Friday 16 December 2011

Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz


Published by Harlequin in June 2011
Pages - 344

'It is always embarrassing to have someone take you to school. Your dad, your mum, anyone with her hair in rollers.
But for my first day as a junior at my new school - a ridiculously expensive private school on New York's Upper East Side - I was being walked to school by my baby cousin. A freshman. '

Goodreads Summary
Life hasn't been easy on sixteen-year-old Emma Connor, 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.
**********
As soon as you meet Emma you want to give her a big hug. Her life has not been easy and you feel empathy oozing for her instantly. She has lost both her mother and her twin brother, leaving her forced to live with a drunk, temperamental step father who almost killed her. 

Trying to pitch this book against others, I found it was a cross between The Craft and Fallen with a touch of Mean Girls added for flavour. Emma comes across as the dorky new girl who is getting a lot of attention. She is also the tragic heroine who doesn't seem to get any breaks. 

The characters were brilliantly written, although Emma's daft repeating game nearly drove me insane. Cisco and Angelique were definitely two of my favourites. They would both be the type of people I would want on my side in high school. Angelique was the type of witch that I loved. Then we have Brendan! Whoa! He is the school hottie and you instantly fall in love with him. He is strong, gorgeous and very protective over Emma, especially when he realises her life is in danger. Now this book does have instant love in it, but I was happy to accept it as these two have been trying to hook up over and over again for centuries but someone always ends up killing off Emma. They have grown so close so many times, that you really want someone to give them a chance for once. Luckily in this life time, Emma has hidden talents which she puts into good use.  I love that they were destined to be together, it just sounded so romantic. 

I was surprised where the book ended. As a certain situation had not been resolved I was expecting another encounter to happen. Realising that the event I expected was not going to happen, I felt the book could have ended nearer to the dramatic encounter.

On the whole, I really enjoyed this book. I knew something bad was coming but I couldn't figure out what it could be. I found the story flowed beautifully and I was instantly lost in  a world of destiny and witchcraft.  

8 comments:

  1. Here's the thing with this book. I loved it while reading it. I mean, seriously, LOVED it. But now, a couple of months later, I can barely remember anything about it. And that makes me sad. Still when the second in the series comes out, I'll be reading BOTH of them again because like you, I enjoy a good destiny and timlessness love tale.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hmm, not too sure if I'd enjoy this - the fact that a certain aspect nearly droeve you insane and the book ended with issues left unresolved worries me a bit.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lost in a world of destiny and witch witchcraft sounds good. And I do like that you did not figure out what that bad thing was

    ReplyDelete

Hiya, thanks for stopping by, it is always nice to hear what you have to say, so do leave a comment if you have time.