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3.5 stars! I was sent this book by Elizabetta Holcomb herself in exchange for an honest review and here it is! This review will contain no spoilers!
Summary:
The Guardian is the first book in the Chronicles of Dover's Amalgam by indie author, Elizabetta Holcomb. So this book revolves around the lives of many people, but mainly Jareth Tremaine and Elizabet Blackwell. Jareth is the Duke of Dover in the year 1312 and he’s used to time travel and modern items turning up in his time period. In present time, he’s remembered as a saint or religious extremist who hates everything there is about the church. What people do not know is his secret life and it’s because of his secret life that he’s essential to the world’s survival. In the beginning of this book, he’s wounded in a war caused by the Huns who 1) shouldn’t even be alive in 1312 and 2) are using weapons that are from the future. Elizabet is brought in for his recovery, but what she doesn’t know is that she will be Dover’s future Duchess and the key to Dover’s Amalgam. Elizabet knows about time travel already and when she’s taken to help Jareth, she’s only surprised by Jareth himself. He’s got a mind made for translation and surgery and he’s on a mission to find a host; Elizabet finds out that the host he wants is someone from her time period, 700 years into the future.
So did that synopsis confuse you or was it just me? I liked this story quite a lot, but there were some things that just didn’t sit well with me. Let’s start with the good stuff: the characters, the romance, the slang. I really liked the interactions going on between all the characters. The dialogue was spot on! Most of the dialogue was actually super hilarious. I found myself laughing out loud A LOT. Slang was a big part of why the dialogue was funny, and to get that you have to read it. The romance was so great, too! I felt like for a good amount of the book, I was only into it because of Elizabet and Jareth. They are so different, but work so well as a couple. Sometimes they would just be talking to each other for many pages and I didn't mind one bit.
Now the stuff that I was “eh” about: the actual plot and the world building. I thought that the plot of the book was very confusing. There were things that were kind of just stated, but not elaborated on. Then there’s the actual time travel. I’m not very sure on how the “wormholes” work or how the time jumping effects the future. This was my first time travel based book that I’ve ever read and maybe that’s why, but I’m sure certain things could have been explained a bit more. I know I’m going to keep reading this series because I seriously love Elizabet and Jareth. I live for them in this series!
Plot:
So right in the beginning we’re introduced to a bunch of strangers in a time period we don’t know. You have to get to know the characters as the book goes on and more characters kept getting added on as you keep reading. It’s not too hard to keep them straight, which I was thankful for because I couldn’t keep the time period straight for the first bit of the book.
I felt like the events that happened in this book were really jumbled. This is because you’re really only allowed to know what is told to the characters and some of them aren’t allowed to know everything (lest it mess up something in the future). There’s also the problem that you don’t really know what certain things are in the book that you just have to figure out on your own. Some events also happened really quickly. I mean this book is only 250 pages long and A LOT happens. There are some parts that just went by so fast, that I wish they were drawn out a bit more so that I could absorb them.
An example of those parts would be the battle/rescue scenes, or even the parts where people were just talking. The imagery for these parts could be improved upon because they aren’t fully flushed out. Or when the author was trying to explain something (how people were moving, where people were standing, what was around them), I couldn’t quite imagine what was going on.
STILL, I enjoyed the romance more than anything else in this book. The way that Jareth and Elizabet worked as a couple in this book was so cute! They have witty banter, they have cruel arguments, they have their sweet moments. Everything, EVERYTHING between them was great!
Aside from the romance, the next best thing was the dialogue as I said before. Like just read this one part:
Dr. Harrow: He's just gonna wing it? Be left with his pants down?"
Percival: "His grace has britches, sir!”
Dr. Harrow: "Why does that saying get you fellas all crazy?”
The way slang plays a part in showing the differences between the languages of 1312 and present day made me laugh so much!
Characters:
There are five(ish) main characters in this book. Elizabet is pretty interesting. She’s sassy from the beginning to the end and unrelenting when it comes to something she want. I like that about her. She always tries to put on a confident front (even when Jareth sees through it) and when you see her insecurities come out towards the end of the book she just gets even better.
Jareth is kind of an ass for the whole first part of the book, but it makes sense why! I promise. He actually has a very giving and loving heart. He just didn’t understand that side of him until Elizabet. Another reason why I love them together so much.
Them there Gabriel and Minh who we don't get to see a lot of. Though I got the vibe that they are very very weird. Gabriel is pretty funny and Minh is definitely FUNNY. I hope we get to see more of them in the books to come because they play more of a role in the “five years ahead of 1312” time period.
Lastly, there’s Mrs. Wheatley who Jareth claims is like his mom for all intents and purposes. I was sad that we don’t really get to see that kind of interaction between them. She’s very kind and sweet though. I hope we see her more, too.
Overall:
I definitely want to continue on with this series because I need to know what happens to Elizabet and Jareth (and one other person who I can’t mention yet). I also really want to know more about this world and the future they have to form. I just severely hope that events and scenery get way more flushed out in the books to come.
Thanks for reading! :)
Here's the cover for book two! This was released a few days ago!
