Lifethread by L.J. Charles
Reviewed by Honorary Sis Beth
Sister says: Complicated, Confusing, but Creative
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McKenna Fin is armed, dangerous, and in love for the first time. She'll do anything to earn her humanity... except the one thing the Fate's require. When Nathan becomes a primary demon target and gets sucked into Tartania, McKenna’s duty as a Fated priestess demands she follow. McKenna can rescue him, no problem, but then she’d have to cut his lifethread. And he’s the one and only guy she’s been attracted to since forever.
The demons consider Nathan one of their own and fight to keep him. The time limit on Nathan's life is about to run out, and McKenna has to make the decision: sever his lifethread, or battle demons, defy the Fates, and keep him for her own. (Summary from goodreads.com)
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The summary of this book really intrigued me. I am always a sucker for a forbidden romance and a teenage rebel defying authority figures by being together....Romeo and Juliet complex, I guess. So, when I read this summary, I thought, this will be perfect for me: action, adventure, rebellion, romance, and fates. But, unfortunately, for me, it did not live up to all that.
First of all, I should preface this by saying, I am not a big fan of big world set ups, so a majority of this is just personal preference. The world, in my opinion, was too complicated and confusing. I had to go back multiple times to previous chapters to figure out what I had missed. The concept of "time" worked different in Tartania (where the demons lived) and then on earth, but there was not an explanation as to why or how. One of the priestess has the "gift" of "spinning time". But, if she spun time on earth to go back to Tartania they were able to go back, but the people weren't back on earth; to me, this did not make sense. The world required a lot explanation than was given and it still leaves me scratching my head.
However, if you are a fan of fantasy, I think you would appreciate the world a lot more than I did. I am able to appreciate the art and creativity of the world that L.J. Charles developed and can see it appealing to a certain sect of readers. My husband, for instance, loves fantasy so I could see him appreciating this book.
My other issue I had with the book is I am a hopeless romantic and love a good love story. Although this book had a love story, there was no "love triangle" and it definitely was not a major theme for the book. The love story develops quickly, is very predictable, and under-developed. Let me put it this way, although I like Nathan's character for other reasons, I don't see him being nominated for the crush tourney next year....sorry Nathan. :-(
The characters were interesting and complicated. The author did a great job establishing the sister-like connection between the priestesses and adding an interesting twist on Nathan's character (I'm not going to say because I don't want to spoil it, but, trust me, it's good).
If you like more action, complicated worlds, and fantasy over romance, this is the book for you.
