Book Review
Title: The Crossing Gate (A Waltz of Sin and Fire Book 1) by Asiel R. Lavie
Genre: Dystopian, Young Adult, Romance
Rating: 4.5 Stars
So before I get into my review I wanted to let you all know this is my first creative review where I add an additional creative element to my review and I decided on a playlist. This book heavily reminded me of Delirium from back in the good old days of teen angst and romance so my playlist is centred around that and the songs I chose are:
· Misery Business by Paramore
· I Miss You by Blink-182
· The Best of Me by The Starting Line
· Linger by The Cranberries
· Mr. Brightside by The Killers
· Complicated by Avril Lavigne
· Teenage Heartbreak Queen by Palaye Royale
· Heart Attack by Demi Lovato
· Like I’m Gonna Lose You (Cover) by Chris Collins & Madilyn Bailey
· Run by Leona Lewis
I honestly loved The Crossing Gate as it encompassed everything I loved about the dystopian romance genre with very few of the drawbacks. Lavie hooked me with the world and kingdoms of The Crossing Gate but she also excelled in creating its lore and the whole mechanism of the crossing and mashing together with a lot of other elements that just really appealed to me as a reader. For a first book in a series The Crossing Gate was really fast paced and it does jump around a little bit but once you get around this it was a really easy story to follow, especially towards the end where there are some twists that will have you screaming for the next book.
We are following our protagonist, Leen, who has tried and failed twice to cross into adulthood and she is going to be trying for the third and final time but she really doesn’t know much about the world around her and how it works making her come across as overly naïve. Leen is extremely dramatic at time and at times she is a difficult character to follow especially when you are cursing the decisions she makes but this also highlights the point that she still thinks and acts like a juvenile. Despite, these small elements I had issues with I was excited to see how Leen’s character is going to progress in the sequels. As is the case with many dystopian novels we are presented with the good old fashioned love triangle. Jason and Erick as both great characters but I want both of them to end with Leen as they are great for her, both help Leen grow in many different ways but experienced readers of the genre will spot who she is going to end up with well before the final twists happen.
Speaking of twists there are so many in this book but it doesn’t feel overdone in any way. There were several times during my reading were I was completely shocked and stunned by the twists which seemed to be around every corner and yet caught me by surprise more than once. Overall, it was a refreshing look at the dystopian genre which lots of people have fallen out of love with in recent years and I need answers desperately to the questions the book left me with. Lavie managed to create a world with complex characters that completely sucked me in and I can’t wait for the sequel.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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