Series: The Soul Seekers #1
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
Format: Paperback, Published May 24, 2012
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Rating: 3/5 Stars
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Immortals comes a breathtaking new saga brimming with magic, mystery, and an intoxicating love story that will steal your heart away. Meet The Soul Seekers.
Strange things are happening to Daire Santos. Crows mock her, glowing people stalk her, time stops without warning, and a beautiful boy with unearthly blue eyes haunts all her dreams. Fearing for her daughter’s sanity, Daire’s mother sends her to live with the grandmother she’s never met. A woman who recognizes the visions for what they truly are—the call to her destiny as a Soul Seeker—one who can navigate the worlds between the living and dead.
There on the dusty plains of Enchantment, New Mexico, Daire sets out to harness her mystical powers. But it’s when she meets Dace, the boy from her dreams, that her whole world is shaken to its core. Now Daire is forced to discover if Dace is the one guy she's meant to be with...or if he’s allied with the enemy she's destined to destroy.
My Review
I originally picked up this book because the premise seemed interesting and I hoped for a scenic setting in the Southwest. I'd read another book by this author and it really wasn't my favorite, but I'm glad to report that I enjoyed this book much better! Daire, who is used to travelling the world on movie sets with her celebrity makeup artist mother, begins to have some pretty freaky visions. Other than putting her straight into a mental institution, Daire's mom decides it might be less traumatising to ship her off to her grandmother in New Mexico. Long lost grandmother then tells Daire that she hails from a long line of Soul Seekers, who have the ability to see visions and visit other realms. And of course, Daire meets a boy. But can he be trusted? His identical twin certainly can't be.
This book started out rather quickly. The scene was set and I got a good feeling for each of the characters, even if Daire was a bit annoying until you got to know her. The characters in general were fairly basic. Not bad. My one gripe is that if you're going to have a blind character, would it be so hard to actually have them be blind? It's kind of a cop-out that she can just 'sense' everything in the world without her vision. Like Daredevil. If she had actually been blind, I think it would be more interesting.
After the first part of the book, I felt like there were pacing issues. It became slow suddenly when Daire was transported to New Mexico. There was an entire chapter about her 10 hour drive and her zoning out at a gas station. Yep. I'm still not sure how that was relevant to the story. When she arrived at Paloma's (the grandmother) house, it returned to normal and we got to learn more about her visions. Daire had to piece together who she was, but then all of a sudden she wasn't confused any more and she knew she had to go after the bad guys. I had to flip back in the book to see if I'd missed something, but it turns out I didn't. Her powers and knowledge of the bad guys practically came out of nowhere just because Paloma said so.
It was a bit unfortunate how the writing would win me over from my previous Noel book experience and then become awkward again. I didn't like how characters would talk for an entire page. It didn't make for natural dialogue in my opinion and it should be used sparingly. Needless to say, I found a few problems with this book, but for some reason it makes me want to read more. I know, I know-- you're probably confused. The premise just kind of sucks me in and I want to know a bit more. I want to know more about Dace and Cade and the spirit world. Plus, I actually want to find out what a Soul Seeker actually is. I've read this whole book and I still am not entirely sure. Read this at your own risk if you like Paranormal or Native American stories. Who knows, you just might enjoy it.
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