Author: Amy A. Bartol
Series: The Premonition series
Published: August 8th 2011
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Synopsis: My name is Evie Claremont and this was to be the making of me--my freshman year of college. I had been hoping that once I had arrived on Crestwood's campus, the nightmare that I've been having would go away. It hasn't.
I may be an inexperienced seventeen-year-old, but I'm grounded...sane. Since meeting sophomore Reed Wellington, however, nothing makes any sense. Whenever he is near, I feel an attraction to him--a magnetic kind of force pulling me towards him. I know what you're thinking...that sounds fairly awesome. Yeah, it would--if he liked me, but Reed acts as if I'm the worst thing that's ever happened to Crestwood...or him. But, get this, for some reason every time I turn around he's there, barging into my life.
What is the secret he is keeping from me? I'm hoping that it is anything but what I expect: that he is not exactly normal...and neither am I. So maybe Crestwood won't be the making of me, but it could be the breaking of me. I have been left to wonder if the dark future my dream is foretelling is...inescapable.
My Review:
At first, when I found this book on my kindle shopping site, I KNEW it was special. I actually downloaded it before I finished reading the sample--which is a first for me, usually I read the sample then put it on a waiting list that rarely gets glanced at. The story is basically about angels which seems pretty common these days. It follows our main character Genevieve--wow, that's the name of the ANGEL in Alexandra Adornetto's Halo, coincidence--Claremont when she moves to a posh school due to her scholarship. There, she meets Reed Wellington who she feels strangely attracted to, despite the fact that Reed seems to detest her. We meet the atypical love triangle when Russell, the alternative boy-toy, is pulled into the mix. With Reed, it's as if she needs him, while with Russell, it's as if she already has him. The story unfolds to pull us into an adorable romance between the characters (I won't say which just yet). But, for Genevieve, all is not as it seems, and her vague past suddenly becomes the judge of her future.
I'll start with the writing. When I started the book, I found it a bit difficult to read due to the fancy overtone. Sometimes the amount of smart words can be annoying. However, fear not, as I continued to read the novel, it unraveled to become almost rhythmic and easy to digest. I loved how Amy (author) used formality in Reed and Zephyr's (who appears later in the novel) voices to portray their age. It was fun to compare modern voices to their own through the writing (though I do think the modern voices could have been improved). Amy's writing style is just delicious, like fancy foreign food.
The characters were also impressive. I enjoyed getting to know Reed (I voted for him all the way throughout the love triangle). He became likable and sweet but with that added danger edge that I loved. He was easy to root for, which, despite being a plus, kinda added to a flaw. I didn't really get to know Russell, and I think the male characters should have been given that extra pizzazz. For Reed, more descriptions of his emotions and for Russell, more of himself. Either they needed that, or it's just my air-headedness and not paying enough attention to the book. Either way, I still loved Reed.
Genevieve (whom deserves her own paragraph) was sweet, and I could easily read the author's efforts to push across her martyr attitude. It's cool how she sacrifices herself for those she loves, but I still felt more could have been done with her emotions when tragedy struck. There were also those moments where the author's descriptions translated wrongly in Genevieve's thoughts, leaving her with a hint of mean in her attitude, though it's completely understandable how Genevieve acts. Her next flaw was her attitude. I mean, I LOVED it, but it wasn't portrayed the way it could have been. (Either way, Genevieve was awesome to a point).
Speaking of love, I was scarily impressed with the romance. Though I'm not a big fan of love triangles (someone always gets hurt) the feelings between Reed and Genevieve were real and all consuming. Any flaws were either none existent or veryyyy tiny. One of my favorite romantic bits was shown around the end of the book (as much as I love spoilers I'm not sure you should love them). It portrayed Reed's love by using his worry for Genevieve (oh so sweet). If Reed wasn't crush-worthy before that, he definitely is now. Generally though, the passion between the two was burning and sweet all at the same time.
The plot on the other hand was a cool drink of water. I loved (am I saying that a lot?) how the story flowed easily, each event told beautifully and with the right amount of drama. One of my favorite bits was Reed and Genevieve's first kiss (one of the best kiss scenes, I've ever read!!!!!) which was so sweet. There were miniscule plot holes (if there was any at all) and the climax points and why they came about were completely unexpected. The main climax was just WOW--I didn't see that one coming. It is no lie when I say that this writer is talented. If I got right to the basis, the story was beautiful.
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