REVIEW: The Eleventh Hour by Aminah Fox

My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Harry Potter meets the Sopranos! Hampshire, a magical borough in upstate New York, home to several noble families, and invisible to mundanes, aka non-magical people. A long-brewing war between the families has reached its pinnacle and courted death and destruction in it's wake. In a last ditch attempt to save her father and restore order, Hermione Mandrake and her half-brother Christian take up their grandfather's time trinket, with a plan to steal away into the past in order to redirect the future. But with enemies still on their tail, can they truly turn back the hands of time?

When I first began reading, I had difficulty staying engaged. The characters, even the MC, felt a bit flat and one dimensional. And I had a hard time keeping all the different families straight, not to mention all the children (and bastards) Alfred Mandrake fathered. Fortunately, the latter was rectified by a family tree of sorts at the back of the book, and I eventually came to realize that it wasn't as important to remember ALL the families, just a few key ones, which began to stick with me after a little while. By about the 30% mark, I was sold and began to enjoy the ride. The story itself was unique and magical, and if you like the thought of magical mafia-like families, waging war with wands and on dragon-back, then you should really enjoy this.

I did feel a few inconsistencies with the MC Hermione however. For example, supposedly she was no good at charms, yet she bested several magicians trying to abduct her, often taking on 2 or 3 at a time, after just a week or so of training. I also never really warmed up to her that much. It was hard to grasp what she was really all about. The only real feel I got from her was her devotion to her father and her family, but she felt a bit shallow beyond that. Fortunately, once they traveled into the past and the action picked up, I forgot about some of those things and became invested in how everything played out.

Thank you to NetGalley and 22nd Light LLC for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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