Review: First Visions by Heather Topham Wood (and Giveaway)

From Goodreads: Two years ago, 21-year-old Kate Edwards became deathly ill and slipped into a coma. While unconscious, she crept into the mind of a missing boy and awoke with the knowledge of his location. Friends and family were skeptical and wary of her new ability to see into the minds of others. Their fears prompted Kate to keep her psychic powers a secret. Feeling alienated, she dropped out of college and spent most of her days holed up at her mother’s home. Now another child has been abducted. Police detective Jared Corbett seeks out Kate for her help in solving the case. Reluctantly, Kate agrees and they must work together to bring 8-year-old Cori Preston home to her family. Although attracted to one another, Jared has a girlfriend with ties to the abduction case and Kate is sarcastic and guarded since her coma. With visions she can’t control and an uncontrollable attraction to the detective, she wonders if she can leave the past behind and finally stop hiding from the world. Otherwise, Cori may be lost forever.

My Rating: 3.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: For a self-published novel, Heather Topham Wood’s First Visions was a well-written mystery. The book, however, lost some stars when it came to the main character of Kate and the romance.

After contracting meningitis, Kate emerges out of a coma with a vision about an abduction case. Having seen her family’s and friends’ reactions to her newfound ability, Kate now pretends that she can no longer see visions of people’s past. Hiding her true self though has led to Kate becoming very defensive and being more or less a loner. When Jared shows up on her doorstep asking for assistance with his case, Kate initially continues the charade, but is eventually convinced by her mother to help.

Jared was a nice guy, and I thought he and Kate would have made good friends. But, the romantic tension between them felt very forced to me. I mean, how convenient that the first guy Kate started to fall for after becoming a psychic also happened to have an eccentric aunt who brought him up and therefore was very open to ideas like people being psychic. Of course he got bonus points for being attractive and a good listener.

Another reason I wasn’t a fan of the romance was because Kate just seemed so immature in comparison to Jared. For example, Kate crosses professional boundaries soon after meeting Jared by Googling his address and showing up at his apartment after a fight with her mom. Later in the book, she gets him to pick her up from a club and tries to seduce him while drunk.

Finally, I didn’t like the romance because I didn’t approve of Kate going after a guy that was already taken (even if he was sending some mixed signals). I think Wood tried her best to convince readers that Kate was the better option for Jared, but she unfortunately did so by depicting Nikki as a stereotypical mean girl.

The relationship I did like however was that of Kate and her mother. It was just so normal, and I liked how close they were with each other.

First Visions was released in April 2012 by CreateSpace. 

Comments About the Cover: It kind of screams “self-published” and doesn’t really relate to the story.

In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the author for free via Xpresso Book Tours. 

First Visions can be bought from: [Amazon] [Barnes and Noble] [Book Depository]

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mini Reviews: Settling by Shelley Workinger and Shattered Dreams by Ellie James

From Goodreads: At the beginning of the summer, Clio Kaid was one of a hundred teens brought to a secret Army installation. But it was no ordinary camp and they weren’t ordinary kids ... Picking up where “Solid” left off, Clio and her friends realize that they aren’t ready to go home; they’re determined to stay on campus and continue their journey of self- discovery. But someone doesn’t feel the same way and will do anything to drive them away – even kill. Friendships will be tested, abilities will evolve, and more secrets will come out as the teens race to stop the killer before he sets his sights on one of them ...

My Rating: 2.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Shelley Workinger’s Settling, the sequel to Solid, was really hard to get into. I thought the pacing was extremely slow (though it did pick up a little near the end), and found the ending to be kind of abrupt. Also, it continues to be hard to get emotionally attached to the characters, and this was especially the case with the main character, Clio, who was moody and kept pushing away her friends. Even though there was a reason for this (and it was nice to learn a little more about Clio’s abilities), it made the plot sort of drag along. Moreover, the book still only gives you a rough idea of what Clio and her friends are capable of doing. Ultimately, Settling has the same issues that I found with Solid – and this time the story just wasn’t as interesting.

Settling was released in July 2011 by CreateSpace.

Comments About the Cover: It’s not as nice as Solid’s, but I like that it hints at the climax of the book.

This ebook was received from the author in exchange for an honest review. 

..........................................................................................................................

From Goodreads: Sixteen-year-old Trinity Monsour wants nothing more than to live a normal life. But that isn’t as easy as it seems. Trinity is different. She is special. She sees visions, and for those she’s seen, it’s already too late. Trinity arrives on her aunt’s doorstep in New Orleans with virtually no knowledge of her mysterious heritage. She begins settling into life at a new school and even starts making friends. But all too quickly her dreams accelerate; twisted, terrifying visions of a girl locked in a dark room. And when the head cheerleader, Jessica, goes missing, Trinity knows she has no choice but to step forward with what she’s seen. But people believe that Trinity has information about Jessica’s disappearance not because of a dream, but because she is involved. She is kind-of dating Jessica’s ex-boyfriend, Chase, and Jessica did pull a nasty prank on Trinity. Revenge seems like the likeliest scenario. Nothing prepares Trinity for the dark odyssey that ensues while searching for Jessica, including the surprising romance she finds with Chase, or the shocking truths she learns, not just about the girl who has gone missing, but the past that has been hidden from her. 

