“A poignant and heartfelt journey.” –Wendy Higgins, New York Times bestselling author of the Sweet Evil series, on Cold Summer Every day, Sam endures the same subway ride on her way to school, but when she meets a boy named Reid, suddenly her daily commute isn’t so ordinary. Reid has the ability to teleport–or, drift, as he calls it–and for the first time, Sam has the opportunity to travel … the opportunity to travel anywhere without a passport or plane ticket.
But as their two worlds come together, Sam discovers her family had been keeping secrets from her, and meeting Reid was just the beginning of unraveling the truth. When drifters begin to disappear, Sam has no choice but to face the threat when she finds out her family is among the missing.
As Reid and Sam start their search for the missing drifters, help comes from the most unexpected of places. After a significant breakthrough, Reid is taken, and Sam finds herself alone in a world she knows nothing about. With the enemy closing in, she soon realizes she’s the only person who can save them all.
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Sam meets a boy on the Subway and after finding out his secret, the ability to teleport, or “drift,” her life changes dramatically. Reid has been alone and homeless since his parents died a few years ago, with one friend his own age and an older “brother” who looks out for him. Meeting Sam makes him think of the life he’s been missing. The two main characters were from two different backgrounds, but ended up having a lot in common. When drifters begin to disappear, including her family, Sam teams up with Reid and his friend Gavin to try to find out where the drifters are being taken. I really liked this sweet teen romance, with danger, superhero abilities and a mystery to solve. I loved the teleportation, that’s always been the superpower I would choose, so it was fun to see the characters travel anywhere in the world they wanted in an instant.
DNF. Sometimes, teen and YA novels keep my interest. This one has lost me.
It started out well, but has been mired in dull stuff for many pages, and I don’t have the patience. There is a lot going on behind the scenes that I haven’t been given enough to build real intrigue. That’s a plot fail. And I find both main characters to be less deep than I prefer. She’s way better than he is, when he is the one with this (apparently not that uncommon) power. I have learned too little about the “enemy” power as well. Altogether, that adds up to failing interest.
Do you know that movie Jumper starring Hayden Christensen? Well, that is what Windswept is about. Now, that is not to say that it is entirely unoriginal, but that film is the backdrop for this novel.
Already Done
The biggest problem with this novel is how unoriginal it does feel. The premise follows Sam and Reid, two teenagers who meet and discover they are more alike than they thought. Reid can transport himself anywhere in the blink of an eye; he is part of a people called Drifters. However, there are others, enemies of the drifters who can slow down time. Okay, now that is cool for the story, to see these two sects of people with powers at war, in a sense, with one another. However, the story itself still falls short as it plays off its powers and falls into predictability and clichés.
Windswept is not a bad novel, but it is unoriginal making it dull. There is romance, action, and science fiction that makes it exciting but unfortunately, on every page, my reaction was “read it,” “saw it coming,” “predictable.”
Lacking Characterization
Another thing that Cole failed to do was create engaging and memorable characters. Sam and Reid are forgettable. Nothing about them stands out. Right now, I cannot even remember their descriptions. They fall short and despite having strong dynamics, their relationship is precarious for the reader.
Reid is stalking Sam, and it makes their dynamic and relationship just a little uncomfortable for the reader. There is nothing romantic about stalking someone. Yes, it begins with him following her home to return her hat that she left on the subway but the way it evolves is more creepy than romantic. Especially when Sam calls him out on stalking her, it just takes away from the romance between the two characters.
Sam and Reid also fall into cliché tropes. Sam has parents from both sects, and she is all-powerful while Reid is the bad boy who gets reformed. It just, once again, comes off as unoriginal.
Final Thoughts
Once again, while the story itself is somewhat unoriginal, the characters fall a little short the author has a talent with storytelling. The storytelling is good; it has good pacing and the characters do go on an adventure and grow. Unfortunately, I just could not get that movie Jumper out of my head. I saw it once, on television, years ago and it was the first thing that came to my mind with this story. Windswept was just too unoriginal for my liking.