Review: Redemption by Veronique Launier

Series: Hearts of Stone #1
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
To be published September 8, 2012 by Flux
Find the author: Website // Twitter
Find it:  Goodreads // Amazon UK
Rating: 3/5 Stars

Guillaume: For five hundred years I've existed as a gargoyle. Perched atop an old Montreal church, I've watched idly as humanity wanders by. With the witch Marguerite gone, there is no one left to protect, nothing to care about. I never planned to feel again. But then a girl released me from my stone restraints, allowing me to return as a seventeen-year-old human boy. I must find out all I can about this girl's power . . .
Aude: Getting attacked twice in as many days is strange in itself, but even stranger is the intriguing guy I keep running into. There's something so familiar about him, like a primal drum rhythm from my dreams. But spending time together only raises more questions--about my heritage, a native Mohawk prophecy . . . and an unearthly magic threatening our city... - Summary from Goodreads

My Review

When I discovered this book, I was super excited at the prospect of a paranormal romance involving gargoyles. I know we've all read vampires and werewolves, so it was nice to read something new. Redemption is an original addition to the world of Young Adult paranormal romance, even if it lacks a bit of finesse. 

This book alternates between Aude and Guillame's point of view, and I'm not certain if I enjoyed that. Looking back I think it's the best way to tell the story in order to get Guillame's back story, but I don't think I enjoyed the alternating POVs as much as other books I've read. Their voices weren't as distinct as I would have liked. On the other hand, I absolutely love this author's ability to set a scene. My favourite aspect of this book was the setting of Montreal and Veronique does an amazing job at making me want to visit! 

While I enjoyed reading this book, I feel like parts of it were underdeveloped, as if it just needed some oomph. I really wanted to like the characters, but I felt pretty apathetic about the side characters like Guillaume's companions. Perhaps they just needed some more memorable scenes or background stories. They have so much potential!

I'd recommend this book to anyone curious about a paranormal romance with gargoyles and like an alternating point of view. It's a fresh take on paranormal romance, albeit not gracefully executed. I'm not entirely convinced that I'll continue with the series.