'Banish' was a curious blend of magic and psychological thriller. But not the type of magic you'd read about in books like Harry Potter, but more the old-fashioned pagan rituals type of magic. If I'm totally honest, it's not the type of magic I read about often and I much prefer the other kind. But this book did have some merits to it. It was kind of unique in fact.
A lot of it had the same familiar feel of any paranormal romance book out there today, although I have to admit, the romance was pretty light and not the focal point of this mysterious novel. As I mentioned above, it had large parts of psychological thriller to it. Alyssa had to find out who was trying to screw with her head. Added to that was the pressures her family were putting on her.
Alyssa was a typical teenager in some ways. She goes to school, has a boyfriend and enjoys life. There were some things I definitely didn't like about her though. She was stubborn to the point of stupid and she knew how to hold a grudge. I can definitely understand why she was like that, but it just carried on too far. Gosh, I just realized something as I was writing this, I wanted to point out some of her good qualities and I can't think of any. Her determination? I don't even know if I would class that as a good trait.
There were no secondary characters that stood out for me either, not even Ronan, who should have. Although, I did like him. He was supportive and a stabling influence on Alyssa. At times I struggled to keep reading 'Banish', but I continued because I wanted to find out what happened next.
Most of the problem I had with this book was that I didn't like the writing style. I think it was a case of this not being my type of book. I like this kind of genre, but I just didn't like the way it was executed. I didn't connect with the characters or story line at all. Other people have and will adore this book and despite the fact that I really wanted to like 'Banish', I'm afraid I'm not one of them. But, despite my dislike for this book, I would recommend it to others to try. There's nothing in 'Banish' that I'm rabidly opposed to, it just wasn't my type of book.
Now for my rating:- one out of five stars
