Reviews

Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst

ericamatthisen's review against another edition

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2.5

a very weird book

victoria_mbk22's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

4.75

mandikaye's review against another edition

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2.0

I am saddened that so many of the books I’ve read lately have been rated 3 or less.

This one was particularly frustrating for me. The main character lost her memories and had no idea who she was, where she was from, or what she was supposed to even look like (her face was surgically altered when she entered the witness protection program).

As a reader, I was as clueless as Eve was. Except more so. Because she knew where she was and why. She at least knew the reasons she had been told (off-page) for the things that were happening to her. I had no such luxury. I was thrown into the middle of a story with a main character prone to memory loss.

It was maddening.

I nearly put the book down many times out of sheer frustration.

I believe it was probably written that way on purpose to help the reader feel the same confusion Eve felt, but it was too confusing and unenjoyable.

It was impossible to know which characters were trustworthy and which were not. And to be honest – it still wasn’t entirely clear right up until the end.

The big reveal surprised me, but I didn’t like it. It was horrifying to me. And then the way she was treated after the reveal – by those who were protecting her – it just horrified me.

Overall, I simply didn’t like the book. It was confusing and frustrating and gave me bad feels.

bookyanne's review against another edition

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4.0

Kind of confusing at times but I really liked the plot and concept behind the story. I'm not really fond of the ending but I couldn't put this book down. The Storyteller sewing creeped me out and I loved it

nattyg's review against another edition

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4.0

I liked this. I spent way more time reading this than I should have because I kept wanting to figure out the mystery. That’s a good thing! A page-turner.

b33dubs's review against another edition

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4.0

Very compelling concept (especially once you get to the reveal), but I thought the romance was a little loosely composed and convenient--not that it necessarily detracted from my overall enjoyment of the book!

turbie's review against another edition

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One of the things that pulled me into this book was the murderer that Eve was trying to escape...with that being said the murderer was hardly in, let alone even mentioned, in about half of the book.

I went into this book with a lot of expectations and just about all of those disappeared or changed. First off, the murderer as I mentioned above, I expected to be more of a main focus. Secondly, I didn't expect this to be such a fairy tail. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but just reading the description on the back of the book didn't give me that impression. Third, the main character...Eve. She has amnesia and constantly has memory lapses through out the book. I found this to be fairly interesting at first but soon it got...old? It seemed that hardly any development was happening to her. She started out as a flat character with no memory and every few chapters she reset back to her empty slate.

I went into this book with high expectations and expected this book to absorb me. However SO much differed from what I expected, the characters didn't grab my attention, and the fairy tale element sort of turned me off rather then pull me in. This was a book that I was able to put down and not touch for a few days (which happened on multiple occasions).

I wouldn't say this book was bad, but I wouldn't exactly recommend it either. Just know what you're getting into because I felt the description I read on this book was fairly misleading and oversold the story, causing me to have high expectations that the book came far from meeting.

lrnunez's review against another edition

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4.0

I really liked this book. So much so I wish there was a sequel, although I am kind of glad there isn't, because I feel like a sequel would over kill this story. Although I loved Eve and ended up really liking Zach, I wish there had been two more side characters that Eve could have relied on. Still Eve was a amazing, to the point were I could have read an entire book just about her.

jesschaney's review against another edition

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4.0

FIVE STARS! HOLY HELL FIVE STARS!!! That’s pretty much what I thought the second I finished this book. I ultimately gave this book 4.5 stars because while it did blow my mind and give me the feels it was not completely without flaws. That being said, I was severely impressed. I’m apparently on a roll with good books lately, which is awesome, but this book takes the cake, wins the race, [insert saying for being the best book I’ve read this year]. I will warn you, the book starts a little slow and occasionally the flashbacks can be a little jarring, but by the last page I had forgotten these things and was simply in awe of how much I loved what I had just read.
The central mystery revolves around three things: Eve trying to put together pieces of her past, Eve trying decipher her powers and why she suffers blackouts every time she tries to use them, and, of course, whether Eve should trust the witty and quick-talking Zachary. The blackouts are a huge device in the novel. When Eve suffers the blackouts she has recurring visions of a magician and a storyteller. While she knows these visions are important she does not know why until WitSec reveals to her that the Magician is the serial killer looking for her and only her memories can lead them to him and put him behind bars. The visions come frequently as Eve learns that accessing her memories causes her to lose days or weeks of memory . She then has to piece together the time she has lost. This does lead to a few slow moments in the book but pace is quickly picked up again, usually with some witty banter or deadpan sarcasm or life threatening situation, all of which I am a fan. Eventually Eve does regain her memories which leads to a huge confrontation and a twisty-unexpected conclusion that had me screaming “Five Stars” at my poor terrified chihuahua.
Ultimately, I loved the fast-paced back and forth conversation between the agents Malcolm and “Aunt” Nicki. I loved the building romance between Eve and Zachary.I loved the journey of self-discovery that Eve takes throughout the book as she grows both in her powers and as person. Eve starts out as a very passive character, just letting things happen to her, but by the end of the book she has taken control of her life and has transformed into a kick-butt heroine
If you read this book for no other reason, read it because the last few chapters will make you gasp and cheer and curse and experience all kinds of unexpected feels.Finally, I love a book that surprises me and that’s exactly what Conjured was able to accomplish.
In the end I give Conjured 4 stars. As I said before, at the end of this book I was ready to give it five stars. The ending is just that good. However, I do believe that the flashbacks are a bit too frequent and pull the reader out of the story. I recognize that they are used as a story-telling device and reveal important parts of Eve’s past but at the same time I think they could have been less frequent but a tad lengthier and accomplished the same thing without bringing me out of the novel. That’s why I can’t give Conjured the full five stars. But seriously guys, it is completely worth the other 4.5 stars and I will be re-reading this book several times because I loved it that much.

