The Path Keeper, N.J. Simmonds

I’m taking part in the blog tour for The Path Keeper by N.J. Simmonds, a fantasy book about our paths already being decided for us.

The Path Keeper, N.J. Simmonds

Themes: Fantasy, romance, rape

Reading Format: Kindle

Pages: 378

3 STARS

Please note that this book contains trigger warnings for rape and abuse. Whilst the e-copy of the book I received did not have a warning, I have been assured by the author there will be one in the finished copy.

This book was definitely strange and it managed to succeed in being unlike anything I’ve read before. The premise was sort of Twilight-esk, but with a different creature instead of Vampires. There was certainly a mirrored obsession surrounding the male characters though. As usual, we have a normal female lead who comes across a sexy male and can’t stop thinking about him. If you’d have told me the premise of this book in great detail before I read it, I may not have picked it up, but I did and I ended up enjoying certain aspects of it.

I really liked the mystery and intrigue behind this book, when I started it I had forgotten the blurb so I went in fairly blind. I was definitely taken away with the guessing game of the plot, I wanted to uncover the secrets of the story. I wanted to know who Zac (said sexy man) really was and why he was so into Ella.

I liked seeing this book from both perspectives, Zac and Ella as well as some dipping into the past. I can say for sure that this book wasn’t boring, there was always a new angle/direction that it was taking. I also found it hard to predict where it was going, so that was another good thing because usually with this genre you can tell from the off.

Character-wise I found myself annoyed with Ella as a lead, she seemed very dependent on Zac and that bugged me because she was clearly able to function on her own from when we first meet her. Her mother is a stunning woman, married to a rich guy who seems to provide anything the two desire. This book certainly had the glitz and glamour!

I’m left confused by who the audience for this book is, it seems to have the premise of a teenage book, but the themes of an adult one that shouldn’t be read by teens. I appreciated an older main character because that is rare in young adult books, but I think this could certainly be targeted to the older spectrum of young adult readers. There are certainly a lot of problem themes this book deals with and I think they could be upsetting to younger readers. I’m glad to see the addition of a trigger warning on the finished copy though.