Saturday, June 4, 2011

Starcrossed Soulmates

Spellbound


Written by: Cara Lynn Shultz

Released: June 21, 2011 by Harlequin Teen

Summary: What’s a girl to do when meeting The One means she’s cursed to die a horrible death?

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.


It took me so long to finish reading this and I’m not quite sure why. I blame it partially on my busy schedule and preparing for BEA, but I know that there’s more to it than that.

It took me a while to get fully into the story. I liked the characters, but it took me so long to connect with them that I almost gave up. While I’m really glad that I didn’t, it was almost a DNF for me.

I liked the characters in the novel – after a slight mix-up with Emma’s family members I was all set – and while they were stereotypical to the constant stream of YA paranormal romances that have been pumping out recently, I liked reading about them. I liked to see a character like Emma who was so protective of her younger cousin. I also liked her friend Angelique and how she was a bit kooky but super cool. I also liked how there were moments when the characters stopped themselves and questioned why they fell so hard so fast. Granted, the answer was the cop-out of “soulmates”, but the fact that this question was raised gave the story a nod of appreciation from me.

The best part about this novel was the ending – about the last 50ish pages – and the whole legend/fate concept. That was what really hooked me and kept me reading. I wanted to know what was going to happen and once the real action started I couldn’t stop reading.

But a book can’t be judged solely on its ending, and though I ended up really enjoying this novel I have to give it only 6/10. I would like to see what else this author has to offer and if there ever were a companion novel to this one I would probably give it a look.

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