this was a really unique read of a leprechaun story. I loved the use of magic and the other characters, I enjoyed going on this journey and had a lot of fun reading this. I enjoyed reading this and look forward to more from the author.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Clover in exchange for an honest review.

Clover spends the first 18 years of her life as a normal, if not extremely lucky girl. Or so she thinks. Unbeknownst to her, her now incarcerated father made a deal granting her 18 years of good luck granted at the hands of leprechaun guardian named Finn who's been tasked with watching over her. When Clover reaches her 18th birthday and the deal is coming to a close, Finn releases that the deal he was helping carry out may have been more sinister than he previously thought and does the unthinkable by revealing himself to Clover in an attempt to keep her safe.

This was all in all, a fun, unique take on your standard 'normal girl thrown into Faerie' story. The emphasis on leprechauns made it stand out from other similar stories in the genre and I liked the way the narrative was structured.

I get age gaps are kind of a given in the paranormal/magical-creature romance genre, but something about Finn having literally watched Clover grow up made me a tad uncomfy. I can normally suspend my disbelief and buy into the 'the fae age different so its not predatory!' but Finn originally falls for Clover through watching her grow up which obviously felt paternal so it shifting to romantic felt extra icky to me.

Clover
by Nicole Kilpatrick
Melange Books
Fire & Ice Young Adult Books
Sci Fi & Fantasy | Teens & YA
Pub Date 1 Dec 2020 | Archive Date 5 Dec 2020

I opened this book with high expectations. I thought it was an original concept, never been done before, and therefore the field was open to anything. However, when I started reading it, I was immediately disappointed. The language and sentence structure were both juvenile and more suitable to middle-grade fiction, rather than young adult. But then, the subject matter and certain terminology such as “pissing contest” firmly shows its intention to be put it in the YA/NA categories.

The use of clichéd terms and overused phrases make the book laborious to read. Furthermore, the author seems to have the need to clearly state all the specific details that are happening, rather than utilizing allusion and trusting that the audience can infer her meaning. I understand that this is the author’s debut book and that there is still time before release day. My aim here is neither to be mean or to ridicule, but to rather offer constructive criticism in hopes that changes can be made in time to help make this book the success that we all want it to be. Furthermore, this review will not be published on any public site, as I do not want to give the book a bad score before alterations could possibly be completed.

These are the type of things that I would try to change or take out:
- “tad bit”
- Repeated use of “every”: everyone, everything,
- “greenest eyes he’d ever seen”
- “extremely good-looking”
- “talking in riddles”
- “What did he have to lose?”
- “deathly quiet”
- “cat that swallowed the canary”

And that was unfortunately only in the first 2 – 3% of the book. Due to this, I have decided that Clover is going to be a DNF for me at this moment. However, I would be happy to review the book again if changes are made.

So initially what intrigued me about Clover was the synopsis. That in this interpretation leprechauns were more like high Fae. Overall the entire plot line was very interesting, it could have used a bit more character development for my personal taste. Overall a very original story and was enjoyable especially for an Irish descendant like myself. It could use a few tweaks, one being a cover upgrade in my opinion.