Review Tour: The Boy With The Hidden Name by Skylar Dorset

Title: The Boy With the Hidden Name

Author: Skylar Dorset
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release: December 2, 2014
Series: Otherworld
Pages: 310
Review: 4 Stars


Synopsis:

“Benedict Le Fay will betray you. And then he will die.”

Betrayal and death—not quite the prophecy Selkie wanted about her first love. A half-faerie princess with a price on her head, Selkie Stewart just wants a little normal in her life. Not another crazy prophecy. Besides, she and Ben are a team. They’re the two most wanted individuals in the Otherworld, and fated to bring down the Seelie Fairie Court and put an end to their reign of terror. 

Nothing can come between them.
Until Ben leaves.
And the sun goes out.
And the chiming bells deafen all of Boston.

The Seelies are coming. And only Selkie can stop them from destroying the world.

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Review:


This book was good, especially considering how much of a reading slump I've been in recently. I got The Boy With the Hidden Name and just devoured it! Trust me when I say that you want to read this duology. Also, I just want to note that the cover is the same cover as the first book, except upside-down. How cool!


First Impressions


This picked up a couple days or so after the first book ended. I always love when a book starts out with something funny, interesting, etc. The first sentence in this is definitely awesome!


"'You don't understand miss,' says a little man in an old-fashioned bowler hat who is crawling out from underneath the bench I'm sitting on."


Is that not awesome? It immediately sets the tone for the book, and I have to say, it was a really good start.


Characters


There were a few surprises involving characters that I didn't enjoy, but overall, I liked the development that happened. Like any teenager, Selkie was confused. Bad stuff happened between her and Ben and she wanted to hate him, but she still loved him. She didn't know what to feel. I loved the honesty of the characters.


There were a few characters that I would have loved to learn more about, the Goblin king being one of them. I really want to know his backstory and see what his future looks like. There were also a few characters that were suddenly introduced, without much explanation.


Writing


The only problem I had writing wise was the amount of typos I saw. There are always a few in a book, but there seemed to be more than usual in this one. It didn't bother me too much, but for those that get easily distracted by typos, go in with caution.


Otherwise, I really liked the writing style. The author progresses the story at a nice pace, and I found myself wanting to read every word.


World-Building


The world building is really cool, but also kinda confusing. I love how the book plays with time, but when you think about it, it really messes with your head. Characters will say: "It was years ago, or minutes, depending on the time you're keeping." I wish there was more explanation of the time thing, even though it's really cool. The book takes place in Boston for the most part, which is a nice setting, though again, more details would be nice. I like how it keeps everything, for the most part, local, and doesn't do a ton of traveling all over the world.


This review has gotta feel fairly negative, but I really did enjoy this books. Simply, when thinking back on it, there were a couple places that either, could use improvement, or simply a novella for some explanation.


Author Bio:

Skylar Dorset grew up in Rhode Island (where she still lives), graduated from Boston College and Harvard Law School, and has lived in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Washington, D.C. But she actually spends most of her time living with the characters in her head. She hopes that doesn't make her sound too crazy.


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