My Thoughts:

Despite the fact that I was a bit disappointed in Devoured, I have to give Ms. Marrone credit for the story line-- there's no doubt about it, it was definitely very unique! A modern (and slightly twisted) remake of the childhood tale "Snow White", Devoured is sure to grab your attention from page one. Hold on to your seat-- this is one fast-paced, quick read that you will no doubt devour in one sitting (no pun intended, of course! ;-))

I picked up the book under the false assumption that it was about vampires-- and I think this is one of the reasons why I wasn't completely enthralled by the story. It was no one's fault but my own, but it did ruin the rest of the book for me. The back blurb doesn't really give a lot away, so when someone online told me it was about vampires, I just believed them-- I didn't have the book yet, so how would I know they were wrong?

So to help clarify a bit, here's a quick explanation of the book plot (as it relates to the original Snow White): The owners of the park are suppose to be the equivalent to the Evil Witch from Snow White, trying to steal the girls' beauty and youth by cutting out their hearts and, well, eating them. And the talking mirror is also brought in, though it's a bit different, and it can grant wishes, not just show you things. When girls start coming up missing from the amusement park, and Megan starts wondering about all of this, she soon finds herself falling into weird situations that one usually only finds in nightmares and scary stories.

Moving on to the real analysis: The characters. They were... interesting, to say the least, but I do wish Marrone would have developed them a bit more, allowed them to connect more with each other. The whole story seemed a bit rushed in fact, which isn't a good thing in a book. Maybe it was just me, but for a story such as this, I think the 250 some-odd pages could have been stretched out a bit without dragging on.

However, I can't say that the whole book was entirely flawed-- it simply didn't grab my attention and hold it like her last novel (and my favorite of her works so far) managed to. I can't say what it was exactly, but whatever was in the last one that gave it such spark, seemed to be missing from this one.

And I want it to be clear that my rating for this book is a happy medium-- it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't a 'Wow!' moment for me either. It's neutral, and my over all opinion on it could go either way in the future. Maybe I'll come back to it at another time and find myself going 'Why didn't I fall in love with it the first time around?'. It happens, rarely, but it has happened.

3.5/5 stars! Again, this is just personal preference, and if you think this book sounds good, go for it! I hate discouraging people to not try a book just because it wasn't my favorite one, especially when I have no concrete reasons to back up my negative opinion. Marrone does do a good job at taking a story that we've all grown up listening to, and turning it into a modern, creative novel. I'll tell you one thing-- I'm definitely going to be weary around amusement parks like the one described in this book! ;)

Enjoy!

Until Next Time,