Book Review: The Veil Diaries Book 1-7

Alexis Delaney moves in with her new guardian after being abused by her mother. She clicked on right away with the boys in school: Ethan, Isaac, Asher, Miles and Zeke.  But will they stay around when they find out that she can see ghosts and the rest of the extra baggage that comes with her ability?

I'm going to review this as a whole instead of per book since it will be hard to keep it spoiler-free. I was  ready to take a plunge with reverse harem books and I just picked the one with the highest scores in Goodreads not really caring what the plot is. To my dismay, it was with an abusive parent, highschool setting and slow burn...again. But wait...this time, the heroine is bad-ass and her relationships with them start with friendship which is refreshing from the books I read so far. 

The Ghost Bird series is one of the first reverse harem that I've read and been reading this like forever so I can't help compare it with other books with highschool setting. Particularly with the individual scents and special pet names for each pairing. It's not fair so I'm going to try to stop with the comparison. The Veil Diaries has its own brand of unpredictability and this book is going in a different direction from everything I complained about TGB.

It's unavoidable to have character stereotypes akin to anime or manga. In Western Fiction, there's the muscle type, the geeky guy, the twins and the boy-next-door.  And someone is always super rich. But the pet names also happens in anime/manga but is this going to be the thing now in books? And Lexi also fits the tag for anime/manga of nosebleed girl and red-haired heroine.

Overall, I like how the reverse harem did not happen overnight. My only problem is that in Book 6, when a reason came up why multiple relationships are critical I was not convinced. I also can't help to think reverse harem books or even manga/anime use the absentee parents in order to make the reverse harem work without nosy parents. In books, this is the third book I've read with an abusive parent already while the other three are orphans. In anime/manga, the parents are usually dead or are in hiding due to debt.

Even though they are character stereotypes there are background stories for each of the guys too. I still can't decide who I want. I equally love them all which is a first for a novel. Okay, I don't particularly like Zeke with his muscles and controlling behavior. Omg I just described my husband. LOL But I have a favorite scene/s for the rest of the guys. I enjoy the sticky situations she gets into like the guys stripping her...because she's freezing! Book 7 is going to be a new adult. So a warning to our younger readers here to maybe put this on the top of your To Be Read pile when you turn eighteen.

I loved Lexi well except for Book 2. Her sassiness needs to turn a notch lower. It makes me cringe and looking back throwing the phone in the pool was overkill. Lexi is also making me stressed when she's not taking care of herself.

The larger story is slowly brewing in the background which I don't mind. The focus is on establishing their relationships first. But by Book 6, the conflicts are now starting to become full force: their relationships and Veil-related.  The book surprised me of the paranormal twists. It became into a different series but not in a bad way.

Now thinking about it, I feel bad but much love for Lexi that she had to deal so much from her mother, ghosts, human, not-so-human antagonists and now the boys fighting with each other.  Even the boys have complicated family backgrounds. There is a trigger warning for Book 3 onwards.
I wish I could discuss more of the story arcs but the reason I avoided to do the per book review is for you to enjoy the series. I am pleased that their relationships which is much more believable versus on having insta-love with all. I appreciate their different and complicated personalities and how they fight and love each other at the same time.  And the paranormal element slowly builds up into a world where the possibilities are endless. I'll do a more in-depth review of future books. It is set for a total of 15 books. The current state of their relationships on the next book will be uncharted waters for me, I'm so afraid and excited at the same time.

And pet peeve: Why do book female protagonists keep on hiding their phones inside their bra? It's bulky and will give you radiation! I even run a poll on Facebook. Out of whopping 36 votes (haha) 12 said they do it as well and 24 said, no. I rest my case. Annnd burning question: Why is Rory so rich?  Never mind, I found the answer on offical Facebook club. Special mention for the best fan club! I'm a member of a few fan groups of reverse harem books and this is the nicest group with fun discussion and mind-blowing theories. Please join to check the POVs of the guys too.