The Labyrinth Wall by Emilyann Girdner

Araina’s isolated teenage life is forever altered when she witnesses a man emerge through a rippling wall into the dark labyrinth she calls home. As a result of the stranger’s arrival, Araina’s Creators have unleashed a series of magical attacks using the labyrinth against its inhabitants. Now Araina must decide if she will trust potentially deceitful allies in order to reach safety on the other side of the labyrinth wall.

You don’t understand how hard it is for me to write this review. I had the pleasure of meeting and doing an interview with the author (Emilyann Girdner) and she is just so SWEET (check out part 1 of the interview here and part 2 here)! I loved meeting her and I was so excited to read her book… until I wasn’t.

Please don’t take all I said as your own thoughts. I am 100% in the minority of people who didn’t like this. I’m actually the only person who’s given this a 1 star review on goodreads. So PLEASE don’t let me review keep you from reading the book. These are just my personal opinions and I understand not everyone will feel this way. Also, no matter how I feel about the book, I still loved meeting her and she’s still awesome!

Now that we’re through that and I feel free to be completely honest, let’s get to the review.

This was probably one of my least favorite books ever. I’m sorry if that’s harsh, but at least I’m being honest. I really WANTED to like this. I really did. But I just couldn’t. I hated almost every minute of reading this and it was a struggle to finish. If it wasn’t for a readathon I did as I read this book, I probably would’ve given up. But I persevered and I finished it.

From the beginning, I just couldn’t get into the setting. It confused me so much and, even after finishing the book, I still don’t understand what happened or why. I feel like the setting is kinda a rip-off of The Maze Runner. I don’t understand why the people were in the Labyrinth or how they got into that weird pool thing or where this castle thing is or… *sighs* this just confuses my brain.

The Characters were… interesting. And by interesting, I mean I pretty much hated them all. I couldn’t find a character that I even SLIGHTLY liked. And, if you’ve been reading my reviews for awhile now, you’ve probably caught on that characters make or break a story for me. So, this story really broke cause of these characters. If I had liked the characters, it probably would have made the book bearable.

The storyline was sloppy and so, so confusing. I don’t really know what was supposed to be happening or why. I can’t even explain my confusion. Like there was this weird dog guy who only spoke in riddles and I can’t even find the purpose of them introducing him, except to make the book longer and to include more unneeded conflict.

As for cleanliness, there are a few minor curse words that I remember. It has been awhile since I read the book, so I can’t give you an exact number, but I do remember at least a few. But there is no suggestive content.

In the end, I will not be reading this book again. I’ll be keeping it because I have a nice personalized copy, but I won’t be picking it or the sequel up. I might try another Emilyann Girdner book if I got the opportunity, but I just can’t do this series.

-Lilian-