A review by ld277
Cloaked by Alex Flinn

1.0

I've read "A Kiss in Time" and "Beastly" by Alex Flinn and I really liked those two, so I thought this one would be similarly well written. Briefly worded: it wasn't. Maybe it was because I read the German version of this book and not the original one in English (I read the other two in English). The main Protagonist is a guy named Johnny Marco, who pretty much does nothing except fixing shoes. So one day when a Princess offers to marry him (if he saves her brother, who was turned into a frog by a witch), he accepts. Gotta admit, Johnny has to be one of the most boring and hypocritical characters ever. He reminds me of those people who say "I'm not like the others" - the special snowflake. He sees himself above the others, imo, which really puts me off. (and when he finds out his best friend Meg, who he suddenly realizes he is in love, is also a witch, he asks her if she put him under a spell so he would fall in love with her. He also treats her like she owes him something. Always compares her to the princess - in general treats her like a second choice, like a compromise. He still has complaints about her when she saves his life! (seriously, dude, get it together)). I would have liked if the story had involved more of Meg. Treated her more as an equal and not like a stupid person whose only goal is to be loved by Johnny (let's not even talk how she acts with the Prince, who gives her stupid pet names and generally treats her like shit. She tries to make Johnny jealous with making out with him. seriously, wouldn't really pass the Bechdel test). She was a witch after all.

The story is pretty much ... okay ... I would even say boring (but people should see that for themselves). It's a mix of several different fairy tales. In my opinion, waay to many - it gets kinda confusing. It also has plot holes (nothing major) - like that one time Johnny has suddenly a rope in his hands and you don't know where the hell it came from and stuff like that.

I got this book for my birthday a couple of years ago and it has been on my bookshelf since then (yes I'm one of those people) and I was sorting things out when this book caught my eye and I decided to read it, considering I liked the other two I read by Alex Flinn. But I gotta say, this book is definitely not MY cup of tea.