Nine While Nine

My purchase of this book was a serious case of cover love, I make no apologies for that. Plus I have a deep love for anything dealing with the world beyond the veil, whether you call them Fae, Siog, Elves, etc! So it wasn't hard to believe that I'd love this book. Stasia Morineaux promised me a world filled with creatures from beyond my understanding. A world where death wasn't the end, but simply the beginning of something new. I was already enchanted, and so ready to settle in.

I have to admit that Isabeau wasn't my favorite character at first. Morineaux does an excellent job of fleshing out the type of person that Isabeau is, from her fashionable clothing down to her old world roots. I did love that Isabeau refused to go quietly into her new life. After all, who would want to leave behind everything they love? However I couldn't let go of how whiny and self-centered she felt for a long while. Watching poor Liam, who just wanted to do his job mind you, try to deal with her made me want to hug him and pinch her. The good news is, that she gets a ton better!

In fact, as Isabeau became Iliana, and the world around her new life started to unfold, I fell deeply for this book. I loved the idea of a whole squad who deals with the predetermined death of us all. I watched as Iliana bloomed, became a whole new person, and really started to realize how important she was. Her fierce attitude became a boon, and her stubbornness became the perfect way to unearth the truth behind everything going on. I liked her a lot, and it made me so happy.

There's a lot to love about this story. The lore behind Iliana's new life is rich and, for the most part, eventually very well explained. Even the characters who are not in the limelight most of the time are fleshed out, and feel like someone you'd want to spend time with. The reason that this book lost a little of my love, and ended up at a three star rating, was simply that all of what I mentioned above took a lot longer than I would have liked. This book moves slowly. At times, it feels like Iliana's brain is just looping and looping with the same thoughts. The amount of time that it took Gideon to finally explain things to her didn't feel natural, but more convenient. A way to keep the reader going through all of the romance parts.

Oh, and the romance. While I definitely loved the heat between Gideon and Iliana, it was just so drawn out. I felt like after a while it lost its ability to make me smile, and started to feel like a chore instead. Some of the interactions between the two of them felt so forced. With Gideon always being hard to discern, and Iliana wondering how on Earth she was going to survive without him. If that type of scene had been cut by about half, it would have made a bigger impact on me. I loved their forbidden love, but I didn't want that to be all I was reading about.

This book ends on a rather harsh cliffhanger, which makes me hopeful that there might be more. One can hope! I want to see further beyond the veil.