitz and glamour!

I’m left confused by who the audience for this book is, it seems to have the premise of a teenage book, but the themes of an adult one that shouldn’t be read by teens. I appreciated an older main character because that is rare in young adult books, but I think this could certainly be targeted to the older spectrum of young adult readers. There are certainly a lot of problem themes this book deals with and I think they could be upsetting to younger readers. I’m glad to see the addition of a trigger warning on the finished copy though.

N.J. Simmonds

What if all our lives were mapped out before birth? Does anyone have the power to change our destiny? Ella hates London. She misses her old life in Spain and is struggling to get over her past—until she meets Zac. He’s always loved her but isn’t meant to be part of her story. Not this time. Not ever. Little does she know that his secret is the one thing that will tear them apart and force her to live in a world that no longer makes sense. A world full of danger, lies and magic. The Path Keeper is a passionate tale of first loves, second chances and the invisible threads that bind us. Can love ever be stronger than fate?

Janne Janssens &
The Path Keeper by N. J. Simmonds

Reviews

Join the club

Janne Janssens &The Path Keeper by N. J. Simmonds

Reviews

Join the club

Janne Janssens &
The Path Keeper by N. J. Simmonds