Book Review: Lock and Key By Evangeline Anderson

Lock and Key
(Nocturne Academy #1)
By Evangeline Anderson

What do a mysterious necklace, forbidden Blood Magic rituals, and a sarcastic Nocturne boy with the face of a fallen angel all have in common?

Me, apparently.

Since I started school at Nocturne Academy, strange happenings have befallen me. The weird key-shaped necklace I found at a flea market chokes me every time I try to take it off. Also, a tall, beautiful, and bitingly sarcastic Nocturne has the lock that matches it.

His name is Griffin Darkheart, and—like this freaking necklace—I can't seem to stay away from him, though he's being Censured for mysterious crimes. Among a student body composed of vampires, witches, were-dragons, and fairies, I no longer know what my future holds.

To heck with graduating with honors. I'm just hoping to graduate alive. Nocturne Academy is full of deadly dangers.

And I've already got a target on my back...

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Check Out The Other Books In This Series:
(Linked to my review)

My Review:

*Everything in red is a spoiler.

*Trigger warning: This novel mentions and goes into detail about cutting.*

This book was a journey that started out frustrating and ended with a bang! I'm so glad I pushed through because I would have missed out on a fantastic story.

Megan had a not so great life after the death of a family member and eventually getting passed onto her aunt didn't help where she was at mentally. I found her naiveté and her denseness very frustrating in the beginning of the novel but it was understandable to a degree. It didn't help things when her classes didn't answer any questions outright and no adult would inform her of what her situation with magic was. It took over 10 chapters for information to start floating in and even then it was a very slow trickle. She also ended up being this all-powerful witch that didn't require training and that kind of bothered me a little towards the end.

Griffin was great overall, though the way Megan dismissed why he was in the circumstances that he was in was troublesome, to say the least. He was overall a sarcastic and lovable guy with a dark and protective streak that would pop up here and there. I liked how communicative he was with Megan after things got serious between them. Though his age was never confirmed it made me feel kind of icky when Megan confirmed she was only 16 and I didn't know how much older he was than her.

Now onto what bothered me throughout this story: The overall pacing. This novel started off slower than I usually like. It took over 20 chapters to finish her first day at this new school. There were things that were mentioned with detail that didn't necessarily have to be there. There were moments when things got-going and they were fantastic until everything slowed down again. I understand this issue is a personal preference of mine but I can't help how it detracted from the story for me. Also having a glossary of terms would have been very helpful throughout the book.

The ending tied everything together and it was incredible! It was action-packed, fast-paced and magical *wink wink*. It made everything the author had set up in chapters past worth it. It also set up the next novel for this series which I'm still on the fence about. 

My Favorite Quotes:

"People are so impressionable, they can die of imagination."

"Nobody can make you feel inferior unless you let them."

"And I wish, most of all, to protect you, no matter the consequences."

My Rating: