Reborn by S.L. Stacy
This review is special to me. This book is the debut novel for my friend Shaina, search who I met through her amazing blog, cheap The Urge to Write. She self-published it on Amazon Kindle, clinic and you can get it today, November 7th, for free, until it goes to normal price, 2.99.
This is an honest review. In no way, shape or form did my previous friendship with Shaina effect my review.
You Can Find the Book At:
Barnes and Noble (Some day!)
GoodReads Summary:
Back in high school, Siobhan Elliot’s life was simple: Cheerleading, friends, and parties. But that all changed the night she and her friends investigated a mysterious light in the woods. There they found an injured man–an irresistible man with hypnotic blue eyes and magnificent black wings. A man Siobhan recognized. He was the handsome dark angel from her dreams. And with one touch of his hand, he left her with a special gift: a set of mythical wings that would change her life forever. Then he disappeared without a trace. Siobhan thought she would never see him again.
Now, six years later, her dark angel reappears –this time as a teaching assistant at her college. He calls himself Jasper. He challenges everything Siobhan thought she knew about herself and her world. And he’s come back for only one thing: her.
Or so he says. Siobhan is about to find out that nothing is what it seems in this strange, new world.
My Review:
This is such an incredible debut novel, and I have so much hope for Shaina and her first novel. She left me in a cliffhanger in this novel, so I’m hoping that she will gain the recognition she deserves and we’ll see this second novel in 2014.
Weaving Greek mythology into contemporary lives is nothing new to the young adult genre. In fact, this is something that I’ve been exposing myself more and more to lately, and each series I read impresses me that much more. The beauty of Greek mythology is that there is so much of it. What Stacy does in this novel is bring forth characters that we don’t often see in these YA novels, except maybe as secondary characters. I think she does a great job with it, and in bringing forth characters that we aren’t as familiar with, she creates a story that is full of surprises, twists, and turns. I didn’t know what to expect at all, and that is such a big part of the reason I kept reading.
Its a fast paced novel, which is always a good sign. Things are interesting from the beginning. Siobhan meets Jasper within the first few pages, and the reaction she has when she meets him is so visceral and so memorable that you need to know what is going to happen next. The relationships, the mystery and the tension that builds throughout the stories keeps you turning the pages, eager to reach the end, to figure out what is the story behind Jasper, and his need for Siobhan.
I also love the relationships in this novel. Its sexy as hell, and even though I have mixed feelings toward Jasper, there are some seriously steamy scenes that left me feeling a little flushed and breathless. That doesn’t happen very often, so when it does, I’m pretty excited. I’m not big on overly steamy novels, and this definitely is NOT it. They are hot and perfectly smutty, and I found myself disappointed when there weren’t more of them, another thing that never happens with me. There is so many sexy, dark, bad boys in this novel, with Jimmy and Jasper and I loved all the scenes that got hot and heavy.
Plus, Siobhan is such a great main character, because she’s so real and fleshed out. She has a backstory, she has a daily life, she has hobbies and concerns and worries and goals, and humor and all of that. I love that, even while her world is upside down, with Jasper and what he brings into her life, she is still going to class, and doing homework and working hard and having fun with her sorority. It makes her VERY real. Her entire world is not wrapped around this mysterious boy. Instead he disrupts this world that she has built for herself. She’s clever, and strong, and I can’t wait to see how she grows as the series goes along.
I do have an issue with the main characters’ name but I am kind of snobby when it comes to names. A huge reason why I couldn’t get through Fifty Shades was because the names. I’m a snob and I recognize that. It is a problem but I kind of just deal with it haha. I wasn’t a fan of the name of Jasper but I could get past that. The name Siobhan was difficult. Its not one that I was used to, and I had no idea how to even pronounce it until she does it for someone later in the novel. Its hard to relate to a character when their name is something you can’t pronounce. I understand it in a fantasy novel or a full blown science fiction, but it did bother me. This is SO trivial, but it is something that I thought of while reading. So much about the book makes up for this tiny little thing that will probably only bug name snobs like me.
All in all, this is fun and quite impressive debut for S.L. Stacy. I won’t sit here and say that I thought it was going to be awful, because I know Shaina and I know that she is most definitely NOT a bad writer. God, no way. But you always feel a little hesitant when reading indie writers, that self-published. I know, because I am one. My worries were for naught though. Its an incredibly beautiful novel, and I am very impressed, and I think that she has immense talent and creates a stunning and compelling story.
Rating:
4 out of 5 stars
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