Crow’s Rest by Angelica R. Jackson
- By Angelica R. Jackson
- Editions: ebook, paperback
- Published: May 12th 2015 by Spencer Hill Press
- Genre: Young Adult Paranormal / Romance
- Source: NetGalley
- In a Flutter: Overall a fun, easy read.
Avery Flynn arrives for a visit at her Uncle Tam’s, eager to rekindle her summertime romance with her crush-next-door, Daniel.
But Daniel’s not the sweet, neurotic guy she remembers—and she wonders if this is her Daniel at all. Or if someone—some thing—has taken his place.
Her quest to find the real Daniel—and get him back—plunges Avery into a world of Fae and changelings, where creatures swap bodies like humans change their socks, and magic lives much closer to home than she ever imagined.
~ Goodreads
Fluttering Thoughts:
Worldbuilding: The setting of Crow’s Rest had a lot of charm, and the fantasy elements were interesting as well – fey, magic -.
Characters: Avery was an interesting MC. I sort of liked the idea of her, the concept, but I wasn’t that taken with her manifestation, if that makes any sense. The concept of her was fun, but she sometimes read unconvincing, somewhat childish maybe at times. I liked her loyalty, her sense of right and wrong and the nuances in between. I loved that wild streak about her, the fact she was quite independent. That strikes me as authentic teenager, so kudos for that!
I found Daniel highly irritating, and Lonan was pretty fun and could have been sort of kick-ass, but then again we have our heroine doing most of the saving so the fey studmuffin didn’t get a chance to go all alpha, macho goodness. He was sort of like the fey boy next door. If you like that in your reads, then I think you’ll like him. I’m not much into it myself, I admit. Maybe that’s why I found Daniel annoying, he literally was the boy next door.
I kind of loved Nykur And also I liked the rather irreverent air the fey in this story had. Of course, they couldn’t go too mischievous because age-appropriate, but they had a lot of potential. Big kudos for that too!
Plot: The paranormal (because fantasy creatures running around regular human world) action was sort of fun, but not overly exciting imo. It was entertaining enough, and I often found myself wishing the fantasy world had gotten more air-time, because it was really cool. The teen romance angle was pretty hormonal and of course, there was a triangle happening, with the two contenders somewhat renting the same body for a while… kind of disturbing, a bit twisted – which is why I found it interesting and fun, as opposed to irritating which is my general view of triangles and especially in YA. All in all, the read felt somewhat slow in the beginning, but overall it had a good pace. It’s not a roller-coaster kind of read, though. If you’re into agitated action, it might be a bit too slow for you.
Writing: First person, past tense narrative. Avery’s voice had moments when it was hilarious and quite charming with her bits of snark, but sometimes things felt a little… I’m not sure how to describe it, light? But that’s a common occurrence for me with YA, so it might be just your thing.
Curb Appeal: Cool cover, hooking blurb – a good pitch.
All in all, this was a fun kind of twisted (but only kind of, keep in mind, it’s quite tame) fairy-tale like story, fact that I enjoyed. I liked the portrayal of fey, the magic to real ratio. The story was somewhat hard to get into at times, especially in the beginning, but things progressed further on. I definitely recommend it to lovers of teen romance, of paranormal elements that include some fey and magic, and if you’re into romantic triangles then this one should be a fun read as well. Also it’s a standalone novel so no cliffies or anything, which is also very cool
