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Monday, May 23, 2011

68) Spellbound by Cara Lynn Schultz

The Blurb :

Life hasn't been easy on sixteen-year-old Emma Conner, so a new start in New York may be just the change she needs. But the posh Upper East Side prep school she has to attend? Not so much. Friendly faces are few and far between, except for one that she's irresistibly drawn to—Brendan Salinger, the guy with the rock-star good looks and the richest kid in school, who might just be her very own white knight.

But even when Brendan inexplicably turns cold, Emma can't stop staring. Ever since she laid eyes on him, strange things have been happening. Streetlamps go out wherever she walks, and Emma's been having the oddest dreams: visions of herself in past lives—visions that warn her to stay away from Brendan. Or else.

My Review :

I will admit straight away that I expected more from this book. The blurb left me with visions of vampires, werewolves or even some ghosts. However what I ended up with was a curse and a maybe witch. Sad but true. This wasn't at all what I planned on reading and I felt a little cheated.

However I will give this book points for romance and for the Young Adult content. This definitely is a book for younger readers who like reading about how horrible school and teenage life can be while trying to get through their own real life. Spellbound will leave a few teenagers happy knowing there are worse off girls in the world and wishing their life was as interesting and cool as Emma's.

Emma was a nice lead character. Although I wanted to hear more about her past and what happened to her family. The focus seemed to be taken away from the fact that she has lost all of her family and pointed to the great life she has now in New York and her love life. Don't get me wrong, everyone should have a Brendan to brighten up their school days but it all seemed a little too perfect.

The fantasy angle in this book was weak and in general this was a teenage love story with a twist. If this had been an amazingly bad story then I wouldn't have read Spellbound till the end. Although it did take a while to actually get to the point of the story and by then I was too far in to give up. I have to admit that I was pulled into the story because I couldn't wait to see what paranormal delights were waiting for me but the last quarter of the book was a bit of a let down once I realised what was going on.

All in all I am pretty sure this is one I would recommend to give as a gift to that young lady in your life, eg. daughter, niece, friends kid. But Spellbound isn't one I am going to recommend to adults. A little too teeny, way too cheesy and quite predictable.

*Spellbound is due for release on the 28th of June*

1 comment:

Aurian said...

Good review Amber, but not a book for me. Although I like witches, YA not so much.