I have to say, I'm surprised at how much I did not like this book. It's one of only five books I've given up on this year. I gave it to the 50% mark before calling it quits.

Mostly, I'm surprised because I remember enjoying the first in the series when I read it almost ten months ago. I remember it as a quick, fun YA read with a sci-fi twist and absolutely loving the original cover. I even gave it three stars at the time.

So I'm not sure what's changed with book two of this series. I'm actually thinking that maybe it's me that's changed, and not the writing style of the novel. I've read about one-hundred books since I read the first book in this series, and it's inevitable that I've grown as a reader since that time. I think it may be that this series just can't compare to what I've read since then. I won't be sure though unless I actually go back and re-read 'Exiled'.

As to why I didn't like "Beguiled":

To begin, I think that the pacing is this books biggest issue. I'm fairly sure this book is pretty short, but it's hard to tell without real page numbers. Regardless, within the time span of the 50% that I read, a lot happens. Maybe it's a lack of good transitions, or maybe something else, but I felt like I was getting whiplash from the speed of everything that was going on, to the point where I was getting confused. It felt like this when I read it...

Lava Creature! Venus on a beach! Zaren appears! I love Zaren! Micheal appears! Wait, I love Michael! Ocean! Drowning! Giant Shark! Micheal kills giant shark with his bare hands! Michael drags Venus to underwater lair! Lair is a hell-place! Creepy god/magic/shape-shifting dude! Souls! Everyone from book one magically appears! Also, a talking telepathic belt!

I also had issues with the lack of a re-cap at the beginning of the novel. I read a lot of series and I normally don't have a problem following what happens in the next book, even if it is a year later. With "Beguiled" this isn't the case. I think a lot of it has to do with the jargon heavy language specific to her sci-fi world, but I felt a bit lost starting out, especially since the story opens with what I believe is a future event from later in the book. It would have been really helpful to me as a reader to re-cap the main points from book one to frame the events going forward in book two.

My other problems include Venus being super flighty about who's she's in love with right out of the gate. It was annoying because book one ended with her making a firm choice to be with Zaren and yet it takes no more then 5-seconds after Michael shows up for her to be completely confused all over again. If the author is going to have it be a big thing that Venus chooses Zaren, then let us as readers have more then one opening beach scene of the two of them together before making it a plot point all over again.

Overall, I was completely disappointed by this book. I know this was a long review, but I wanted to really lay out why I didn't end up finishing "Beguiled" and why I didn't like what I read. ( )

I really enjoyed this newest work by Rashelle Workman. It was a very exciting and fast paced book. The storyline was quite original, and the world engaging and well-developed.

The worldbuilding is excellent and very well executed. The descriptions are clear and very vivid-I could really picture the scenes in my mind. The reader is plunged right into the middle of the tale, which I also like. The story is also action-packed, which kept me turning the pages well into the night.

The two main characters, Venus and Michael, are very well characterized. They came alive on the page for me. On the other hand, the main villain, Ramien is a bit run-of-the-mill as far as villains go. He was engaging nonetheless, and provided a good negative aspect to the story. I really appreciated the fact that, despite this being a YA novel, the characters had good and bad sides.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to all fans of the YA genre. There is a lot here for adult fans of sci-fi/fantasy as well.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. ( )