Blossoms & Flutters: Owlet by Emma Michaels
- By Emma Michaels
- Editions: ebook, paperback
- Published: September 17th 2014 by Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing (first published August 21st 2012)
- Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
- Source: NetGalley
- In a Flutter: A short story with a lot going on
Somewhere between falling and flying… there is a girl.
Iris has a secret. She lost her memory eight years ago and never told a living soul. After an asthma attack one night she finds out that her dreams of a strange house on a snowy island may be a memory resurfacing but the more she learns about the past the more she realizes the life she has been living is a lie. As the façade her father has built starts to crumble around her she will have to decide which means more to her; the truth or her life.
~ Goodreads
Review
This was an extremely fast paced story that unfortunately ends on a semi cliff hanger. There was a lot of action and information packed into this short book. Told in multiple points of view as well as past/present point of view, it makes for a well-rounded outlook on the story. The setting changed about four times in the short span of time the book operates on and gave way to introducing the paranormal romance aspect of the story.
Iris lives in a world apart from the rest. Homeschooled all her life and only interacting with her father and caregiver, Diane, Iris begins to dream. She visits a mysterious island in her dreams only to find out that, that place is real and where she and Diane are being sent by her father. The whole story revolves around keeping Iris safe from a seemingly unknown entity. And unfortunately for Iris her own ignorance sometimes works against her. The people in her life kept her in the dark about basic aspects of herself that is now coming back to bite them in the butt.
Falcon craves what he once lost. Iris is the answer to everything…except she doesn’t remember who he is. Once sent to do harm but now would give his life for Iris’s, Falcon becomes a pillar of strength and trust that she can rely on.
I liked the idea of a nontraditional shifter book. Most shifter book are either wolves or cats and even sometimes mixed breeds but rarely, if ever, do you have birds. This book features all different kinds of birds; owls, hawks, falcons, vultures, etc. Unfortunately none of the characters actually transformed to a bird and I would have really like to have read that in the story.
I regrettably wasn’t able to really connect with the characters like I know I would have if the story was a bit slower and longer. The story was told at such a break neck pace as well as a cloak and dagger form that I was kind of left feeling more confused instead of intrigued the majority of the time. I was also left a little emotional and uneasy by the punch of sadness delivered at the end of the book.
In the end if you are looking for something a little bit different than a traditional shifter book that can be read in a quick sitting and are ready to do a series reading, I’d say come and check this out.
