Rating: 3 stars
Synopsis: While on holiday in Montana, Hope meets ranch-boy Cal Crow. Caught in an accident, the two of them take shelter in a mountain cabin where Hope makes a strange discovery, More than a hundred years earlier, another English girl met a similar fate. Her rescuer: a rugged horse-trader called Nate. In this wild place, both girls learn what it means to survive and to fall in love, neither knowing that their destinies are intimately entwined.
Review: I really wanted to like this book. I read Lucy's debut novel City of Halves in 2015 and I absolutely loved it, so I had high expectations for this book. And, I was a little disappointed with it. City of Halves had me gripped from the very beginning - it is very similar to The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare with the supernatural beings hiding in London, but there are differences (my review of City of Halves is ) - there was so much action in City of Halves that I was hooked from start to finish. This book, while it did have action in it's own way, didn't really deliver for me.
Now, I often find that books like this; where two stories from two different time periods link together in the present day, are usually disappointing. The author has two different main characters, two different worlds, a whole extra cast of characters to develop and one story always seems to be less developed than the other, and this book was no different. Unusually, I thought the modern day story of Hope and Cal was more underdeveloped than Emily and Nate's, which is the opposite to what I normally find.
I found Hope and Cal's story quite boring and a little tame. All the characters in the modern day world seemed really underdeveloped and I didn't buy in to any of the relationships. I was really disappointed with Hope though. As our modern day protagonist, I wanted her to be strong and independent, like Emily became in her story and this just didn't seem to happen. I spent the whole book waiting for her to become the protagonist I wanted her to be and she didn't. When Hope and Cal were in the cabin, Cal did pretty much everything. I was kind of waiting for Hope to offer to collect firewood or do something other than read Emily's journal and it annoyed me that she didn't, and that it was left to Cal.
Cal as well, although more capable than Hope, had an almost stereotypical sob story of a history. I wanted Lucy to change things up with him and add a twist to the tale, something I wouldn't have expected but, his story was quite predictable to me and, again, he seemed underdeveloped.
While I didn't enjoy Hope and Cal's story, I loved Emily and Nate's story. I would have loved a whole book dedicated purely to them and their relationship. It was so interesting to see in to this world of a newly formed Montana, with the Indians and the forming of lifelong enemies. I loved that Nate pushed Emily to become strong and capable, who could ride a horse like a man, who could hunt like a man. One of my favourite little moments was the transition of Emily not being able to bake bread to her learning to do it. Of seeing how sheltered her life was and how Nate helped her to survive. I adored every aspect of their story and, while I hated how it ended, I really liked how Lucy had given Emily the strength to go on and carry on and make a name for herself and, in the end, her and Nate really were forever - Emily made sure of that.
In all, I did enjoy this book and, despite everything this wasn't the worst book of this type that I've ever read - it was definitely saved by Emily and Nate's story and I would have preferred it if the book was simply based on their story, and cut Hope and Cal and the whole modern day aspect out of it entirely. Out of her two books, City of Halves was definitely the better of the two in my opinion and is a book that I love to reread, whereas Crow Mountain is a book I don't think I'd pick up again, despite my love of Emily and Nate.
Now, I often find that books like this; where two stories from two different time periods link together in the present day, are usually disappointing. The author has two different main characters, two different worlds, a whole extra cast of characters to develop and one story always seems to be less developed than the other, and this book was no different. Unusually, I thought the modern day story of Hope and Cal was more underdeveloped than Emily and Nate's, which is the opposite to what I normally find.
I found Hope and Cal's story quite boring and a little tame. All the characters in the modern day world seemed really underdeveloped and I didn't buy in to any of the relationships. I was really disappointed with Hope though. As our modern day protagonist, I wanted her to be strong and independent, like Emily became in her story and this just didn't seem to happen. I spent the whole book waiting for her to become the protagonist I wanted her to be and she didn't. When Hope and Cal were in the cabin, Cal did pretty much everything. I was kind of waiting for Hope to offer to collect firewood or do something other than read Emily's journal and it annoyed me that she didn't, and that it was left to Cal.
Cal as well, although more capable than Hope, had an almost stereotypical sob story of a history. I wanted Lucy to change things up with him and add a twist to the tale, something I wouldn't have expected but, his story was quite predictable to me and, again, he seemed underdeveloped.
While I didn't enjoy Hope and Cal's story, I loved Emily and Nate's story. I would have loved a whole book dedicated purely to them and their relationship. It was so interesting to see in to this world of a newly formed Montana, with the Indians and the forming of lifelong enemies. I loved that Nate pushed Emily to become strong and capable, who could ride a horse like a man, who could hunt like a man. One of my favourite little moments was the transition of Emily not being able to bake bread to her learning to do it. Of seeing how sheltered her life was and how Nate helped her to survive. I adored every aspect of their story and, while I hated how it ended, I really liked how Lucy had given Emily the strength to go on and carry on and make a name for herself and, in the end, her and Nate really were forever - Emily made sure of that.
In all, I did enjoy this book and, despite everything this wasn't the worst book of this type that I've ever read - it was definitely saved by Emily and Nate's story and I would have preferred it if the book was simply based on their story, and cut Hope and Cal and the whole modern day aspect out of it entirely. Out of her two books, City of Halves was definitely the better of the two in my opinion and is a book that I love to reread, whereas Crow Mountain is a book I don't think I'd pick up again, despite my love of Emily and Nate.
