Review for Ethereal by Addison Moore

3 Stars. The writing was beautiful and the plot was both interesting and engaging. But, this book left me feeling underwhelmed. Ethereal moves at a fast pace, but at times it’s too fast. Problems develop quickly, but are also solved quickly resulting in a lack of tension. I loved all the ideas in this book, but I wanted the stakes to be higher and the emotions to be better fleshed out.

The secrets kept me reading. I wanted to know more about Skyla’s dad and Chloe. The mystery surrounding Chloe and what happened to her were the best parts of this book. I wished there’d been more flashbacks to Skyla and her father. I wanted to feel her loss more, but what was there I loved.

The mythology was also something I liked. Logan and Skyla’s abilities were interesting and different. [Spoiler] The time-travel idea was interesting at first, but by the time I reached the end of the book I felt like it wasn’t handled well enough. Skyla easily goes back in time twice to retrieve something then a third time to return it, but she doesn’t even attempt to go back to get the one thing that would keep her safe. [Spoiler]

I had some issues with this book with the characters and relationships. Skyla’s romance with Logan is very insta-love, and what’s so disappointing is that it didn’t have to be. I found her initial attraction to him believable. He’s definitely hot. But, they never really get to know one another. I never felt like their relationship developed past looks. If they would have had just a few more “get to know you” scenes at the beginning I could have been really sucked into their relationship. Also, a love triangle develops almost instantly and it’s not really clear why both these guys are so into her.

Logan is a little pushy and at times I felt like all he wanted was to get in Skyla’s pants. Skyla was a little bitchy at times and too trusting. Logan talks her into things, Brielle talks her into things, but then there’s a part where Chloe warns her about something and she completely disregards it and it just irked me. She also came across as selfish. Usually I liked her, but she made a lot of choices that I didn’t completely understand. She’s a little too paranoid in some places and acts out unbelievably, and sometimes she just does dumb stuff.

Overall, I felt like this story had good bones. It had an interesting premise and mystery, but it didn’t feel fleshed out enough. Many of the scenes were underwhelming. The threats against Skyla weren’t very threatening. The people that were after her went about it in a way that confused me. First, they tried scaring her, then they tried to kill her, and then finally abducted her. Why bother abducting her when you already tried to outright kill her? And, the ending was anticlimactic. There were a lot of things I liked about this book, but I don’t think I’ll continue with the series.