Author: S.J. Pierce
Publication Date: April 1st, 2014
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Recommended for readers 16 and up due to mature content.
Blurb:
"My mom had always told me - when you meet "the one", you'll know; they'll captivate your heart the moment you lay eyes on them. I had always wondered, though, if my mom's words of wisdom were finite - if they applied to everyone. Maybe those who had found their one great love were the lucky few, and maybe the rest of us would have to settle for less than earth-shattering."
Seventeen-year-old Kat Walsh is a Gifted - a human with paranormal abilities. With her mom a former Angel and her dad a dream prophet, it's always been in her genetic make-up to be extraordinary. But, unfortunately for her, the world can't handle the strange or unusual. So when she slips up and uses her powers at her high school in Ireland, the entire student body treats her like a freak - even the ones she thought were her closest friends.
Broken, but hopeful for a fresh start, she allows her parents to enroll her in a boarding school buried deep within the forests of a small Colorado town. At Midland Pines, School for the Gifted, she feels as though she can finally be herself; she makes new friends and even has the attention of the most popular guy in school - Levi. Everything feels normal again...or does it?
Not long after her arrival, weird dreams of an alluring boy whom she's never met surface during the night, and the eerie, shadowy trees encircling their school seem to call to her. As these disturbing, yet enticing developments intensify, other bizarre occurrences happen - students and staff turn up missing, and mystery visitors leave gifts while she sleeps. With all of these other things fighting for her attention, a desperate Levi has to fight even harder to keep her interest. But with the dreams of the attractive boy slowly captivating her heart, Kat has to make a choice - will she settle for 'great' Levi, or will she search for her elusive dream visitor, possibly stumbling across 'amazing'?
From the author of the Alyx Rayer Chronicles comes a refreshingly different Young Adult series with plenty of love, suspense, and a new take on the Paranormal.
Kayla's Thoughts:
The beginning of this book starts out with the same premise that a lot of Paranormal books that I have read start out with. You have a girl who feels somewhat lost in the world, something happens that separates her from the world, or at least the "norm", and she feels even more like that freak that she believes herself to be, and then a wonderful opportunity happens, allowing her to set things in motion for her true destiny to be revealed. Now, just because I say this is the premise of most that I have read does not mean that it is entirely similar. Books can start the same, it is how they end that truly shows a writer's merit.
I actually loved Kat, the main character. I could feel her emotions throughout this book, and that is very important to me. I could somewhat feel her pain at being considered an outcast when her powers are revealed at her old school. I could relate to that fact and I also kind of loved it that her old school was in Ireland. Okay, so I cannot relate to that, but I can definitely respect an author who can put Ireland in something. MY FAVOURITE PLACE!! *clears throat* Back to the review.
Throughout the book, I could feel a tension building in every page. A tension I did not exactly know the cause of, but which helped with the anticipation of the situation, i.e. the fact that people are disappearing and there is a mysterious boy invading Kat's dreams who keeps leaving her gifts. Are they connected in some way? Is he involved with these very disappearances? These are the questions that allow that tension to become stronger and stronger, allowing it to gradually rise until the end, when everything resolves itself, or at least, as with all series, resolve itself enough to carry the story on to another installation.
Verdict:
I really did love this story. It may have started with a general concept, but it certainly had its own flare. The author did a wonderful job making this one different, and I actually cannot wait to get my hands on the other books involving Kat, and now that I know about the books regarding her parents (Alex Rayer Chronicles) I cannot wait to pick those up as well. I love this world, I love these characters, and I cannot wait for what is in store.
Captivate Me is on sale for $0.99 through the end of next week, Friday April 11th.
Captivate Me is on sale for $0.99 through the end of next week, Friday April 11th.
Links for Book:
Author's Bio:
Susan James Pierce has a degree in Marketing Management, works for a Fortune 500 company in Atlanta, Georgia, and devotes her precious, and spare time writing Fantasy, Paranormal and Sci-fi novels.
Links for Author:
Thank you so much for hosting and your review! Glad you were able to relate to the characters and loved the story :)
ReplyDeleteGreat review, Kayla! Kat sounds so genuine and easy to relate to. I also like that it seems to stand out with originality from other similarly plotted books. Thanks for being on the tour! :)
ReplyDeleteKat so