The Lovely and the Lost, by Page Morgan

(3/5 stars)

I'm singing songs of gladness, because this series has finally come into its own. As some of you might recall, I reviewed Page Morgan's first book in the Dispossessed series, The Beautiful and the Cursed, once upon a time. I remember my main problem being that I felt like (besides the gargoyle aspects) I had seen this story multiple times. But that's no longer the case, lovely readers. No, this sequel put me in my place and grew its own identity of which I certainly appreciate.

What I liked: So I still love (or obsess over) gargoyles. It's my favorite thing about these books and the romanticism of the time period in Paris is breathtaking. Morgan continues to build this beautiful world by adding more complications and more paranormal aspects that make it stand out. I enjoyed the risks and plot twists that were added to the story because they added more depth. I especially like that we got to interact with Grayson more because that boy has got some serious issues that I like seeing explored. Gabby remains my favorite character, and her love interest, Nolan, is swoon-worthy to the max. So that all brings me to the character development that we've seen throughout the two books. For the most part, everyone grew in wonderful ways. I even started to like Luc (some of you might remember that I just couldn't stand him in the first book). The characters have let the world around them make them stronger, and I've loved watching them grow like that.

What I didn't like: Okay, so unfortunately, as much as this series has grown, I still have problems. I had a hard time with the overall arc of this book--I just don't think a weird demonic blood transfusion is enough to sustain the plot and keep it interesting enough on its own. Luckily, there was more going on with the characters, but still, for that to be the main conflict, it just didn't do it for me. Personally, I feel like Ingrid might have gone backwards on the character development scale. She was so strong and sure of herself in the first book and for some strange reason, I didn't feel any of that this time around. I'm also still really irked about the love triangle because it's not convincing. I don't feel like Ingrid really "loves" either option, and when it comes down to it, I'm personally not invested. At this point, I don't care who she picks, it doesn't feel genuine with either. I did want to see more Gabby (like I said, she's my fave), and I would have also liked to see more of Chelle because she seems like an interesting character who might have a really cool backstory. Oh, and I also couldn't handle the kid with the spider powers... this isn't Spider Man...

Regardless, I know that I'll definitely read the next book in the series because if I was able to see such a dramatic change from the first two books, we can only go up from here. I'm very curious to see where the story takes the characters and I have high hopes.

-Annie