Redemption(Heart of Stone)Publisher: Flux Books, 2012Genre: YA Paranormal
Guillaume: For five hundred years I’ve existed as a gargoyle. Perched atop an old Montreal church, I’ve watched idly as humanity wanders by. With the witch Marguerite gone, there is no one left to protect, nothing to care about. I never planned to feel again. But then a girl released me from my stone restraints, allowing me to return as a seventeen-year-old human boy. I must find out all I can about this girl’s power...
Aude: Getting attacked twice in as many days is strange in itself, but even stranger is the intriguing guy I keep running into. There’s something so familiar about him, like a primal drum rhythm from my dreams. But spending time together only raises more questions—about my heritage, a native Mohawk prophecy... and an unearthly magic threatening our city...
Guillaume has watched humans pass by below his perch for centuries. Without a witch to grant them essence, he and his ‘brothers’ are stuck in their stone gargoyle forms. But then Aude comes along and somehow frees them. Strange things start happening to Aude; first she’s attacked by a terra cota man, and then she hears drums and the voice of a young man inside her head! Aude think she’s going crazy, but the reality is more unbelievable. Her heritage and powers are awakening, and she might be the answer to Guillaume’s troubles.
Veronique Launier weaves history, myth, and magic in this haunting tale about gargoyles and a girl who can reanimate them.
I was a big fan of the Gargoyles cartoon way back then, so when I read about this book I immediately wanted to read it. The use of gargoyles is one that hasn’t been used in YA fiction—at least not that I know of—and I was really excited. I’m happy to report that the Gargoyles were my favorite part! The way they changed, the way their magic worked, their stories, etc. A gargoyle’s sustenance is something called essence, which is life energy that only a witch can transfer to them. Since their witch died, they’ve been stuck in stone for a long time until Aude comes a de-stones them. This simple fact kept me turning the pages, even when my excitement disappeared because of the main characters.
Aude wasn’t the most likable heroine. She’s stubborn which I like, but she says certain off-hand comments that make her come off as selfish and bitchy. Her Mom was really messed up in the romance/relationship department and Aude turns out to be that way too. So though I understood where Aude’s attitude was coming from that still didn’t make it any easier to read. I thought she came off as very indecisive, one moment she wants her friend to ask her what’s wrong, the next she’s annoyed that her friend has asked her something personal. Aude’s friends start off as being inconsiderate, but by the end, I kind of sided with them. Aude is obsessed with their band Lucid Pill, and is furious at them for being a couple, because she says they’ll destroy the band by being together. What kind of friend is that?
Guillaume was a slightly better character to read, but sadly, he suffers from the same indecisive and bitchy streak as Aude. One min he wants to talk about Marguerite, the next he doesn’t, one min he loves his family, the next he’s being an ass to them. I didn’t really love Guillaume as a romantic interest either. His connection to Aude just wasn’t enough to endear him to me. Plus, there were certain things he did and said to her that made him a complete jerk.
Actually, now that I think on it, I liked the secondary characters more than the primary ones. Aude’s friends, Lucy and Patrick, were great (except for that first incident) and the gargoyles, Garnier, Antoine, and Vincent, were all interesting and engaging. I wanted to get to know more about each of them!
Aside from the characters, another thing that kept throwing me off was the switch of tense. The story from two point of views, Aude and Guillaume, and Aude’s POV is told in present tense, while Gullaume’s is told in past tense. My mind kept being bumped out of the story because of this. I couldn’t help it.
The ending was a rush, but a bit random too with no foreshadowing the events that occurred. I kept checking the percentage on my kindle. When it reached 95%, things still kept occurring I would have liked for things to have been more spread out. I do have to give big kudos to Launier for choosing a supernatural beastie that isn’t popular this day and coming up with a whole concept and reason for it. This novel had potential to be great, if only that action had been spread out evenly, and the characters hadn’t been that hard to swallow.
*Arc copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley*
Favorite Quotes:
~Borrowing~
“Why the hell are you driving such an ugly car, anyways?”
He shrugs. “First car I came across.”
“So it’s not only ugly but also stolen?”
“Borrowed.”
~Stone Heart~
I knew that I couldn’t let this girl out of my sight again. Not only because something could happen to her, but because her very presence pounded against the barriers that were set in my heart, and threatened to collapse them. I wanted her to.
~Swooning~
One hand is pressed on my back while the other tangles in my hair. My arms wrap around his neck. I like them there, they fit. He pulls away long enough to whisper in my ear. Time stops. I feel breathless, dizzy. My legs are shaky. Maybe I’m not above swooning after all.
