Garden-of-Stars

I really struggled with the first book in the series, mainly because of how all over the place the story was and how much of the word building I didn't understand. Still, I loved the characters and wanted to read the next installment in the series, so I gave this book a good. Where "Nameless" had at least left my brain intact after finishing it, "Wayfarer" melted it into a total mess.

If I was at least able to enjoy the characters in the previous book, "Wayfarer" destroyed even that for me, especially when it came to Ellie. In "Nameless" she came off as a very intelligent, albeit troubled, girl, understandable considering the kind of stepmother she has. The only bright spot in this whole story was Avery, the voice of reason whereas Ellie was impulsive, at times illogical, and simply frustrating to follow along. I didn't understand her visions that she kept having, or what part Rita had in this entire story, and forget about the concept of 'charming' and 'sigiling' - that flew right over my head. So you have a main character that makes you wanna grab and shake her, and a lovely boy who likes her who you wish would shake some sense into her.

The plot is just all over. The part with Auntie actually made me think of Beauty and the Beast rather than Cinderella, so the moment of Ellie needing to come home before midnight didn't feel right. It was like there was a crossbreed of stories here that ended up losing the charm of the original. I did, however, like some of the spins on elements from the original story, but overall "Nameless" was much better done that this. I at least liked Cami and didn't struggle with her as a lead character, whereas the only thing that kept Ellie somewhat grounded was Avery, and even then we don't get to see much of him.

Will I read the next book? Yup. I know it's been a really difficult series to follow but heck I wanna know just what kind of story Ruby will have and see the spin on Little Red Riding Hood. As for Cinderella, I always couldn't really get into the story and this book brought to light some of the issues I always had with it. The main problem with the series is that constant dropping of the fictitious history but no clear layout, and adding in an all-over-the-place plot and not quite pleasant main character doesn't do much help either.