mmc_librarian's review against another edition

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4.0

I'm not sure how to review this book, and maybe that might be a sign that it's not as amazing as I thought it was. So let me start with that while Conjured could have used a bit more polish and could have taken more risks, it is worth your time for its language and world-building. However, if you're not a fan of passive main characters, the amnesia trope, or love triangles, then I'd say skip it.

Eve is another character suffering from amnesia, and what's worse is that she is also being pursued by a serial killer who uses magic on his victims and kills them gruesomely. She's been put in a magical Witness Protection program and she's guarded by two agents named Malcolm and Nikki. They need her to remember details about the killer so that they can stop him before he kills again; however, the only way Eve can start retrieving her memories is if she uses her own magic, but when she uses magic, she always passes out. While she gains glimpses of her memories this way, she loses days and weeks in exchange. The agents try to give her a somewhat normal life by signing her up as a library assistant - enter Zach, a boy her age who is also a library assistant, and who she chooses to feel a connection to despite the obstacles in her way. Namely, the agents themselves, who at every turn are trying to manipulate Eve, and other magical teenagers, who have an ominous agenda of their own.

So unlike the last book I read where the character is an amnesiac, The Rook, Eve does not develop a single strong personality trait. She desperately wants to remember who she is, and she wants to help catch the mysterious murderer, but she struggles to have an active role in her own story. There is the horror of what happens in her visions as she witnesses the killer choosing and slaughtering various victims, and the dread she feels when she wakes up from another blackout and has to figure out what she's missed - because she doesn't merely sleep through the blackouts, she is apparently still doing things and interacting with people, but she doesn't remember doing any of those things once she truly "awakens." So the plot has things constantly happen to Eve, but she has no control over the situation. This is why I can somewhat forgive the fact that Eve doesn't really have a personality of her own - it's difficult to figure out who you are if you're constantly forgetting. However, it was really frustrating at times to watch Eve be constantly paralyzed by inaction. She just feels very empty at times; maybe this is supposed to be demonstrating the depth of her character, I don't know.

I felt like Zach was the weakest character. While it was touching at times to see how the friendship between Zach and Eve helped Eve feel human, Zach soaks up all of the personality points, and not even interesting personality points, but the most annoying, stereotypical ones of The Nerd (and not in the complimentary way). In the end, I did feel for him and I appreciated that his support of Eve became more than just, "This girl pays attention to me therefore I am loyal."

And yes, as I mentioned before, this is a love triangle - but what's different about this one is that for once, the girl isn't having it. Aiden, the other point in the triangle, is also one of the magical teens, but Eve never truly feels anything for him and there is a reason for that. It was nice to see that once she makes a connection with Zach, Eve never really lets go of that feeling, which is the much more genuine relationship. Neither the reader nor Eve buys the relationship with Aiden.

Wow, now that I've written three paragraphs of criticism, let's end this review with some praise. For one, if you can get through the first few pages, you WILL BE HOOKED. This book is truly a thriller and it does a fantastic job of keeping you glued to the page. I almost couldn't stop reading once I started - I wanted to understand what Eve was going through and figure out what was happening. The language in this book is beautiful too; the descriptive imagery really helps put the reader in the moment with the main character as you and she both go through the experience for the first time. I also really like the idea of parallel worlds, and a world with a special program like a supernatural Men in Black. Finally, there is a twist in this book that I did not see coming and it manages to be very, VERY effective.

To conclude my review: Conjured grips its readers in a thrilling tale full of suspense and dread through its imaginative setting and compelling mystery, but may lose readers due to the constraints of the young adult genre, the flaws in characterization, and some convolution in the plot. Despite some hiccups, I think it definitely deserves four stars.