The Old Soul's Coven; Emily's Haven - Carla Michelle Hamilton

I won't beat about the bush here; I had high hopes that this book would be brilliant and I left disappointed. In theory this book could be a really great young teen fiction book (and I stress young) if a) the market wasn't already overflowing with this genre of book (vampires/witches/fantasy) and if b) it had a bit of tweaking and adjustment.

Let me start with the plot. It's a typical vampire/witch/fighting/love triangle type story which is great if you really try to break out of the 'twilight box', and I have to say this story really does try, but all together everything moved too fast with little explanation or detail. The principal character, Emily, is thrust into this new world within the first few pages but I felt, personally, that her response to new circumstances was unrealistic- within a few chapters she goes from ordinary girl on the street to leader of a coven and fighting bad guys. The story begins to get more and more complicated and bizarre and this strange love triangle (?) forms- all Emily seems to do is fall in love and have sex with anyone who comes along.

There are some really interesting and original ideas in the story line but they aren't explored in enough detail. For example the society of the vampires and witches and hierarchy between the covens as well as some 'flashbacks' to past lives that I would have loved to have been explained further. That being said these issues could all be explained further in the following books in the series so it might be worth sticking it out till the end. In addition there were a couple of really great plot twists that elevated the story away from similar books in this genre.

I really wanted to like the characters but due to the erratic story and lack of detail its difficult  to form a connection with them; in addition there are a lot of people in this book which also adds to the confusion of the story- and ohh yes they all are in and out of relationships with everyone and anyone. I did like the character Luke, but as a reader I was left a bit bewildered when he was introduced as the bad guy but within a couple of chapters it was as if he had never done anything wrong.

If this book was tweaked a little it could be a really good young teen fiction story with a real possibility for a great series but the erratic nature of the story and the lack of detail spoilt the book for me. I would possibly read the second book in the series because I imagine a lot of the problems with this first book would have been ironed out. If you're a younger reader (I'm thinking 12/13+ with a mature mind-this girl has a lot of sex) then I think you might enjoy this, especially if you're really into the Vampire/witch saga genre.

Note: This book was sent to me to review. This is no way alters or affects my opinion of the book and I only review books sent to me that I genuinely would have considered
purchasing for myself.