Review: Spectra

Spectra by Ebony Olson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My feelings towards Spectra by Ebony Olson are rather mixed. I’m not quite sure how I feel about it. As shown by the four star rating I have given the book, I enjoyed it. However, I didn’t come to love it in the way I had expected I would. It was completely different from what I had imagined it would be, and whilst this is a great thing, I’m not entirely sure how I feel about everything that unfolded in the story. It was different but I’m not sure if it was right for me.

Okay, so I’m not making much sense. I’ll try to amend that now, in a full review.

Spectra has a number of great aspects to it, things that leave you wanting more of the story. The main thing is the world building. It is very different to what you see in most paranormal romance stories nowadays. You can see glimmers of the norm, but this is very much a story unlike any other. The creatures we’re introduced to have aspects of their own, allowing us to see a new kind of paranormal system unfold. Or so it seems until you start to understand the world properly, at which point you realise quite a lot of what we’re seeing is just new names and altered details of creatures we already know. This is perfectly fine, though, as we’re pulled into the story and the creatures slowly come to light as we make our way through the story.

At the same time, this did cause me some issues. For quite some time I felt as though I didn’t quite understand the creatures in the world. Things weren’t quite as clear-cut as I usually like them to be, which distracted me from the story more than it should have. Once things clicked into place in my mind, I found I enjoyed the way the world worked; I just wish the world building had been clearer at the start so that I could understand all that was happening. I understand the lack of clarity in regards to our female lead, as an air of mystery is intended for her, but I wanted to understand the world a little bit better than I did. It was such a quick read, that I really do feel as though the details pertaining to the creatures of the world could have been a bit more clear-cut at the start.

This is just my opinion, though, as I’m a stickler for understanding worlds down to the tiniest details. Many will love the world building – and whilst I’m not saying it was bad, it simply wasn’t for me.

This brings me nicely to my next point: the romance. I’m not entirely sure if the romance was for me. I really enjoyed how it went against the norm. Honestly, it was so interesting to see romance done in the way it was in this story. However, I’m extremely picky when it comes to my romance reads. The way the romance developed within this story wasn’t quite for me. I’ve put that aside when rating the book, though, hence why it was given a four star rating. Despite not falling head over heels for the way in which the romantic aspect of this story played out, I really did enjoy how different it was to most of the romance stories out there. It was something new, something refreshing, and I really appreciate that.

Honestly, I know the story won’t be for everyone because this isn’t your usual romance story. Throughout you’re left curious as to how things will play out, and the ending wasn’t at all what I expected. I really do appreciate how the author went against the conventional in her choices, and it certainly makes for an interesting read. Whether people will enjoy it or not is another matter. I appreciated it, I liked how it was different, but I wasn’t crazy about it. Nevertheless, as a whole, it made for an interesting story. I just think people should be aware before going into this story that the romance does not play out the way it so often does.

Overall, though, it was an interesting read. I found myself addicted, curious as to what would come next. I feel as though it was set up in such a way that it is unclear whether we will get any more stories with this cast, but I would like to see another one. After all, there are certain details I want to know more about and I feel as though more adventures with this cast could make for a lot of fun.

An interesting read, for sure. Very much something different.

As a final note, I would like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for a review.

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