GtPGKogPYT4p61R1biicqBXsUzo" /> Google+ Book Review: Westwood University (Westwood Chronicles Book 1) by Alexandria James + giveaway | I Smell Sheep

Sunday, May 23, 2021

Book Review: Westwood University (Westwood Chronicles Book 1) by Alexandria James + giveaway

Westwood University (
Westwood Chronicles Book 1)
by Alexandria James
April 29, 2021
325 pages
Genre: New Adult Paranormal Fantasy Romance
I needed a change. A break from life In my hometown where I am forced to watch those around me have their lives come together, while mine—mine just stays the same.

Little did I know that my acceptance to Westwood University, in the mountains of Western North Carolina, would change my life forever.

It started off wonderful, until I found out that the campus was supposedly haunted. I made a stupid choice, ringing a bell that they said would open the gates of hell and inducing chaos.

Everyone hated me. Everyone told me to go home. Except for him.

I never expected to fall in love. Up until now I was sure that the supernatural didn’t exist. But he wasn’t human and I wasn’t crazy....

Ezlynn decides to leave her home in Florida to attend grad school at Westwood University in North Carolina. Once she arrives, she learns via a Google search that the university is considered the most haunted university in North Carolina. She doesn’t believe in ghosts and the supernatural, so during a campus tour, she rings the sacred bell said to open the gates to hell. The last time the bell sounded was 1873, and the town was almost completely slaughtered by demons.

After becoming an even bigger outsider than before, she befriends Phoenix, a good-looking, mysterious male student who has a secret. They get closer as the semester goes along, and he seems to become a guardian of sorts to her.

Okay, so Ezlynn rings the bell at the beginning of the semester. After the professor had hyped up the slaughter the demons had caused their last time around, I was expecting all sorts of bloodshed and chaos. But nada. I read on, thinking maybe the demons were in hell warming up and doing stretches since it’d been so long since they’d been released. No one likes pulling a muscle. Spoiler Alert: the demons never really show up. There is no terror and destruction.

This is basically a girl-meets-boy, girl-falls-for-boy, boy-is-not-human, we-shouldn’t-be-together-but-can’t-help-falling-in-love story. It’s been done much better in other books. Ezlynn and Phoenix come off as selfish and whiney through most of the story, and it was hard to get through at times. I should also state there’s a scene in the book that comes off like a sexual assault between the main characters, and I think it could have been handled in a much better way,

This is touted as book 1 of the Westwood Chronicles, and I don’t think I’ll be in a hurry to read anymore. I’m still waiting for the damn demons.

I give this book 3 sheep out of 5 because it was kind of amusing at the beginning.





RJ Lowe


Excerpt:
I’ve never believed in the supernatural. Ghosts, werewolves, vampires, zombies all make for good television. But none of it is real life.

My dad always said I was an old soul. Until I turned twelve and had a lapse in judgment, becoming friends with a couple of Twihards—girls who are obsessed with vampire books and want to die by being bitten. I secretly read the book series too, but I was always team Jacob.

I’ve spent the better half of my life on a mission to become a biochemist and had no room for fluff or love triangles. My long-term goal is to find a cure for breast cancer, so that no one else will have to lose their mother at fourteen—like I did.

So, when I finally found a grad school that met the criteria I was looking for, I immediately applied and got in... just to get kicked off the campus tour for mocking their belief in an absurd legend. I rang a bell, big freaking deal.

Little did I know that that bell would alter the course of my life forever. My name is Ezlynn Mitchell, and this is the story of how one bad decision made me believe in the supernatural and love.

About the Author
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Alexandria James was born in California, but raised all over the US due to being a child of the military. She loves to laugh, sing and write-- when not spending precious time with her family. Alexandria lives in South Florida with her husband and two sons.


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2 comments:

  1. Nice cover and I liked the excerpt. Looking forward to reading.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like the cover and the blurb. thanks for the excerpt.

    ReplyDelete