Blurb:
Reality is only an illusion.
Except for those who can control it ...
Worst. Birthday. Ever.
My first boyfriend dumped me--happy birthday, Josie!--my dad is who
knows where, I have some weird virus that makes me want to hurl, and now my ex
is licking another girl's tonsils. Oh, and I'm officially the same age as my
brother was when he died. Yeah, today is
about as fun-filled as the swamps of Dagobah. But then weird things start happening ...
Like I make something materialize just by thinking about it.
When hottily-hot badass Reid Wentworth shows up on a motorcycle,
everything changes. Like, everything. Who I am. My family. What really
happened to my brother. Existence. I am Oculi, and I have the ability to change
reality with my thoughts. Now Reid, in all his hotness, is charged with guiding
and protecting me as I begin learning how to bend reality. And he's the only
thing standing between me and the secret organization that wants me dead ...
Review:
I seem to have been
reading more than my fair share of Young Adult books what with my choices from
Netgalley and the book club I belong to.
And to be honest the latest one was so superficial it was not true. Is it like that because teenagers of today
have very short attention spans and low IQs?
I like depth, something that you can get your teeth in to, that you have
to pay attention to, and that has great characters like the books I read as a
teenager such as Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Mr Kipps, and many other
classics. So it was therefore a delight
that there was humour in this book and this reader in particular enjoyed the
funny dialogue (both external and internal) which contained references to Star
Wars, Star Trek, the Big Band Theory, and
the Marvel Comic heroes.
Although Josie is a
smart, strong character I did not particularly like her. However, Reid was more interesting in an
ethereal, secretive yet protective way, and someone I wanted to know more about.
Sadly, some of the interaction between
these two characters felt stilted and even forced. I did, however, love Josie’s
best friend, Hannah, who was a breath of fresh normal air in all this; and
Santos was also refreshing.
The book was written
from alternating points of view which some readers may find confusing but this allows
for some character development. However,
writing was good but not fabulous. I
suppose it is at the correct standard to the intended audience. However, in places the book was repetitive
and there was an instance when one sentence was repeated at least twice “her
hand playing with the air?”
The premise of the book
is not totally original or for that matter even memorable. I did not rush back to it to find out what
was happening next. There is also room
for growth and improvement which I suppose one would expect of the first book in
a series. Although the majority of the
book was set at an even, steady pace the ending felt rushed.
I am not certain
whether I will continue with the rest of the series (seems a bit too much like
Divergent for me).
Full Disclosure: ARC received from Netgalley for
an honest review.
I reviewed this as 3 stars on Netgalley and 'It was OK' on Good reads (2 stars) and Amazon (3 stars).
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