No More Booklikes, BYE

2.5 stars
Mermaids, Irish Folklore, Magical Arts, Teen Drama and Ireland. How could I not give this book a shot ? I'm glad I did, I see an author to watch here. There were flaws, but there was something alluring too. The story was interesting, the beginning started strong, with mysterious events, people, magic and a new location. The author spent a lot of time researching and detailing mythological stories to give us a history behind the beings involved. The imagery was well written and easily visualized. I was sitting on the edge of my seat when the first part ended. Sadly, I did not have the same felling through the second part.
The second part of the story dragged long and slow for me. it was over filled with detailing of these myths and magics, all dry and too long. I felt like I was reading a school text through some of it. The characters just went flat for me, they seemed very stereotypical in their teen roles. The mean girl, was a cut out replica from other books. The MC was emotionally stoic when we were to feel something for her character, then she'd be enthusiastic at odd times. Oh and she withheld information because it wasn't the right time to bring it up ? Oh I really hate that, it's a life or death situation and a character decides to talk about it later after dinner or party or...There was a stabbing that was just left out there, dead bodies with strangeness all around that was barely talked about. It was frustraiting, I felt like the author got lost in the story trying to check off all the must haves in a young adult read. Hot guys-check, Hot girls- check, Love triangle- check, Dead parents- check, Mary Sue MC- check, School bullies-check, Unfair teacher- check, Clothing drama-check, Feeling of inadequacy-check, Super duper powerful MC-check.
I am not sure if I want to read more in this series. I see talent but it need tuning, an editor, and some good beta readers.