Book Review - Eternal Starling

Eternal Starling
by Angela Corbett

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
A love so strong, even eternity can’t separate them. 
Evie Starling has lived a relatively uneventful life hanging out with friends, gossiping about boys, and driving her 1966 Mustang. All of that changes when she moves to Gunnison, Colorado, to start college and meets two mysterious men. 
For centuries, Alex Night and Emil Stone have yearned for Evie—but they each have their own reasons for wanting to be with her. When both men claim to be her soul mate and tell her about an unbelievable past, Evie learns that she’s not the person she thought she was. Soon, Evie finds herself in the middle of an age-old battle between the Amaranthine Society—the soul protectors, and the Daevos Resistance—the soul destroyers. With a past she doesn’t understand, and a future rife with danger, Evie has to decide who she can trust. But Alex and Emil aren’t the only ones who want Evie, and her soul is about to become the rope in an eternal tug-of-war.

Why I Picked This Book:  I recieved a free ARC of Eternal Starling, in return for a fair and honest review.

My Thoughts:
Eternal Starling seemed very promising to me.  The idea of not one, but two loves that have come through more than one life time.  Reincarnation.  Evil secret organizations.  It pulled me in and made me want to read this book.

Evie was an intriguing character.  Her sarcasm.  Her lack of a supermodel body.  Her love for awesome cars.  I could tell from the get-go that this main character would be a strong one, with her hidden weak points.  Everything in one Evie package.

Then the story started.
Everything to me just felt... uhg.  

Alex, this hot stranger who finds Evie in the woods and leads her to safety is suddenly fixed on getting to know her better.  Evie is stand offish, but gives in.  Then of course falls in love.  This is all the reader gets to hear about for some time.  Alex.  And his favorite phrases of "I will tell you later" and "You just don't know."  Okay Alex, fill me in already... so I do know.  

In comes guy number two.  Emil.
Sly, sarcastic, and always calling Evie "sexy," he is pretty much the stark opposite of Alex.  (Yet still utterly handsome, of course)  Alex hates Emil, and Evie is drawn to him.  And of course, Emil will stop at nothing to get Evie to be his. Who cares if he is a soul who has been hunting her for life times.

For me, those bits: the "love" part, stretched much too long.  Every new chapter I found myself hoping the actual plot would finally begin.  Who is the bad guy?  Where is a twist?  Why are they fighting for Evie?  I was just confused.  At too many times the two guys blended and I had a hard time telling them apart, leading me to have a very difficult time leaning towards one or the other.  Or liking either.  

I even had to go look up the synopsis again, just to make sure I was reading the same book. 

To be honest: I ended up putting this book down half way through to read a different one.  Then I came back to it.

The plot finally did kick in.  Bad guys.  Secrets revealed.  Decision time.  It all felt rushed and almost unwanted, as if the love story was trying to take over.  Granted, this book is based on love.  Love that lasts through reincarnation.  Through life times.  It is about finding your soul mate and fighting for all its worth. 

I just didn't feel like it executed that awesome sounding plot.

This is Angela Corbett's debut novel.  She is very talented, with many moments in the book that did pull me along happily.  While this book might have fallen short for me, I do look forward to finding what she has up her sleeve next.

If you are looking for a book based solely on love triangle mania, hot men fighting over a lady, and more love triangle, pick this book up.  While I may not have enjoyed it nearly as much as I hoped, I know others out there just may eat it up.

My Rating:
(2 out of 5 stars)

Comments

Anonymous said…
Thanks for your review! The cover looked gorgeous and the synopsis sounded really intriguing, but I like a lot more plot in the novels I read, beyond a fight for love. Not my favorite, but I did enjoy Wicked Lovely. I saw you're now reading it. It had some plot holes, but nevertheless, it was a dark and fun read and I liked the overall concept and world building.
Jenni Merritt said…
So far I am enjoying Wicked Lovely. I wish I had more time to read, but at the moment I am deep into NaNoWriMo and can barely do anything else. I look forward to finishing it though!

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