Branches

by Tatiana Carey

Lavender Amos came to Branches for answers. For better or for worse, she found them. A mysterious boy, her tribe, and a crazed murderer would all lead her to the truth.
A tale of vampires, werewolves, and family.

171 pages, Paperback

Published September 4, 2023

Reviews

[Caleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like it. The characters are well thought out, and the story feels whole; by the end of the story most storylines are wrapped up, but the author left some loose ends so to create some intrigue for future books. If I had to give a short pitch for this story it would be, "Twilight if everyone wasn't so toxic." I also love how unhinged the characters are. Threatening to sleep with your daughter's boyfriend's parents if he hurts her is such a power move. I know three stars makes it seem like I don't like this story, but I do. I just think there's some room for improvement. A lot of the issues I noticed weren't major enough to really talk about in detail, the main issue is just the structure of the writing. At times it feels like we're going in circles in terms of what happens. A lot of the character development was a little on the nose. I think the most unrealistic part about the characters are how self-aware a lot of them are. The good news is that a lot of the characters have solid arcs and you can tell that they were well thought out. I feel bad for saying this, as the author is a very lovely person and she is a great writer. However, I feel like I need to say these things because I am also a writer and I wouldn't want anyone to lie to me about aspects of my story that they felt were off. I would still highly recommend this read, though! Especially if you liked Twilight but were uncomfortable with the creepy behaviors and wanted more representation. I was really glad to see biracial and same-sex couples in this story. Side note; I'm currently working a found-family type of story and this story gave me some really good ideas on how to approach it! I hope the author keeps writing because she has a talent, and if she ever releases another story I will be the first in line to buy it.

[Ren V. Gore · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I’d been reading through the book, my rating jumped a lot back and forth between a 2 and a 3. Now that I’ve finished, I’ve settled on an overall 2.5, but will be listing the rating as a 3 as I don’t want to put a bad mark on the author’s name.

I’ve been following Mx. Carey for a few years now- long before this book was published- and I’ve been a fan of their content ever since! From character analyses, fandom retrospectives, to general creative writing ideas, it’s very obvious that they have a gift in storytelling. So when I heard of their Twilight rewrite, I was so excited to read it!

I’d never been a big fan of the original series- never read the books, but have unfortunately sat through all of the painfully boring movies- but the impact it’s had on 2000s alt culture fascinates me, so I was all for a new version without the boring sparkling vampires and the weird racist pedophilic werewolves.

But unfortunately, a diverse cast can only carry a story so far. And I’m sad to say I was let down by this.

Don’t get me wrong, the ideas are all there! Just like in their videos, Carey is great at creating the base concepts of a story and the relationships between characters. Which is why the book ended up being so frustrating to me, because outside of those base concepts, there isn’t really much else.

I would’ve loved to see a real buildup to Lavender and Silas’ relationship. For Silas to have been more mysterious and withdrawn and slowly open up to Lavender. I would’ve loved for there to be more mystery in general. For reveals to have had meaning, for certain moments to have had weight. To really read and Feel the characters’ emotions and reactions to the things happening around them. For the characters to have flaws and be less self aware- especially considering this is a story that’s meant to take place in 2006.

In the end, outside of a few good dialogue moments, the story and relationships felt shallow and 2 dimensional. Which sucks, because I Know the author cares about their work! I just can’t feel the same love for it. But I really really wanted to.

None of this is to say the book was Bad, however! It just… wasn’t for me. Which made me sad. It might’ve been something I loved when I was 13- and maybe that’s the target audience, I’m not sure. But I was really expecting more depth and maturity.

I also think it could’ve worked much better as a graphic novel- maybe then I wouldn’t feel like the story lacked without the characters’ inner dialogue. But I know those are more difficult to make than books.

I don’t know. It’s just some things I feel Mx. Carey can work on for the future installments, or any other novel they plan to write- as I know this is only a debut novel. I unfortunately won’t be reading them though. I really had to fight to be engaged with this one, and didn’t like much until the last 30 pages. I’m sure there’s an audience that’ll love this. It’s just not me.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I really enjoyed this! At times, it was a bit confusing to keep the perspective straight, and I would've preferred a *little* more slowburn when it comes to the relationship, but all in all this was lovely :)