Being a teenager is tough, especially when you have to pretend to be something you’re not, and you’re in love with someone you shouldn’t. 115 years ago, a small planet called Arcadia was invaded by a vicious alien race and nearly destroyed. Cut off from their resources, the Arcadians turned to Earth for help. A group of Arcadian explorers discovered a Prophecy that claimed their salvation lay in the hands of two children from Earth. To ensure their safety, the Arcadian Council sent their most gifted youngsters to Earth to act as protectors. Samantha is one of them.
To succeed in her mission she must learn to control her Arcadian powers and keep her true identity from her best friend, and the girl she swore to protect, Alexia. But Samantha will soon realize that nothing is as it seems. Someone is trying to prevent the Prophecy from taking place and the prophecy boy hasn’t been found yet. There is also a new drug circulating at school that is turning students into freakishly strong menaces.
To make matters worse, distractions keep getting in her way. Such as her love/hate relationship with her “cousin” Matthew. Or her confused feelings toward popular and mysterious Julian. She wants nothing more than to be free to live her life. But the survival of Arcadia depends on her and her friends. Free will is not an option.
*Note from the author: Due to strong language and mature content this book is recommended to readers 17+.
I’ve read a lot of Young Adult books lately, both good and bad. Sometimes I will read a book that reads like YA, but in fact should be more on the border of adult, and this book fell into that category. Kind of a gray area of not really YA, but not really adult either.
Alexia is a teenage girl, and it’s the summer before her senior year of high school. She goes for her annual summer vacation to her uncle’s house. She has several teenage cousins that live there, and she loves visiting. What she doesn’t know is, she’s part of a prophecy, and it’s going to be up to her, and her Chosen mate to help save the people of the planet of Arcadia. Her cousins are not really cousins, nor is her uncle, really her uncle. Her cousins are her protectors during the summer. Not sure why she doesn’t have protectors the rest of the year? Anyway, it probably has something to do with timing. The Arcadian council feels that she should be meeting her Chosen at any time. It’s completely a secret that they all keep from her. I am not sure why about that one either, but then a lot of what goes on, would never happen if she knew.
You would think that Alexia would be the main character, but not really. She shares that with her “cousins” Samantha and Matt. The story is told in the first person point of view, but from three prespectives. In the beginning, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like that, but it worked out pretty well in the end. I think Samantha was my favorite of all the characters, although I did like Alexia and Matt as well.
I thought the premise was interesting, and the writing well done. However, a few times there just seemed to be too much going on, and therefore lost some of the focus of what the book should have been centered on. And that would be the Arcadian War, the prophecy, and Alexia’s falling in love. At least, that is my opinion. I think I would have liked to read more about Arcadia in particular. However my main problem with the book was the cliffhanger. Some cliffhangers I don’t mind as much as others. This one just left too much unknown, with too many loose ends that needed answers.
All that being said, I did enjoy the read. There were good characters, and most of them were well realized by the author. As I said before, the premise was good, there were some surprises along the way, some things that the reader realizes before the characters, action, and a couple of good romances. And oh yes, villainous aliens! I do plan on reading the next one, because I really want to know what happens next!
Due to sexual situations(not explicit), violence, alcohol use, and drug use (but not by a main character), I would recommend this to ages 16 plus-possibly older depending on the maturity level of the reader.
The review copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.
