Review: Wingless

Wingless by Holly Hood

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Please Note: Read and reviewed in June, 2011. Updating formatting and adding disclosure that I received a free galley from the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

About the Book: Eve is a willful and independent 18-year-old. One of her brothers, Marcus, the one she had felt the closest to, was murdered during a robbery four years ago; she has taken to hiding out in the woods with her best friend Vanessa and drinking in order to numb the pain. One day, while walking home, she falls into a stream and is pulled out by a tall, powerfully built young man, who introduces himself as Ace. Ace turns out to be a nickname (his given name is Evan); he is 22. Eve and Evan connect immediately and begin to see each other; much to the annoyance of Eve’s other brother, Gray. In a short time, against her family’s wishes, Eve moves in with Evan.

But Evan is not what he seems; his destiny is one of power and awesome responsibility, but also of devastating consequences to those around him. His people have rules and regulations by which they live; they don’t approve of relationships unless the couple is going to stay together – there is no option. Can the love Eve and Evan feel for each other keep them steady through the trials of Eve’s adjustments to this life? Can Evan maintain his love for Eve against her rages and moods?

My Thoughts: Overall I rather liked the story – unlike many stories with a basis of romance, the couple doesn’t spend the whole book hating each other and fighting over stupid things. It is true that Eve is remarkably moody, tending to swing into blind rages, screaming fits, and extreme melancholy under the slightest provocation, but then again, she is only 18. Eve also is often inconsistent – stating that people need to be nice to one another and treat one another with respect, and then completely ignoring her family’s wishes, refusing to even discuss certain situations with them, and basically leaving them cold. Apparently there are issues with her family that she has never resolved, which comes out later in the story, but this isn’t addressed early on where it should be, so Eve simply looks hypocritical, amoral, and spoiled.

One thing I would like to address are the many errors, typos, usage mistakes and punctuation errors in the ebook that I downloaded from Smashwords. I discussed with the author whether this was a final draft, ready for publication, or a proof being provided for reviewers to read. She indicated that she had the book edited some time back and thought perhaps I had downloaded the wrong file, but as it turns out it is entirely possible that she inadvertently uploaded the wrong version. So, please, don’t let those sorts of things count against the story; give her a chance to rectify the problem.

Fans of paranormal romances should enjoy this story.




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