Review: Cloaked by Alex Flinn

Cloaked

Author: Alex Flinn

Publisher: HarperCollins

Series: N/A

Pages: 256

Genre: Fantasy

Release Date: February 8, 2011

How Received: Star Book Tours

Summary: Johnny’s not your average hero. But a little magic changes everything.

There isn’t a fairy godmother or any of that. It all starts with a curse. And a frognapping. And one hot-looking princess. And before Johnny knows it, he is on a mission in the Everglades, with only a flock of swans and a talkative fox named Todd to help guide him against the forces of an evil witch.

My Thoughts:

Cloaked’s premise is unique and laced with several different fairytales. There were some fairytales I recognized from my copy of Grimm’s, but there were also some that were new to me. I was interested at the beginning to see how Flinn would play out this modern fairytale. Then my interest dwindled because of Johnny. While I was reading this book, I felt like I was just coasting along. There was no addicting factor to it. I wasn’t that interested in finding out what happens, because I could pretty much guess at what happens (and in the end, I was right). The predictability was over-the-top. It doesn’t keep you guessing, and nothing is really a surprise. There was nothing to push me into finishing this book besides the fact that I had a deadline to read it for the ARC tour.

I tried really hard to get absorbed into this book – into the fairytale – but it just didn’t happen. I just wasn’t interested. The villain was so stupid. Not stupid in a bad way, but stupid in a this-is-so-not-believable way. Going as far to kidnap and turn a prince into a frog just so the princess will marry her son? I’m sorry, but that’s such a stupid reason to turn a prince into a frog . I’m all for the fantastical and magical element, but there needs to be a valid driving force for a villain to be... well... villainous. I seriously kept rolling my eyes whenever the villains would come back. I think my only favorite “sub-story” in the entire book was the sub-plot that was derived from “The Six Swans” (probably because it was my favorite fairytale as a kid).

Lastly, the main character, Johnny, downright pissed me off and made me want to bash myself in the head whenever he spoke or thought something. Since it was in 1^st person, that happened a lot. He made me sympathize with him at first: he’s poor, works hard for his money, and has to support his mom. While that’s great and all, it also made me draw up the conclusion that he would be humble. He was sooo opposite of humble. He kept looking down on people, even ones that helped him. He didn’t even consider the princess when she told him the truth, just deeming her as crazy (but hot). The way he adamantly refuses to believe her at first was so annoying – a bit of resistance would have been believable, but he totally didn’t even give her the benefit of the doubt. 

Also, Johnny makes some dumb decisions. And it wasn’t like it was in the making-dumb-decisions-at-first-but-progressing-as-the-story-goes-along-and-learning-from-them way. I don’t feel he grew as a character at all. The “love” he felt for Meg felt so forced and un-fairytale-like. He didn’t even give her a second glance for 95% of the book, but all of a sudden when another guy is in the picture, he’s suddenly in complete love with her. Um, okay I could believe that if he had prior feelings to her, but it just felt forced. Like he was treating Meg as a possession and only wanted her when he couldn't have her. I could not stand Johnny as a main character and it was hard to stomach reading in his perspective. He totally rubbed me the wrong way.

Cover Musings: This isn’t the cover I had, but I liked it more than the cover I had. The flowers have this ethereal glow to them that is so pretty. But my like for it pretty much ends there. I see no relevance it has to the story (unless the flowers are supposed to mean something?) and probably wouldn’t pick it up if I was casually browsing in a bookstore. =x

Memorable Quotes:

Staring into Victoriana’s eyes, she doesn’t seem to be the girl from the newspapers and the tabloids, the party girl who cares only about clothes and drinking. Instead, her eyes are sort of sad, like she feels trapped in her life, just as I am in mine. (pg. 12)

“I mean, no, we haven’t heard of this particular frog. But it’s possible we might find out about him. There’s a great deal of connectivity between transformed beings. I’m told there’s even an e-group, though my siblings and I haven’t been able to participate due to an unfortunate combination of lack of fingers and the fact that the desk clerk is online all night.” He gives the sleeping clerk a reproachful look. (pg. 72)

I pull the fabric back, close my eyes, and make what I hope is my last wish. “I wish I was outside, behind this building, not in the street, not underwater, hidden so I can’t be seen.”

An instant later, I’m in a garbage Dumpster. The cloak has a sick sense of humor, but no one will see me. (pg. 99-100)

Overall Thoughts/Final Comments: I suppose this book was okay, but it wasn’t horrible, either. The fantasy/fairytale-like element of the book was poorly done and it had no addicting factors whatsoever. I found myself at a loss while trying to write this review. It’s easy to talk about things I hate, or things I like. Cloaked had something I hated (Johnny), but barely anything I liked. So, for the first time since I started blogging, I was stumped when trying to write a review. Probably why it’s my shortest review yet. I also usually measure a book by its amount of memorable quotes, but Cloaked takes the cake for having the fewest least memorable quotes for a book I’ve read. I was disappointed by Cloaked a lot because a lot of people loved Flinn’s earlier work and swore up and down by her. I just didn’t see it in this book. Definitely a miss for me, but I’ll still try out her other books.

Rating: 2/5

**I received this ARC from Star Book Tours. Thank you Katelyn!