My Rating: 1 heart 

Thoughts on the Novel: After reading Shattered Dreams by Ellie James, my main thought was, “Why the heck did I finish this book?!” Although the novel starts off promisingly with a group of teenagers sneaking into an abandoned house to play Truth or Dare and Trinity, the protagonist, getting a few terrifying visions, the plot soon fell apart. I had literally no idea what was going on the entire time, and much like Trinity, couldn’t tell the difference between what was a vision/dream and what was reality – a feeling I very much disliked. As well, the ending was pretty much impossible to guess – it’s unpredictable even in hindsight – and no motive at all is provided for the person doing what he did.

On top of that, the characters were hard to like or care about – I read the book yesterday and had to look up the main character’s name in order to write this review – and the same can be said about the romance. Oh, and the latter half of the book suggests that there might be a possible love triangle in the future.

Shattered Dreams was released by St. Martin’s Griffin on December 6, 2011.

Comments About the Cover: The cover doesn’t exactly match the darker feel of the story.

In exchange for an honest review, this ARC was received from the publisher (St. Martin's Griffin) for free via NetGalley.

Review: Solid by Shelley Workinger

From Goodreads: Teens who discover they were secretly genetically altered before birth are brought together at a classified site where they forge new friendships, find love, develop "super-abilities," and even unearth a conspiracy.

My Rating: 3.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Solid by Shelley Workinger was a quick read with a good cast of characters and an interesting plot.

As someone who is in the science stream, Workinger’s explanation for her characters’ superpowers made sense without making me annoyed for being too simplistic. At the same time, those who know absolutely nothing about genetics will still be able to understand what has transpired without feeling like they’re being overloaded with scientific information.

Workinger’s characters – even Miranda once you get to know her – were likeable enough, but I never got fully attached to them. I think part of the reason may be because as a reader, you don’t know exactly what they’re capable of since Clio, the main character, and her friends are still trying to figure it out themselves. So, they pretty much acted like typical teens (except sometimes the dialogue made them seem older) when I was expecting them to do amazing things.

This also led to the expectation that there would be a lot of action. However, Solid focused more on character development, with Clio discovering things about herself and making new friends with whom she felt comfortable with. Even when there could have been the potential for some action, the conflict was resolved a little too easily.

Despite its issues, I still liked Solid. I think if it had been longer, some of my expectations could have been met; and hopefully that’s going to be the case in Settling, the sequel to Solid.

Solid was released in July 2010 by CreateSpace.

Comments About the Cover: I like it. The bright chromosome caught my eye and the way the purple is used also makes the font stand out.

This ebook was received from the author in exchange for an honest review. 

Review: Happy Birthday to Me by Brian Rowe

From Goodreads: Seventeen-year-old Cameron Martin has a huge problem: he’s aging a whole year of his life with each passing day! High school is hard enough; imagine rapidly aging from seventeen to seventy in a matter of weeks, with no logical explanation, and with prom, graduation, and the state championship basketball game all on the horizon. That’s what happens to Cameron, a popular pretty boy who's never had to face a day looking anything but perfect. All Cameron wants to do is go back to normal, but no one, not even the best doctors, can diagnose his condition. When he finds love with a mysterious young woman, however, he realizes his only hope for survival might be with the one person who started his condition in the first place ...

My Rating: 3 hearts

***Warning: There may be a few spoilers in my review.***

Thoughts on the Novel: Reading Brian Rowe’s Happy Birthday to Me reminded me of Alex Flinn’s Beastly, a novel I read several years ago. Both books have handsome boys as their protagonists who are then put under a spell to lose their beauty so that they can learn to treat others with respect and become less self-absorbed.

I don’t remember now how I felt about Kyle from Beastly, but I do know that I grew to like Cameron as a character. His change was believable, and he had a great voice in spite of a tendency to be a bit too descriptive with things.

I also liked learning that there is an actual medical condition where symptoms of aging appear at an early age. I’d never heard of Progeria syndrome so it was really interesting to read a bit about it.

What I didn’t like so much about Happy Birthday to Me was its rushed ending. Throughout most of the book, Cameron seems to think that he has some kind of a disease without a cure whereas I found it quite obvious that someone had cast a spell on him and knew exactly who that person was. Then, almost out of nowhere, this person admits what they did and tries to reverse the spell. It just made no sense to me nor was it explained why only this one seemingly ordinary person has magical powers.

Happy Birthday to Me was released in April 2011 by CreateSpace.  

Comments About the Cover: The cover is cute but I feel like it’s a bit too cheery considering the premise of the novel. 

This ebook was received from the author in exchange for an honest review.