Review: The Winter People

Title:  The Winter People
Series:  None (that I can find)
Author:  Rebekah L. Purdy (Website | Twitter)
Age Group:  Young Adult
Publisher:  Entangled Teen
Publication Date:  September 2, 2014
Source:  An eARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!

An engrossing, complex, romantic fantasy perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore or Maggie Stiefvater, set in a wholly unique world.
Salome Montgomery fears winter—the cold, the snow, the ice, but most of all, the frozen pond she fell through as a child. Haunted by the voices and images of the strange beings that pulled her to safety, she hasn't forgotten their warning to "stay away." For eleven years, she has avoided the winter woods, the pond, and the darkness that lurks nearby. But when failing health takes her grandparents to Arizona, she is left in charge of maintaining their estate. This includes the "special gifts" that must be left at the back of the property.
 

Salome discovers she’s a key player in a world she’s tried for years to avoid. At the center of this world is the strange and beautiful Nevin, who she finds trespassing on her family’s property. Cursed with dark secrets and knowledge of the creatures in the woods, his interactions with Salome take her life in a new direction. A direction where she'll have to decide between her longtime crush Colton, who could cure her fear of winter. Or Nevin who, along with an appointed bodyguard, Gareth, protects her from the darkness that swirls in the snowy backdrop. An evil that, given the chance, will kill her.

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My Review:  Oh, man, this book had so much potential.  I love the cover and the synopsis but when I started reading...I just could not for the life of me get into it.  I found myself constantly distracted while reading and not engrossed in the story like I normally am when I read.  I think the biggest problem I had was that it felt like I had already read this book before.  While the overall concept sounded interesting, when I delved into the pages, I found myself surrounded by card-board cut out characters and a plot that left me skipping passages and skimming.  Because of this, I marked this book DNF at 47%.  

First of all, the main character made me want to punch a wall.  I was so frustrated with her all the time.  I didn't understand how her feelings could could transfer to different guys so fast.  This was no love triangle.  It was a freaking love square and I didn't understand.  She'd been crushing on this dude for forever and the second she gets a shot with him, she's suddenly fascinated but this other guy (who was very, very creepy the first time they met.  Like, how did she not call the police on him?).  I honestly just didn't know what she was even doing half the time.

And the boys...the boys.  Usually, I have a soft spot for fictional boys.  I mean, c'mon, who doesn't?  But these ones just...annoyed me.  They felt unoriginal and lacking in substance.  There was three of them, first of all.  And it felt like the author just took the stereotypical guy in YA and copied it three times and stuck the character in the book with three different names.  I didn't connect to any of them and I just felt irritated when Salome was swooning over one.  

What I learned about the plot held promise but it didn't grab me enough for me to want to continue.  The book felt mostly centered around the boys and I felt like it could have done better if it centered more around the external conflict.  Like, the villain was important but almost felt like an after thought (from the parts I read).  

I'm disappointed I didn't like this one more.  It had the classic elements of a YA paranormal romance but I just was not feeling it.  The characters didn't interest me and the plot, while it did sound like something I would enjoy, was pushed to the back in favor of the romance.  

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