A Google user
I was really drawn to the premise of this story and while I liked the characters, the plot just was not for me. That said, I couldn't put it down even in the parts that seemed to drag a bit. In the more complex parts, I think it was all me because I think I just didn't get it. Probably because I've never quite understood Poe and I skipped over the discussions about the work, and it correlated with the plot.
While I think that Varen was awesome, and I appreciate that Isobel defies the popular status and genuinely wants to be a nice person, Gwen was really my favorite. I love her eagerness, bluntness and wish that she could have held a more critical part in the plot.
I was pretty lost at the end, and was kinda let down that there wasn't a complete happy ever after, but I suppose since its a first book, that is understandable.
A Google user
I had to read this book, I love Poe, his poetry, his mysterious life. The first half of the book was most filled with teen drama, cheerleaders, jocks, goths... and their clicks crossing each other, with some expected and unexpected results..
The second half dark, twisted and "Poe-ish" I could not out it down. thrown into a dangerous, nightmare with almost no hope of escaping, IZ and Varen, find a bond to hold. Everything is dark, scary and trying to tear their bond. Reynolds a strange man slowly delivers answers to the mysteries of Poe and this nightmare they are stuck in.
The story blends wonderfully into Poe's poems. I could not put it down.But dang it, cliffhanger ending.... it's a trilogy do it will be while before I can find the answers.
A Google user
i liked it. i liked the love story between varen and isobel. i liked the imagination the author put, also the supernatural (ghosts and varens world) and i finished it within a week. this book did catch my attention.