The Concealed (The Lakewood Series #1)

Summary:

After her parents died in a car accident when she was just a child, Evelyn Lakewood was left alone in the world. Now grown up, she enrolls at Oxford University, where she begins to create a new, stable life.

But when she encounters Jared Calmburry, who she later discovers is an orphan with his own tragic history, the equilibrium she was striving for is thrown off. Instantly drawn to this mysterious stranger with the incredible blue eyes, and confounded by the unusual events that occur whenever they meet, Evelyn resolves to investigate further. What she finds will startle her beyond measure: an ancient legacy of magic, a centuries-old secret society, and a foreboding legend with her and Jared at its center. As she follows a cryptic trail, Evelyn will discover clues to her own painful past, answers she hadn’t even been looking for—and a passionate love she cannot resist despite the dangers it brings.  (Summary and cover courtesy of goodreads.com)

Please note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review courtesy of Xpresso Book Tours.

Review:

I saw a lot of potential for this book, but it fell into a lot of YA stereotypes that I struggled to get past.  First off, the instalove made no sense to me.  At least with most instalove there’s a BIT of an attempt to get to know each other, but there wasn’t any of that in this one.  (It also happened for her best friend too coincidentally.)  There was also some shady handling of a sensitive situation, but it was just fine because love will save the day.  I really struggled with that and I think it could have been handled better.  The dialogue felt a little awkward to me at points and was most definitely American though the book was set in Britain.

The redeeming feature for this book was the storyline.  I had never heard the twist for the popular legend referenced in the summary and it kept me interested despite the drawbacks I mentioned above.

Warning: Contains some violence and sexual content.

Rating: 3 stars!

Who should read it? YA fans that are currently in love and willing to overlook a lot of stereotypes.

Want to read the whole series? TBD

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