Review: The Claiming Words by Tricia Drammeh

Title: The Claiming Words
Series: The Claiming Words, #1
Author: Tricia Drammeh
Publisher: Iconic Publishing
ISBN: 9781938844997
Tags: Young Adult, Paranormal, Magic, Witches, Romance
Source: I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review
Hearts: ♥ ♥ ♥

The Alexanders have always kept their secrets hidden…

When sixteen-year-old Jace Alexander moves to the small town of Oaktree, Georgia, he attracts the attention of every girl in school. Shy, introverted Alisa Cole immediately casts Jace in the leading role of her latest fantasy, but she assumes he’ll never return her interest. After she saves Jace from a Hunter, everything changes. Her accidental discovery of Jace’s secret propels her into a world of magic and danger. Alisa’s newfound courage is put to the test when Jace introduces her to his intimidating older brother, Bryce, and she decides she would rather battle a Hunter than endure another moment under Bryce’s intense scrutiny.

Jace and Bryce aren’t the only ones with secrets…

Rachel Stevens is the girl who has it all. She’s beautiful, popular, and in possession of an ancient power which endangers not only her, but those sent to protect her. Jace is drawn to Rachel—and he isn’t the only one. The Demon Re’Vel will do anything to claim her—even if it means waging a war with the entire Alexander family. As layers of secrets are peeled away, revealing the truth of her heritage and her family’s betrayal, Rachel struggles to resist an immortal suitor who stalks her in her dreams. With the Alexanders fighting to protect her, can Rachel escape the power of the Demon and his Claiming Words?

Review

I’m a bit thorn about this book. The reason? While I liked reading the book, it felt like I was reading two books instead of one, which I liked not so much. And why did I feel this way? Because the story is told through the eyes of both Alisa and Rachel. And the switch between their viewpoints can cause clashes with your feelings. It’s entirely possible to be squealing from the cuteness of Alisa and Bryce and the next thing you know you’re Rachel and having a fight with Jace. The difference between the events, the two girls and my feelings were too big for me to totally like this book. I think I would’ve had a better reading experience if the stories were separated in two books. To make it a bit easier for me (and hopefully for you guys too 😉 ) I’ll therefore review this book like there were two stories.

I’ll start first with Alisa’s and Bryce’s story. I thoroughly enjoyed those chapters in the book. Alisa is very relatable and her remarks were lots and lots of fun. Due to her evil cousin Becky she starts this book as a shy and introverted girl, but because of her friendship with Jace she slowly, but surely changes. She finally let’s the real Alisa out. It was so great to see her grow throughout the story. What I loved even more was the budding romance between her and Bryce. Another character that grows tremendously. From grieve stricken over the loss of his brother, to someone who can enjoy live once again. These two deserved each other. And they are so cute together! I can’t remember ever squealing this much in a book. To the point that I just had to stop reading a bit to calm myself down. I was that exited ^^

In comparison I wasn’t that happy with Rachel. It might be because the viewpoint usually switched to hers seconds after something squeal worthy for Alisa happened and I was dying to know what would happen next. Or it might be because she appears to be the perfect girl with the perfect life. And she has magical powers to booth! And of course she ends up with the hottest boy of the school: Jace. Add to that her problem with making the right decisions. She’s especially having difficulties with sharing important information, that just might be crucial in a fight against a great evil. And thus I wasn’t exactly charmed with her and her story.  Even though she definitely has the more interesting plot and I’m looking forward to finding more about what exactly is going on with her and her family ^^

The world-building, however, is top-notch. We’ve got a world full of Witches, Warriors, Demons, Hunters and whatnot. It’s a very intriguing one and one I can’t wait to explore more. Cause in this book I’ve been given only the basics. I’d love to delve deeper, to explore it all! This world was totally worthy of my visit ^^

Conclusion

2 HEARTS for Rachel and 4 HEARTS for Alisa. Combined 3 HEARTS. The use of two different view points didn’t work well for me. I’d preferred to have read this story in two separate ones. I loved Alisa’s character to death and had a hard time with Rachel. She’s not the kind of YA protagonist I can stand. There’s also some great world-building which left me dying to explore the world again, to get more information about. Cause the basics are not enough for me 😉

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The Claiming Words

1. The Claiming Words
2. Demon Fire (Not Yet Published)

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