From Goodreads: One moment. One foolish desire. One mistake. And Corinthe lost everything.

She fell from her tranquil life in Pyralis Terra and found herself exiled to the human world. Her punishment? To make sure people’s fates unfold according to plan. Now, years later, Corinthe has one last assignment: kill Lucas Kaller. His death will be her ticket home.

But for the first time, Corinthe feels a tingle of doubt. It begins as a lump in her throat, then grows toward her heart, and suddenly she feels like she is falling all over again–this time for a boy she knows she can never have. Because it is written: one of them must live, and one of them must die. In a universe where every moment, every second, every fate has already been decided, where does love fit in?

__________________________________________________________

This novel started out very promising, but as the story unfolded, it became a bit too Alice in Wonderlandesque for me.  I like alternate worlds as much as the next person, but I never was a fan of Alice and Wonderland, and the worlds that Bross creates as Corinthe and Luc try to save his sister were just a tad bit beyond my believability radar.  With gnomes, blood nymphs, deadly trees, and killer bees, the novel goes from the human world and believable scenarios to a sudden forced suspension of belief—and this is something I have a hard time with, personally.  If an entire novel takes place in an alternate world, that’s one thing, but when the novel jumps between alternating worlds and they’re so vastly different, almost comically so, then I have a harder time suspending reality and taking the plunge into the new world.  That seems to be the case with this novel.  The human world fit and was believable.  I like Corinthe and the way the story was playing out, but suddenly the characters find themselves in the world of the blood nymphs, and it was just such a difference; such a shock that I found myself losing interest quickly.  I think part of my issue here also stems from the quick succession of events as well.  The novel wasn’t choppy, per say, but I definitely didn’t feel that it was fluid.  Luc is awe struck by Corinthe the first time he meets her, and he suddenly can’t forget her.  Even when she’s trying to kill him, all he wants to do it kiss her.  He falls quickly and hard, and I just felt like there wasn’t enough time to build anything up in order for me to fall in love with the characters, and so when they suddenly disappear into an alternate world, I just couldn’t keep up anymore.

While an interesting premise, this novel just isn’t for a person like me.  But, if you’re a lover of novels like Alice in Wonderland, then I think this book might be right up your alley.  I, personally, can only give it two stars, though.

Amazon | Kindle | Barnes and Noble