ARC Review: Weather Witch (Weather Witch #1) by Shannon Delany

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: June 25, 2013
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
336 Pages

In a vastly different and darker Philadelphia of 1844, steam power has been repressed, war threatens from deep, dark waters, and one young lady of high social standing is expecting a surprise at her seventeenth birthday party–but certainly not the one she gets!

Jordan Astraea, who has lived out all of her life in Philadelphia’s most exclusive neighborhood, is preparing to celebrate her birthday with friends, family and all the extravagance they might muster. The young man who is most often her dashing companion, Rowen Burchette, has told her a surprise awaits her and her best friend, Catrina Hollindale, wouldn’t miss this night for all the world!

But storm clouds are gathering and threatening to do far more than dampen her party plans because someone in the Astraea household has committed the greatest of social sins by Harboring a Weather Witch.

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Weather Witch plays off a great idea, but dragged was through the dirt and never able to clean itself up. Disappointment doesn't accurately explain my frustration towards this book. There was so much potential and it has a fabulous cover that would catch anyone's eye--too bad what's inside the book didn't take the hint and shape up

Questions that shouldn't need to be asked after finishing a book when the title of said book is Weather Witch: "What the heck is a weather witch?" A full 336 pages of nonsense and I still have absolutely no idea. I don't understand why they are so bad. I don't understand what they do. I don't understand how they do it. Apparently, I'm not the only one slamming my head into a wall from frustration. It's so strange that we are left knowing basically nothing about anything, but the author suffers from severe info-dumpage. How can you tell so much information and then not get to the basics of your book's background? So many questions were left unanswered.

I honestly can't even give you an accurate description of the story because I am still trying to figure out what exactly I read. Nothing about Weather Witch made any sense. It was awkward and chaotic, making it a less than satisfying read.

I was warned by my friend, Renae's updates as she read and her review after she didn't finish the book, but threw caution to the wind and pick it up. I should've paid heed to her advice because she was right. This book is bad. It had the makings of a remarkable and unique story, but ended up being a major letdown and rage inducing one. This book was like a train wreck--exponentially awful, but almost impossible to look away from. Though I was exasperated by more than half of what I read, I couldn't stop reading. That's why this gets two stars instead of one.

Other major issues I had with the book: 

- None of these characters are well written. They are all shallow and annoying and deserve to be kicked.

- There were waaaaay too many point-of-view switches. They weren't even handled well. It was extremely unorganized and disjointed. There was no way to tell who you were going to read about next.

- The world-building was awful. The setting is supposed to be a steampunk-ish version of mid-nineteenth century Philedelphia, but I only know that because of the summary. Plus, the explanation of the contraptions and inventions was abysmal.

- The author made every single adjective, noun and verb a proper noun. There were "Makers" and you could be "Burned Out" or you were a "Tester." I swear, more words in this story were capitalized than lowercase and the reason for that is never really explanation. I made a notation in the very beginning that I would be driven insane by this and I almost was! It was so obnoxious and over-the-top.

- The parts that were understandable were predictable. If you gave me a list of the characters and who they were to the story, I could've told you who died and who was a villain. There were no surprises.

- The characters lacked depth. I felt pity of none of them. They seemed to serve no purpose but to get on my nerves.

- The plot. The entire plot was a jumbled mess. There was no structure. I have no idea what happened. There were so many things going on at one time, and so many characters to keep track of, that the point of the book got lost in the mess.

I don't recommend this book--unless you are in the mood to be confused and angry, then have at it! This is the second book that I've read by Delany and the second one I have not enjoy. It's safe to say I probably won't continue this series, or read any more of the author's work. I'm just not impressed.

I received an e-copy of this novel from the publisher for my honest opinion and review via Netgalley.