Obscured by C.M Boers

Hi there,

Similarly to last Wednesday’s post this book was sent to be via YA Bound Book Tours; don’t worry this isn’t becoming a weekly thing, it just so happens that those were the days I was assigned. I rant about how I am not affiliated or paid on my Disclaimers page so proceed to there if you are curious for some weird reason. I am treating it identically to any other of my stand-alone reviews. If you are interested just keep scrolling.

Plot Summary: After reading both the blurb and the book itself I came to the conclusion that I might have never read a better blurb before. At first glance it is a non-descript YA fantasy blurb that doesn’t reveal much; but after reading the novel you realise how well constructed the blurb is so that is doesn’t give away any of the story and I love it. Hence why I will just show you guys that rather than trying to describe it myself and royally screwing it up.
Abby Martin thought she was an ordinary girl about to start high school. But when her mom announces that they’re moving to Arizona, vivid nightmares start plaguing Abby’s nights. As she settles into her new school and a cute guy named Pete catches her eye, she hopes that life might somehow get back to normal. To Abby’s horror, “normal” becomes a thing of the past as she’s swept up into a world of immortal protectors wielding supernatural gifts. When Abby realizes she’s a pawn in a centuries-old feud, she must figure out who she can trust before she’s caught in the crossfire.
Prepare yourself for heart-pounding suspense in the world of Obscured, where nothing is as it seems and danger lurks in unexpected places.

I really loved the plot idea behind this and was a major factor in keeping me going through this book, although the main driving factor was the relationships between the two pivotal characters because their friendship was incredible. From the blurb you would assume that the fantasy element would be the driving force of the novel; in actual fact it doesn’t come in fully until around the 70% mark which was interesting because you were always on edge waiting for it to happen. Also I forgot to mention that this is the first novel in the Obscured series.
Writing Style: This is what for me really let this book down. It was bizarre because initially it was extremely basic such as “I am happy”, “I am sad” type of basic and sadly it made it very slow and to my own detriment if it hadn’t been for the fact this was a review I had signed up to do I would have probably have stopped. I am so glad I didn’t because maybe around the sixth chapter the level of vocabulary and descriptiveness increased drastically; yes there was the odd basic line every so often but once it had changed i could really focus on the incredible relationships and plot Boers had created. I don’t know if the odd change in writing style was deliberate to show how Abby has changed since her move? I guess we will never know; but all it matters is it changed to the point where I could comfortably continue reading without ripping all my hair out at it’s simplicity.
Characters: I liked Abby; I thought she an average female protagonist, not the boring and predictable bimbo female leads can often be portrayed as but also not the most incredible and independent either. My only gripe with her was she was naive at times; again it might have just been the writing style but I could see these things coming from a mile away and she had absolutely no clue and it was so infuriating. She definitely made some dumb decisions but it added to her character and assisted in the flow of the novel as a whole so it wasn’t bad.

I have been trying to write about the other characters for the last twenty minuets but I can’t do it without feeling like I give away to much or spoil the plot so either just skip the next but if you don’t want any spoilers or proceed at your own risk. This is not for the rest of the review just the rest of the character descriptions and a bit of the relatonships.

*Spoilers Ahead*

Pete was the kind of character I loved to hate. He was an incredible antagonist and his mood swings constantly had me on edge at what he would do next. I had no idea from the blurb to the kind of relationship or the person Pete was. I thought he was going to be her love interest so at first I rooted for them, until she met Eli.
Eli isn’t even mentioned in the blurb which I found hilarious considering he is basically the sort-of love interest and best friend. I was instantly drawn to him more than Pete and after that point I couldn’t even contemplate anything other than them being together.

I adored all the relationships in the novel, especially Eli and Abby’s both romantic and friendly, it was very realistic to a teen relationship and just had me constantly aww-ing. That may be a very unfancy way to put it but its the only way I can fully show my appreciation for their cuteness.

*Spoilers Over*

Relationships: I loved the dynamic between Pete and Abby; it fulled the story and I just loved it.
I also adored the relationship between Abby and her parents. Her excitement about seeing her dad after so long was so realistic and very similar to how I would react if it had been my dad. I also understand that the relationship with her mother was probably like that so she was out of the house a lot so that the story could further itself and it made when they did hang out it was so much more meaningful and important to the characters which came across in the writing.
I like her relationship with Kelly, her friend from back in California. Again it just makes the story seem fuller that she had people she left behind who she missed and wasn’t like her life had just begun when we started reading. I hope their relationship continues into the next book. Which I do plan on reading, and that hasn’t been sent to me; I really did just enjoy the characters and plot that much. Sadly unless the other books really change in writing style again I don’t think I will read anything else from C.M Boers. (Never-the-less her links will be below)

So that concludes this review. Overall I would probably give this a 3.75 stars purely because of how annoyed I was with the writing style and Abby’s naivety but the plot and characters truly redeemed this for me.
I apologise for the Spoilers section; from now on I will try to have spoiler free reviews again.

On a completely separate note, my friend gave me an incredible idea today. I only recently told him of my blog and his one word reflection of my writing style was: Flumptious.
I am almost 100% sure that that is not a real word; but it got me thinking that I often come across brilliant words or should-be words and I decided at the bottom of each Wednesday post I will have My Word of the Week.

This Weeks Word: Flumptious.

Thanks and Happy Reading,
Maisy.

C.M Boers Links:

Website

Twitter

Goodreads