Uptown Oracle Reads… Blackheath

Seventeen-year-old Maggie Ellmes is dogged by a case of chronic bad luck. She figures that’s just her lot in life—that is, until the psychic at Blackheath’s annual carnival reveals that Maggie’s problems are caused by more than just ordinary misfortune; she’s actually been cursed.
Desperate to shake the hex, Maggie has no choice but to seek out the help of Joel Tomlins, a rebellious classmate who’s descended from Blackheath’s most powerful line of witches. After breaking all of his coven’s conventions to help her, Joel discovers that the curse isn’t as bad as Maggie fears. In fact, it’s much, much worse.

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Blackheath
Gabriella Lepore

One of the main things that stuck with me throughout reading Blackheath was that it was predictable. It follows the steps of an average YA paranormal read. And it’s reminiscent of books like Hush, Hush and Fallen that I read about 10 years ago.

But even though I wasn’t being surprised with plot twists, it wasn’t bad. I was feeling fondly nostalgic for the Twilight phase. I’d say it’s a fluffy book, that’s quite short and it would be an easy and great read. Especially if that’s what you’re in the mood for.

The writing itself was decent, and there was a good pace and flow to the storyline. I would actually argue that the characters are a lot better than Twilights. But of course, if you really dislike tropes and clichés from the paranormal genre, you probably won’t be interested.

Overall, if you’re not going to analyse every page, this is a nice book to just read for entertainments sake. The characters make dumb decisions, there’s tropes like ‘The Chosen One’ but not for our main characters, and we get dragged along on a good storyline. Plus it’s currently free on Kindle Unlimited! So if you just want a gander, it’s easy to get your hands on.

Positives

+ Decent pace and flow

+ Nostalgic

Negatives

– Predictable