Suspicion
Alexandra Monir
Rating (out of 5): 4.5
Genre: Young Adult Romance/Mystery
Release Date: December 9, 2014
Series: n/a
Profanity: Mild
Violence: None
Sexual Content: None
Age Recommendation: 14 +
Author Website: http://www.alexandramonir.com/
Summary:
“There’s something hidden in the maze.”
Seventeen-year-old
Imogen Rockford has never forgotten the last words her father said to
her, before the blazing fire that consumed him, her mother, and the
gardens of her family’s English country manor.
For seven years,
images of her parents’ death have haunted Imogen’s dreams. In an effort
to escape the past, she leaves Rockford Manor and moves to New York City
with her new guardians. But some attachments prove impossible to
shake—including her love for her handsome neighbor Sebastian Stanhope.
Then
a life-altering letter arrives that forces Imogen to return to the
manor in England, where she quickly learns that dark secrets lurk behind
Rockford’s aristocratic exterior. At their center is Imogen herself—and
Sebastian, the boy she never stopped loving.
Combining spine-tingling mystery, romance, and unforgettable characters,
Suspicion is an action-packed thrill ride.
Review:
Just the title, Suspicion makes you begin to wonder about this book. It manages to mix mystery, romance, and magic into a delightful, fascinating, and sometimes chilling young adult novel. I found myself drawn into the mystery of this book from the first page, and subsequent pages only served in increase my interest until I found myself at the end of the book delighted with what I had just read.
Imogen Rockford is the heir to something almost every young girl dreams of at some point, a dukedom, or in Imogen's case the title of Duchess. But with that appointment everything changes for Imogen, she's suddenly the only one left of her family facing not only the responsibility of being a duchess, but she's also thrown headlong into a mystery who's truth can only be reviled as she delves deeper into her families history.
As I read this book I found myself distrusting almost every character. I, like Imogen, wasn't sure who could be trusted and who was hiding something deeper. Alexandra Monir does a great job of building suspense through the story, filling the pages with ghostly apparitions and more questions than answers. I really felt like I was taking this journey with Imogen as she struggled to find her way to the bottom of things.
The mystery was probably my favorite part about this book, who was Imogen's late relative Lady Beatrice? What really happened to Lucia? What was with Sebastian and what did all of this have to do with Imogen's strange powers? I found myself questioning everything, eagerly reading through the book in order to find out the truth behind it all.
As things began to play out in the book I was shocked and surprised often to my delight. Characters that I had pegged as obviously untrustworthy were suddenly thrust into new light and secrets that I hadn't even begun to think of were reveled. The story reached a feverish pace when we returned to where the story had stopped at the beginning (due to a flashback) and I couldn't stop myself from reading to the end.
While I was pleased with how things turned out I was also a little disappointed, by the end of the book my questions had been answered, I was just left feeling a little flat. I had really been hoping that the truth behind Imogen's ancestor along with Imogen's powers herself would have been given more focus than it received. I was very intrigued by it all, and it seemed to be an important part of the overall story that I had been expecting there to be a bigger picture with it.
The only other thing that really bothered me about this book was the overwhelming amounts of description that were done. It felt like everything that could be described was described. I can understand the desire to paint elaborate pictures of beautiful English manors and gardens but there comes a point when the reader doesn't want to read anymore description and just wants to move on to the story. I came to this point numerous times while reading this book. This is not to say that I didn't like some of the descriptions, they just felt overwhelming. Nothing throws me out of a book like too much description, it makes me stop and have to re-adjust my mind's eye to fit the exact image that I have been given instead of allowing me to fill in the blanks where the author has generously left them.
Overall this book was a wonderful read and I'd love to see a sequel, the book wrapped up cleanly enough but I'd still like to see more. Imogen was an interesting character and I can see a lot more being done with her and her friends and family. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes a good mystery, romance, or even a story with a little magic to it.
Note: I received an electronic copy of this book from Netgalley for my fair and honest review which I have stated above.
~Dawn
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