Review: The Secret Eater by Ros Jackson

The Secret Eater

Author: Ros Jackson

Publication Date: July 15th, 2013

Publisher: Self-Published

Genre: YA/Fantasy

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Synopsis:

Kenssie is a demon who feeds from secrets. Lately pickings have been slim, and she has grown so weak that her shield of invisibility is slipping. As the servant of a demon who eats embarrassment she already feels like she's the laughing stock of the demonic world. But the scorn of someone who thinks that Hawaiian shirts are the height of cool is the least of her worries. A powerful fear demon is dead set on making her his slave, a position that carries seriously short life expectancy. She has no friends. No powers. No clue. Her only hope of escaping a life of terror lies in stealing a grimoire she's never seen from the clutches of a vindictive group of master demons.

My Thoughts: I always feel quite terrible when I read through a review book and don't enjoy it. But I have to do my part as a book reviewer and be honest, since that is what an Author expects when sending out copies of their books. It definitely wasn't a terrible or completely un-enjoyable book, and I'm sure there are readers out there who will enjoy it. But it wasn't for me and don't worry I will explain why.

The entire book felt to me as if it had been pretty hastily thrown together. There was quite a bit happening, so it wasn't boring or anything like that. I enjoy a fast paced book  but this one was a little bit too fast for me. Just as I was starting to get used to a certain scenario or grasping what was going on, things were changing and moving on to something else. It wasn't necessarily hard to follow, but it was hard to get into the story or attached to the characters when everything was flying by so quickly.

Nothing was explained too clearly during the story. We can grasp the main idea which you get from the synopsis above, but we  pretty much hit the ground running in this story with no time for catch up or back story or even just more information about how these characters work. The plot line just seemed to be lacking in depth, and quite a few events just didn't really make sense to me. I found it to be kind of flat and stitched together with a few characters thrown in there that we don't really get the chance to know at all.

It definitely makes for a quick read with only 10 chapters, and none of them being very large. So if you're looking for a quick fantasy fix or a light read in between books, then this might work for you. Fantasy and paranormal are usually a soft spot for me and it's not hard to get me hooked on such a book, but unfortunately this book just didn't do it for me. I found it to be anti-climatic with an abrupt ending that left me feeling confused. That being said I know there will be others who will like it and find all the strong points that I missed.