After her mother’s death, Riley is sent to live with a father she’s never met. Her only goal is to play it safe until she turns eighteen and can finally live on her own. But she’s unprepared for a family, who actually wants her there, or the strangers she’s asked to share the home with. Not only does Riley gain a new brother with this family, but she also shares the house with his girlfriend and … and her brother.
Caleb, her step-brother’s best friend, confuses Riley with his overprotectiveness and sweet remarks. Always wary of strangers, why does she feel safe with him when they don’t know each other? What is with the weird connection they seem to share, and why can Riley relax around him more easily than around her own family?
When the nightmares that plague Riley every time she falls asleep come into her waking world, Riley will discover that not everything in her new home is as it seems. Magic exists, and Riley might just have abilities she never dreamed possible.
With a dark force stalking her, can she learn to trust her new family, or will she run away.
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Riley has endured a lot of mental and physical abuse at the hands of her mother and stepfather. The story starts when she is being sent to her father, after he mothers death. Riley has realistic reactions and i liked watching her slowly learn that not everyone is a monster. I liked Caleb and how he was so supportive and caring. I do think there is a slight disconnect between the first half of the story, and the last half, but I was so into the story that it didn’t bother me.
The climax scenes at the end of the novel were a little too quick and without much action for my personal tastes. Riley accepts everything about her new life a little too easily. Cassy is just too much; she is all over Riley from literally the second she meets her in just a totally unrealistic way. I get that she is suppose to fill the best friend character role for this type of book but it was just way too forced and made me not like her. Riley’s stutter was annoying to read, and its hard to lament that because its an important part of her character, but i did scan over her dialog because of it. That said, it was an interesting take on the paranormal genre. A good read for anyone who is a fan of girl who discovers her powers and the supernatural world and a host of problems that come with it.
*edit*
I had go back and reread book 1 because I didn’t remember the story at all which made diving into book 2 a little difficult when my review didn’t tell me anything.
So you have Riley a recently orphaned 17 1/2 year old who has grown up suffering sever abuse at the hands of her mom and step dad. She is scared of everything because anything she did, including just existing resulted in severe emotional and physical abuse. Riley is incredibly sheltered, even though she went to public school, she wasn’t allowed friends or TV, but she had books (although at one point, I think in book 2) Riley mentions her mom limited the type of books she was permitted to check out from the library as a way to explain Riley’s total lack of understanding of sex). We meet Riley as she is on a plane on her way to live with her recently discovered father, Mark, who had no idea she existed, his wife Leeanne and her son, who Riley’s dad adopted when Jaxon was 3, and Cassie and Caleb who are the siblings of Mark’s business partner and staying with Mark for the summer. Caleb and Jaxon are in college, Cassie is 18, not sure is she is in college. Riley is drawn to Caleb, has horrible nightmares, and keeps waiting to do something that gets her beaten by one of the guys in the house or gets her kicked out. Oh and along the way she discovers she is paranormal.
Spoilers from here on out
On second reading I still don’t like Cassie in book 1, she improves for book 2. Cassie is written to be Riley’s bubbly instant best friend, and she walks into the kitchen upon meeting Riley for the first time immediately exclaiming how excited she is to finally have a girl in their group and they will be best friends because she, Cassie, cant manage to get a friend. It’s a little (read a lot) much. First of all, who walks in and meets a girl who has lost her mom and moved states to a family she didn’t know existed that way? Second, really, Cassie has zero friends outside of her brother and soulmate (she and Jaxon are a bound couple).
Still staying on the relationship thing, it happens WAAAAAY two fast. By her like second night in the house she is calling Mark dad, Jaxon is calling her sis, and she is like hey this is my family, and I love them. I mean yeah they are all probably going to beat me and kick me out to the streets, but hey dad. It is just really hard to swallow.
Moving one, this is a paranormal series. I forget what they call themselves, elementals I think, because they control the elements, but the elementals aren’t allowed to tell humans they exist, have a governing body, have to go before the council before they are 18 to display their power and be blessed or lose it, have a soulmate whom them can identify once they are blessed, and have a way of identifying each other that is explained in book 2. If an elemental isn’t blessed before they are 18 their memories are wiped of anything elemental. Oddly enough the bad guys are fallen elementals who have their gods given powers stripped, but are then given powers by a bad god, and retain all their memories. Not sure how they retain their memories. Are they restored by the bad guys? Plot hole.
Another plot hole is in the fact that elementals aren’t soul matched with regular humans, but Caleb knows the instant he touches Riley that she is his soul match, yet everyone thinks Riley is just a regular human. Similarly, the family seems pretty blase about getting Riley trained and prepared for her elemental test that has to happen in less than six months before she turns 18 or her powers and memory will be stripped from her, which is going to make for a pretty awkward soulmating. The other elementals spend years in special schools learning how to use their powers so they can pass the test and Riley’s family is like meh, we’ll practice in the backyard some.
I enjoyed the story, and will continue on with the series when book 2 comes out, but I wish Perry paid closer attention to the details, tied up all of the lose ends, didn’t awkwardly shove characters into a trope box, and took time to develop the relationship. I’ll stick around for the extra pages, it will actually endear me to the book and setting up alerts if it was better developed and polished. As it is it will sit in my series in progress spreadsheet that when I update every couple of months with what I’ve read and if there is anything new out i’ll go oh yeah I guess i’ll keep reading that. I want to be obsessed and this has all the elements to get me obsessed with just a little more work.
I effing LOVE Amanda Perry and her amazing writing skills. Seriously, an amazing author and a wonderful person. I’d read anything she put out there ;)Amanda Perry
I’ve read this author’s other work, Fostering Hope, from an anthology and I loved it so much that’s why when I’ve seen this one’s blurb, I didn’t hesitate to grab it.
There will always be a special place in my heart that’s reserved for this kind of read. The whole belonging-ness and acceptance going on in this book endeared me to it.
It’s a no-brainer that a skittish little thing like Riley acts and reacts the way she does throughout the story. People have to be watchful around her, she’s shy to the extent that it disabled her, and she misinterprets most of the attention/love being directed to her. Bottom line is, she will take time. And I definitely have lots of free time, literally, to be able to watch her grow herself some self-esteem and establish trust with the Sullivan-Montgomery family.
Caleb. You sweet thing. Riley deserves to have a gentle, patient and strong guy like Caleb. Can’t wait for the next books!!!