The Aureate Spectacles by Eliott McKay

4 Stars

Publisher: Inkitt

Publication date: December 31st, 2016

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

Michaela was a seemingly normal high school senior, hiding behind a pair of hideous spectacles that masked her true identity. When she’s abducted by an intriguing werewolf, she learns that her father was a powerful vampire, and she has been chosen to protect his city from her predatory kin.

As the situation grows dire, the fate of the city rests in her hands, and she must choose between peace for her people or the man she’s growing to love.

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My review:

Michaela has lived with her Aunt Hazel for as long as she could remember. Her parents were killed in a hiking accident when she was three years old, and Hazel had raised her since. Hazel was an icy, uncaring person who ignored Michaela unless she had to pay attention to her. It was a lonely existence made even more so because Michaela had to wear hideous, rhinestone-encrusted, yellow lens spectacles.

The glasses were a bane of her existence. The older she got, the more hideous the glasses got. She was bullied relentlessly and had no friends. By the time Michaela was almost 18, she had somewhat resigned herself to her life until she found a pocket watch with a miniature portrait of a beautiful dark-haired woman in it.

The portrait made her feel loved and filled by looking at it. During this time, she started having dreams of a mossy pond in a courtyard of stone and a voice that called her name, Kayla. She would also hear a song that she couldn’t quite catch and would hum the melody. But once she realized what she was doing, the song would disappear.

Then there came the night that Aunt Hazel woke Michaela from a nightmare. One where she was talking French and calling for Conrad. During Aunt Hazel’s interrogation, the pocket watch was discovered and Aunt Hazel went nuts.

Aunt Hazel freaked out. She fitted Michaela with what she considered a dog muzzle with straps coming out of it. That apparatus was to hold the glasses in place while Michaela slept. Aunt Hazel upped up security around the house to an almost wild pitch. She went as far as to board up Michaela’s windows, made it so the door locked from the outside only and was outfitted with a triple lock. Michaela had no idea why, but she believed that it had something to do with why she had to wear those ugly glasses all the time.

She ends up making a break for freedom after Hazel takes to locking her in her room. Getting rid of the spectacles, she is a hit at school. After school, as she is walking down the street, she runs into a mysterious young man whom Michaela feels that she knows and who knows more than he is letting on.

Returning home, she has a confrontation with Hazel that was a long time coming. She learns that her mother had sent her to Hazel. Her mother believed that she would be safer with Hazel. The man who delivered Michaela to Hazel told her that she would be safer if her eyes were hidden and faked Michaela’s death. Michaela was able to pry out her mother’s name and her father’s name from Hazel. Hazel also told her that her last name was fake. Instead of Morley, it was Mohrlock. Hazel also implies that Julian is still alive.

The next day Michaela was whisked away by a mysterious man. After being out of commission for four days, Michaela wakes up to find herself on a boat in the middle of the Black Sea. What the man tells her, stuns her.

She is the heir to a land called Mons Maledictio Ruwa (rough translation: Cursed Mountain of Thunder), and her name is Michaela Alandria de Mohrlock Comptesse. She is the daughter to Julian Philip Benoit de Mohrlock and Marguerite Emmaline Fitzwallis…both deceased.

It is after she arrives at the castle that her adventures begin. After attempting to escape the castle by climbing down the side (and getting stuck), she is put right away into intrigue. Every year, she is supposed to go to a summit with the people who live on the other side of the mountain. They are called the Sylva, and they have a shaky treaty with Michaela’s people.

Michaela was a hoot to read, and I loved her character. She was loyal, loves deeply, and is willing to do anything to protect her people from the Sylva. I loved her misadventures.

Conrad was such a mystery, and I liked how the author drew out Conrad’s secrets. He was also perfect for Michaela.

The romance between Michaela and Conrad was cute to read. Painful in some parts but very cute.

The secondary characters are what made this book. They were well written and didn’t fizzle off into the background once their storylines ended. The author kept them in the story. When the bad things happened in the book, and yes, some pretty upsetting things happened, these same secondary characters were right there with Michaela and Conrad.

The end of the book was bittersweet. I wish that there was an epilogue that followed up with the characters. Some of the storylines were not wrapped up, including the V and W storylines. I wonder if there will be a second book. I have questions about certain characters that I would like to see answered.

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I would give The Aureate Spectacles an Older Teen rating. There is sex. There is language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 16 read this book.

I would reread The Aureate Spectacles. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**