My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publication date: October 11th 2012 by Corgi
Blurb:
Manhattan lies underwater.
The corrupt rulers of this new city live high above the flood and survive by channelling the energy of the mystics- a magic-welding underclass who are forced to live amongst the poor in the squalor of the Depths.
High in Aeries,Aria Rose's fiance has promised that their marriage will unite two of the city's ruling dynasties.But the gaps in Aria's memory tell her that this romance isn't all it seems-the appearance of Hunter,a gorgeous rebel mystic and passionate revolutionary,is about to change the course of her life for ever.
My Review:
**I received a finished paperback copy of this book from Random House U.K in exchange for an honest review.**
So long story short,Mystic City is sort of like a dystopian spin-off of Romeo & Juliet,excepting the fact that Juliet got waay too many bumps on her head so now she can't remember anything about her precious Romeo.Boo-hoo! :(
No but seriously,the romance in Mystic City is kind of cheesy but in a good way,one which made me smile.I finished Mystic City in one sitting and enjoyed every minute of it,from the cheesy romance on the first page till the cheesy romance on the very last page.I actually found myself reacting strongly to every scene of the story.To be honest,I even found myself CRYING at one point for poor Aria and her tragic life and repetitive amnesia. If it weren't for everything else,I would've just considered Mystic City as plain cheesy but it has a perfect combination of everything.The entire story was wonderfully plotted,the characters were perfectly put in their roles and most of all,the author swept me off my feet with his magical play upon words.(My very own prince charming!**giggles**)And I'm sure that it's really difficult for a male to write a story from a female's point of view since both genders have different psychologies,or in other words,different ways of thinking.But Theo Lawrence mastered it all and Aria's voice throughout the story turned out to be vibrant, colourful and convincing.It was Aria's voice that helped me imagine her version of New York clearly.And to me,reading a story is not fun until I manage to get myself dragged into the story-world.In the case of Mystic City,that was not a problem.And to let everyone in on a secret,the cover contributed to my imagination as well.I am so glad that I was not tricked by the cover this time!Hehe!
But there's more to Mystic City than just dystopia and romance.It also comprises of fantasy,sci-fi and a bit of para normalcy as well.The mystics are a beautiful race and I hated the way how they were treated with injustice.The best way to describe them is magical,like the characters in the bed-time stories we cherished when we were younger,except that in this case, the mystics are here to replace those characters which we have outgrown.
Recommended to fans of Dystopia,Romance,Fantasy and Paranormal novels,Mystic City is an emotional thrill ride and a battle for love which you do not want to miss!!
So long story short,Mystic City is sort of like a dystopian spin-off of Romeo & Juliet,excepting the fact that Juliet got waay too many bumps on her head so now she can't remember anything about her precious Romeo.Boo-hoo! :(
No but seriously,the romance in Mystic City is kind of cheesy but in a good way,one which made me smile.I finished Mystic City in one sitting and enjoyed every minute of it,from the cheesy romance on the first page till the cheesy romance on the very last page.I actually found myself reacting strongly to every scene of the story.To be honest,I even found myself CRYING at one point for poor Aria and her tragic life and repetitive amnesia. If it weren't for everything else,I would've just considered Mystic City as plain cheesy but it has a perfect combination of everything.The entire story was wonderfully plotted,the characters were perfectly put in their roles and most of all,the author swept me off my feet with his magical play upon words.(My very own prince charming!**giggles**)And I'm sure that it's really difficult for a male to write a story from a female's point of view since both genders have different psychologies,or in other words,different ways of thinking.But Theo Lawrence mastered it all and Aria's voice throughout the story turned out to be vibrant, colourful and convincing.It was Aria's voice that helped me imagine her version of New York clearly.And to me,reading a story is not fun until I manage to get myself dragged into the story-world.In the case of Mystic City,that was not a problem.And to let everyone in on a secret,the cover contributed to my imagination as well.I am so glad that I was not tricked by the cover this time!Hehe!
But there's more to Mystic City than just dystopia and romance.It also comprises of fantasy,sci-fi and a bit of para normalcy as well.The mystics are a beautiful race and I hated the way how they were treated with injustice.The best way to describe them is magical,like the characters in the bed-time stories we cherished when we were younger,except that in this case, the mystics are here to replace those characters which we have outgrown.
Recommended to fans of Dystopia,Romance,Fantasy and Paranormal novels,Mystic City is an emotional thrill ride and a battle for love which you do not want to miss!!
Oh, I love your review! I'l get this book soon! And look at that cover, isn't it gorgeous? :D
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Samaine@ Bookworms Avenue
Great review! :)
ReplyDeleteThe cover is so pretty. I want to read this book so bad.
Thanks for your review!
ReplyDeleteI read Mystic City a few weeks back and I just thought it was cheesy. I also couldn't get past how predictable the story was. But more importantly, Hunter and Aria's romance felt contrived. The writing also felt clunky a times, like Lawrence added in mundane scenes just for the sake of completing a word count.
However, I agree that Lawrence did a brave thing by writing in the female perspective. I was unsure how he would approach it, but he could've fooled me.
I'm glad you liked the book a lot more than I did~
If you're interested, here's my review on Mystic City: http://noveltoybox.wordpress.com/2012/11/24/review-mystic-city-by-theo-lawrence-2012/
Happy Reading =),
Lilian @ A Novel Toybox