Book Review: Persuasion by Martina Boone

Release Date: October 27th, 2015
Read: October 28th- November 17th, 2015
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Series: The Heirs of Watson Island, #2
Format: ARC, 464 pages
Source:  McNally Robinson/ Two Thumbs Up Program

Description from GoodReads:

   Grieving the death of her godfather and haunted by her cousin Cassie’s betrayal, Barrie returns from a trip to San Francisco to find the Watson plantation under siege. Ghost-hunters hope to glimpse the ancient spirit who sets the river on fire each night, and reporters chase rumors of a stolen shipment of Civil War gold that may be hidden at Colesworth Place. The chaos turns dangerous as Cassie hires a team of archeologists to excavate beneath the mansion ruins. Because more is buried there than treasure.

   A stranger filled with magic arrives at Watson’s Landing claiming that the key to the Watson and Beaufort gifts—and the Colesworth curse—also lies beneath the mansion. With a mix of threats and promises, the man convinces Barrie and Cassie to cast a spell there at midnight. But what he conjures may have deadly consequences.

   While Barrie struggles to make sense of the escalating peril and her growing and forbidden feelings for Eight Beaufort, it’s impossible to know whom to trust and what to fight for—Eight or herself. Millions of dollars and the fate of the founding families is at stake. Now Barrie must choose between what she feels deep in her heart and what will keep Watson’s Landing safe in this stunning addition to a series filled with “decadent settings, mysterious magic, and family histories rife with debauchery”

Review:

   The past was never over. It cast a shadow over the present and the future.
   I had originally requested Persuasion from Simon Pulse when they first announced ARCs, unluckily for me I didn't receive one. Lucky for me, McNally Robinson had a copy for review that I snagged. Though I didn't see as much promotion and talk for Persuasion like I did Compulsion, it was still an anticipated read for me. It actually turned out to be almost the exact same as Compulsion, the good and the bad.
   What I loved about Compulsion was the Fire Carrier and the yunwi, but where in the first book we got to learn and experience a lot about them, in Persuasion we just didn't see them as much. The Fire Carrier was just a thing in the background, and he/it was just there for the heck of it. With the two magical creatures being the things I was most excited for in the book, I was disappointed. Rather instead of learning more about the two we got Obadiah instead, a mysterious and 'important' character. I found nothing about him exciting, the fact that he could just break the curses just like that? It was rather unbelievable, and the fact that Barrie believed him made her a goof head.
   Barrie was a major frustration, especially when it came to Eight. She was a mess, I understand that her character went through a bunch of major life changing events but Eight wasn't going to break. She understood that what Seven was doing was completely hurting Eight, the lies and withholding of the truth. Yet she did it to him anyway, multiple times. Even after he would come to her rescue when she did something stupid. Honestly I'm surprised he didn't leave her sooner.
   Finally and most unfortunate, Persuasion like Compulsion still had that nagging feeling of something missing. And to top it off, it was such a slow paced book which in the end made me take forever to read. It even got to the point where I was so bored I just wanted to give up. Sadly because of this and the other problems I said above, Persuasion just wasn't' for me.
   The final book in the series, Illusion, is set to release October 25th, 2016. I haven't quite decided if I'll be picking it up yet.

 You can find my review on McNally Robinson's Two Thumbs Up review page here.

Rating:

Favourite Quote:

"Dessert and laughter are better than glue. There's not much broken that they can't fix."

"Loosing everything made a person recognize the value of what they've found."

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Southern Gothics, Paranormal, South Carolina, Plantations