Paperdreams Review on The Guardian by Elizabetta Holcomb

 

The Guardian by Elizabetta Holcomb

Length: 249 pages

Published: March 21^st 2016

I received The Guardian as my first ARC (Advanced Readers Copy) from the author, Elizabetta Holcomb and was super excited to dive into it! I was given an electronic copy and read it on my phone since I didn’t have my kindle with me. And I am sometimes skeptical about books given to me since I haven’t personally picked it out but GUYS, this is a good one. The Guardian is a really unique read with fun, sassy characters and an intriguing story line. You won’t want to miss out on this one!

{Synopsis from Goodreads}

1312, A knight destined to rule…

Jareth Tremaine, the first Duke of Dover, has seen how he’s remembered in history books—either a saint who rules his lands with justice or a religious extremist whose harsh treatment of the church nearly has him executed. But what history doesn’t disclose is that he’s essential to the world’s survival. After being wounded by ancient Huns using 21st century weapons, a girl is brought to aid his recovery—a girl who would become his duchess and the key to the future of Dover’s Amalgam.

A 21st century girl whose future has not been written…

Elizabet Blackwell isn’t surprised by wormholes. What shocks her is the multi-faceted personality of the titled knight. Sir Jareth is a nobleman, translator, surgeon—and he’s intent on locating and protecting a host. The host, she discovers, is a boy who practically lives in her backyard 700 years into Jareth’s future.

The re-scripting of history for the survival of nature’s attack on mankind…

Together they embark on their life’s journey and discover that they must protect each other even as they prepare the host for his destiny. Their quest must be to ensure the boy is secure and hidden from the evil forces who seek to exploit the power he contains.

*****

First of all, there is a lot going on in this book; time travel, wormholes, broken history lines, a brooding knight, a sassy virgin, an evil time traveling crook, and a boy with amazing powers. All elements that gave this story a truly unique feel!

I love Elizabet’s character and how sassy she is! She made me laugh at times and cry out in frustration in others. Her resistance to Jareth was cute. However, I felt there was a certain point in the book that she lost most of her sassiness and that made me sad. I hope it comes back in future books!

This story is told from both Elizabet’s and Jareth’s points of view which I enjoyed as I believe various points of view adds some diversity to the story!

I absolutely love the idea of time travel. I still want to jump in my Delorean and crash my parent’s teenage years (Back to the Future reference!). Anyways, the time travel aspect was really neat and intricate in this story. There was a lot of jumping back and forth between 1312 and present time for Jareth and Elizabet to get acquainted. But then there was also some other interesting time lines that affected Jareth and Elizabet that was quite thought- provoking for the story.

There is one character that is introduced in Elizabet’s original time that has major influence on Jareth that I am still baffled and intrigued by. Without giving too much away, the boy has powers that remind me of the X-men’s mutants. I am curious as to what his character will bring forward in future books. As this is the first book in the series it was leading up to how Jareth becomes a leader for the Amalgam which is a safe group for these people with special ‘powers’ and also known as ‘hosts’.

Just one issue I had when I began reading,the first scene, a battle in which Jareth first meets Elizabet, I was very confused at what was happening. There were so many characters being introduced at once that I felt I couldn’t grasp what was happening or who was who. It seemed to be only at the beginning that I had this confusion because once I kept reading I didn’t have any problems.

The story was well written and kept me intrigued and I really enjoyed it and will definitely pick up the next one to find out more about the creation of Amalgam along with Jareth and Elizabet’s adventures!

Rating time: 1- 10:

Historical: 8  *So many different time periods! (Of course, with Jareth having access to the future he had to use his resources and make his 1312 home a bit more luxurious.. I mean, who wouldn’t?)

Romance: 9  *Jared and Elizabet’s relationship is sticky at first but love blossoms and it’s very satisfying.

Science Fiction: 10  *Yes, yes, yes! So much time traveling!

Overall, I would rate it 4/5 stars!

So I definitely recommend The Guardian. It was a fun, captivating read that I enjoyed quite a lot! If you like time travel stories or even just historical romances then I think you will enjoy this one. I would rate it PG-13 as there is some sexual content but it’s not erotically detailed.

I hope you enjoyed this review and as always, leave any comments below, I’d love to hear from you! Have you read The Guardian by Elizabetta Holcomb? If so, what did you think??

Happy Reading fellow booklovers!