Review: Avow (and Awry) by Chelsea Fine

Avow by Chelsea Fine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads summary:


Scarlet remembers. Everything. Her past lives, Tristan, Gabriel, Nate: she remembers it all--including how to get to the Fountain of Youth. But time is running out. 

Heather and Gabriel have been kidnapped by Raven, while the curse that has plagued Scarlet and Tristan for centuries has shifted, putting the star-crossed lovers in more danger than ever before. Water from the Fountain of Youth is the only thing that can save Scarlet and her loved ones. But the water comes at a price.

With lives--and hearts--at stake, Scarlet leads her friends on a dangerous journey to the Fountain of Youth. Where eternal life is possible, but death is certain.


My review:

I did some heavy wavering between three and four stars for this one - another time I wished desperately for half stars in there somewhere.

This is also going to be a combined review for both Awry and Avow for two reasons. First, work did not allow me the brainspace to review Awry when I finished it and second...they could have very easily been combined into one book. Thus the reasons for the waver between three and four stars.

Overall, the series itself was a strong one. Lots of action, great characters, dialogue that had me laughing out loud and a love story that truly touched my heart. It also had a triangle...but not. There wasn't any of the angst and chest-beating over 'whomever shall I choooose...' here. Or, at least, it didn't feel that way to me. With all the Team X and Team Y going around, it was refreshing to see the triangle explored the way it was in this series.

The problem I had with Avow was the inordinate amount of time spent over Scarlet's memories - what felt like over half the book, some of which had already been alluded to in other flashbacks (which, to my mind, had been handled better in the previous two books via small chapter glimpses into the past. Was it interesting to see all of Scarlet's past lives? Yes. But it took me out of the current story and honestly had me skimming after a while to get to what I really wanted...Scarlet's last life before waking up in Amazon.

And, I'll say it. Even though this was Scarlet's story from start to finish, by the middle of Avow - or the middle of the present-day part of the book - I wasn't reading so much for Tristan and Scarlet but for other reasons. Reasons that shall remain uncommented on for possible spoiler issues. My favorite secondary character was involved and I'll leave it at that.

I enjoyed the series as a whole very much and due to cliffhangers, I'm very glad the entire thing was out before I started. Nothing like reaching that Noooooo ending and knowing the next book is sitting right on your Kindle, waiting for you to touch it and bring it to life.