Dela

***1.5 Stars***

There was just so much going on here that I did not like, but just enough good things for me to not DNF this book.

Let's start with the main character, Zara. Holy crap, was a total Bella Swan clone, right down to the super whiny and annoying disposition and her being clingy and not using her head when shit's going down. She has literally no talent and abandons her friends for this guy she just met and is all of a sudden madly in love with. She literally does nothing but whine about not wanting Lucas to leave her and bitching about her situation. I couldn't stand her.

Lucas was barely better than Zara. This mortal girl he knows nothing about is all of a sudden his one true love (and obsession). He is super possessive and babies her to no end, not even letting her walk on her own two feet just because there is ice on the ground. He definitely has the whiny factor going on, but to a much lesser degree than Zara and when shit's going down, he actually uses his head and goes to help his family without a second thought instead of staying with Zara.

Over all, this story could have used some heavy touch ups with the story. The one reason that I did not give this book one star is because I found Lucas's back story fascinating. I really wanted to know more about his life from before his transformation. What little we got left me hanging big time. His family was interesting as well. The beginning of this story just didn't seem to match the rest of the book tone wise and there were parts that felt randomly thrown in and clunky.… (altro)

***1.5 Stars***

There was just so much going on here that I did not like, but just enough good things for me to not DNF this book.

Let's start with the main character, Zara. Holy crap, was a total Bella Swan clone, right down to the super whiny and annoying disposition and her being clingy and not using her head when shit's going down. She has literally no talent and abandons her friends for this guy she just met and is all of a sudden madly in love with. She literally does nothing but whine about not wanting Lucas to leave her and bitching about her situation. I couldn't stand her.

Lucas was barely better than Zara. This mortal girl he knows nothing about is all of a sudden his one true love (and obsession). He is super possessive and babies her to no end, not even letting her walk on her own two feet just because there is ice on the ground. He definitely has the whiny factor going on, but to a much lesser degree than Zara and when shit's going down, he actually uses his head and goes to help his family without a second thought instead of staying with Zara.

Over all, this story could have used some heavy touch ups with the story. The one reason that I did not give this book one star is because I found Lucas's back story fascinating. I really wanted to know more about his life from before his transformation. What little we got left me hanging big time. His family was interesting as well. The beginning of this story just didn't seem to match the rest of the book tone wise and there were parts that felt randomly thrown in and clunky.… (altro)

I'm not gonna lie- I wanted this book because of the amazing cover. The 52nd by Dela caught my eye on Instagram and I thought to myself: "That book would look great on my shelf!" So as soon as my Book Buy funds became available, I added it to my collection. Am I happy I did...?
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There are many times I can begin a book and know immediately if I am going to like it or not. It's happened many times. When I know I'm going to love it, I fly through the book in a few days. When I know it's gonna suck... I find myself in mortal pain and agony and I flip from page to page- praying for a speedy demise.

As soon as I got to the second chapter, I knew this book was not going to work for me. I immediately thought of Twilight- EVERYONE is amazingly perfect and like, total babes! Their hair and eyes are flawless and- I don't know if it happened or not, but I don't think Mayans and Aztecs of the past had blue eyes. I'm just saying- I'm no scientist so don't quote me on this! Even the author said it was rare!

Okay, so I won't go into SPOILERS with this book; I refuse to give the story away. But when you have perfect characters- immortals for that matter, who can glamour and move über-fast with ultra clear hearing (the only thing they didn't do was sparkle in sunlight), I began to wonder who wrote this book for real! I was so upset by the characters, I'm not even going to begin talking about the on and off, just to be back on again relationship between Zara and Lucas. It was annoying, to say the least.

It wasn't a bad book, but the story just didn't win me over. Sometimes YA novels regurgitate storylines, living me overly unimpressed. This time, my judgment of the cover played me on the book. On to the next read!

Ratings: 👓👓👓out of 5 specs
*Keep Me Posted is next.
**Book is from my personal library.… (altro)

Originally posted here

I had such high hopes for The 52nd but it turned out to be the biggest disappointment of the year so far for me. It sounds like such a brilliant story; the Mayan and Aztec mythology sounds beyond awesome and unfortunately there wasn't enough of it.

The problem mainly is that the story is so familiar... Zara is a virgin (which is important of course) who is of interest to this rich immortal Castillo family; the son, Lucas is inexplicably drawn to Zara and he slowly overtakes her life under the guise of protecting her from others who want to harm her. Lucas desires Zara fiercely but as an old fashioned guy, he wants to be married before he does the deed. I don't think I need to name the particular book/series this brings to mind... Every cliché and trope that exists in YA is in this book somewhere and although that may not bother some readers, it was just not my cup of tea.

In my opinion, most of the book is centred on profuse description of how rich the Castillo family is or Zara's mundane day to day existence with her boring friends. It was dull. The romance between Lucas and Zara made me physically cringe in places. Zara herself is a very flat character, there was nothing really that special about her; she was just this cookie cutter blond character who is irresistible to Lucas. Yawn. The ending was beyond infuriating also.

Despite the many issues I had with it, there were a few moments where The 52nd sparkled and showed real potential. The beginning of the book was particularly good as well as the premise of the story itself. Clearly this book is loved and has had some rave reviews but it just did not work for me unfortunately.

Disclaimer
I received this book for free but was not required to give a review. All opinions stated are my own.… (altro)