Friday, March 6, 2020

REVIEW: The Medium by C.J. Archer


The Medium (Emily Chambers Spirit Medium #1)


Seventeen year-old spirit medium Emily Chambers has a problem. Actually, she has several. As if seeing dead people isn't a big enough social disadvantage, she also has to contend with an escaped demon and a handsome ghost with a secret past. And then there's the question of her parentage. Being born an entire year after her father's death (yes, a year) and without the pale skin of other respectable English ladies, Emily is as much a mystery as the dead boy assigned to her.


Jacob Beaufort's spirit has been unable to crossover since his death several months ago. It might have something to do with the fact he was murdered. Or it might not. All he knows is, he has been assigned by the Otherworld's administrators to a girl named Emily. A girl who can see and touch him. A girl who released a shape-shifting demon into the mortal realm. Together they must send the demon back before it wreaks havoc on London. It should be a simple assignment, but they soon learn there's nothing simple when a live girl and a dead boy fall in love.



MY THOUGHTS
This is one of my ebook freebies from 2013. Even after seven years, I still like reading books about ghosts and those who see them, but this book just fell flat in terms of plot and romance.

Emily is a spirit medium in Victorian England, well-known for her ability to talk to ghosts. When her older sister uses an amulet during a seance, thinking it will help, she unknowingly summons a demon. Now Emily must stop the demon from causing trouble all with the help of Jacob, a young man who died a mysterious death.

When I first started this book it was intriguing enough to keep going. I expected this to be the typical "girl who sees ghosts" book and I thought it would be a good, quick read. This was a quick read, but the further I got into the book the more I realized that this book didn't really have a focused plot. By the time I fully realized this, I was too far into the book to give up.

So, the basic plot is that Emily must stop a demon. The problem with this plot is that the book never stayed focused on this plot. She runs around London trying to track down information on the demon and who is trying to control the demon. She questions people over and over again and Emily makes it seem like she's learning stuff, but as a reader, we still don't know anything so we can't really solve the mystery with her. There isn't enough worldbuilding of the ghost world to understand things. The demon can shapeshift and saying nonsense words controls the demon, but we don't know more beyond that and it is never explained. For most of the book, there really isn't any tension. Even though Emily claims she's trying to stop the demon, it's in the background for most of the book.

Subplots take more center-stage than the actual plot. Most of the subplots are supposed to be tied to the main plot but, once again, none of them go anywhere. It was so frustrating! It started out interesting, but by the end, I was just tired of the lack of focus in the story! For instance, there is Jacob's mysterious death. Emily wants to find out more about how Jacob died, and even wants to tell his family that Jacob is dead! None of this fits with the rest of the plot!

What really takes over the story is the romance and I was not a fan of the romance. Emily is running around with Jacob, a hot eighteen-year-old ghost. The romance is very quick, almost insta-love. They do have a sort-of friendship when they first meet, but it very quickly turns into I love yous. There is no in-between dial and it was both jarring and uncomfortable to see how they suddenly wanted to be with each other after only knowing each other for a couple of days. It didn't help that I felt no chemistry between them and that Jacob's character got progressively violent as the book went on.


IN CONCLUSION
Overall, I just wish the book focused more on the demon plot and built more on giving the reader information, rather than focusing on the cliche romance and Emily running around questioning people. I think the book had that potential at the beginning and up until about the midway point this was a solid 3-star book, but it lost me as I read further. I don't intend on reading more in the series.


I hereby give this book
2 Stars
Meaning: It was okay

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