Are you supposed to root for the bad guy?

 Lakesedge by Lyndall Clipstone

Violeta wants to keep her brother safe.  So she has to keep his dark magic a secret.  But when the Lord of the land, Rowen, known as The Monster, finds out about it and wants to use his magic to break a curse she is not even sure who he needs protection from.  As they all work together Violeta realizes she may be the only one who has the power to break the curse.  But she may have to sacrifice everything to do it.

The story is dark and creepy.  I love the Lord Under.  He is sinister and evil but somehow still alluring.  The plot: the curse, the corruption, how it came about, and how they are going to fix it, along with the hints that you are going to find out a dark secret from Violeta's past, did keep my interest so I did want to get back to it every time I had to put it down.  But I don't like Violeta.  She is determined to save everyone whether they want it or not, in fact against their protests.  She keeps doing things she promised not to.  She keeps making decisions that affect everyone without consulting anyone.  She didn't come off as the selfless hero I think she was supposed to be and I didn't want her to be the hero of the story.  Although I was entertained the enjoyment was lessened because I spent much of the book wishing any other character was the protagonist.  I'm torn about reading the second book.  This one entertained me but it also irritated me a little.  But I have to admit that it did leave me wanting to know what happens next.