Review – Kind of Like Life by Christina McMullen

I’m rather guilty of being a free e-book hoarder, and when I saw there was a promotion running on McMullen’s Kind of Like Life, I knew I had to nab it. It’s been sitting at the top of my to-read list for a while now, and I’m happy that I’ve finally gotten to enjoy the story!

All Renee Ward ever wanted out of life was two things: Good friends to share her love of fantasy and fairy tales, and for magic to be real. When her family moves halfway across the country in the middle of her senior year, it appears as if Renee just might get her wish. With its Victorian homes and quaint downtown, Waterside is almost too good to be true. Not only does she find friends who share her interests, but she also meets a cute guy who seems to have a magical secret or two of his own. But after a visit from the mysterious Blake Carter, Renee’s new utopian life suddenly turns into a never-ending nightmare. The only question is, how much of this is real, and how much is just in her head? (Goodreads)

Overall I give Kind of Like Life 4 stars!

I’ll admit that when I first started reading, I was a bit confused. I was not experiencing the story but being told the story. My confusion was allayed a couple of chapters in, when I realized that this was appropriate to the story itself. I’d go ahead and tell you, but even though it is at the beginning of the book, I feel like it’d be spoiler-y, so I won’t. But I will say that once I made this realization, the story became an experience I was inescapably drawn in to.

The adventure’s Renee finds herself on are continuously mind-bending, and the rules are always changing. Can she and Blake find a way out of this “life,” and if they do, what then?

Positive:

• Once the “real” story began (if it can be called real…), I was sucked into the story and not spit out until it was finished! It was captivating, emotional, and kept me on my toes!
• The twists continued up through the very end of the book.
• I liked how quick-witted Renee was, especially given the strangeness of her situation.
• Blake was an interesting character with quite the backstory, and I enjoyed his emotional strengths and weaknesses.
• This was an enjoyable read, through and through. I also liked the ending.

Negative:

• As I’ve said, I had a hard time with the beginning until I realized it was a device, not a standard for the entire book.
• I thought some of the recovery aspects, especially for Blake, to be quite quick.
• I’m not sure they’d be off the hook so easily in the end.

Other:

• The switch between character point of views was unexpected (I think I’ve been reading a lot of limited POV and first person POV lately, shaping my expectations). It was not bad, but sometimes it was like sliding from one mind into the other.

I certainly think if you get a free afternoon, you’ll not be disappointed in spending it with Renee Ward and Blake Carter.

Have you read Kind of Like Life? What did you think? Don’t forget, one of the best ways to help authors (and other readers) is to leave a review!