"To find out what a story's really about,' the Librarian said,

'you don't ask the writer. You ask the reader."


- SNOW & ROSE by Emily Winfield Martin


Sunday, January 18, 2015

Blog Tour (Review and Giveaway): SAVE ME by Jenny Elliott (YA)


*My apologies! My SAVE ME blog tour stop was suppose to be posted on Friday, January 16th.
It remained in my drafts going unnoticed.



by Jenny Elliott
Release date: January 6th, 2015
Published by: Swoon Reads (Macmillan)
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Format: Paperback, eBook
Format reading: ARC from publisher


SUMMARY

Debut-novelist Jenny Elliott’s thrilling romance, chosen by readers, writers, and publishers for the first list in the new Swoon Reads imprint, pours on the tension and danger in an addictive combination that will keep you turning pages!

Something strange is going on in the tiny coastal town of Liberty, Oregon. Cara has never seen a whale swim close enough for her to touch it — let alone knock her into the freezing water. Fortunately, cute newcomer David is there to save her, and the rescue leads to a bond deeper than Cara ever imagined.

But then she learns something about David that changes everything, and Cara is devastated. She turns to her best friend for support, but Rachel has changed. She’s suddenly into witchcraft, and is becoming dangerously obsessed with her new boyfriend...

Cara has lost her best friend, discovered that her soul mate is off limits, and has attracted the attention of a stalker. But she’s not completely alone. Her mysterious, gorgeous new friend Garren is there to support her. 

But is Garren possibly too perfect?


MY REVIEW

A surprising debut filled with a quick paced love story that seems bewitched from the very beginning. A great twist to the paranormal stories that we've come to enjoy; anticipating grand schemes and gestures.

Cara's love for the local whales sends her overboard, and into the arms of David, her rescuer. Their is an instant connection between the two. Determined not to let her bad luck get the best of her, Cara agrees to going out with David... David is handsome, with a lopsided grin. He says all the right things. And the connection she felt with him is still there. This warm bond that encircles them, it's not something that she felt just because of her near-death experience. Cara is beyond excited to finally find someone to be with.
And then she meets Garren.
Garren is stunningly beautiful to look at. He is charming and caring. There is something magnetic about him. Even so, Cara is not attracted to him in that way. They're just friends. And Garren is more than happy to oblige.
Things happen - Cara's best friend Rachel is no longer the sweet, loud, caring girl she used to be. She is always with her boyfriend, as though she has been put in a trance and can't snap out of it.
Also, someone has been following and threatening Cara.
Everything unfolds quickly - we know the who's and what's. It's just a matter of when and where everything will fall into place.
Will Cara and David make it through?


However, as much as I enjoyed SAVE ME, there are a few things that I wish this story would have had:
First, I wish that the story flowed better. It felt choppy at times, like the characters weren't in sync with each other... there wasn't enough details from me, and I craved to know more about everyone. However, the setting was brilliantly done. I could smell the beach waves, the acrid smell of sulfur in the house and feel the whales skin under my own fingers. But it wasn't enough to get me to fully connect to the characters and fully invest myself into caring about what happened to any of them.
Next, the insta-love was too casual for me. I kept waiting for them to build a deeper and more meaningful connection, but it continually stayed on "a warm tether" that connected them together whenever they were near each other. And it was the same sort of binding that was felt when they touched too.
And lastly, the book felt too low-keyed for me. When dealing with so many paranormal facets - witches, demons, angels - I was expecting more than spells and stalking. I do love how the author was able to tie it all together, the storyline was really well done, I just wanted more! At least a 100 pages more. In which I would hope that we would have found out how the whales angst tied in with the story...

This is definitely a book for those of us who are looking for a quick read; those of us that love contemporary stories with a good paranormal twist. 


*An ARC was sent to me from the publisher for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Jenny Elliott

Jenny Elliott is a lifelong resident of Washington State and lives in Spokane with her husband and four kids. 

Writing fiction is her favorite method for avoiding insanity. 

Other avoidance techniques include reading, playing Scrabble, and browsing social media sites.

Goodreads / Website / Facebook / Twitter




SwoonReads.com

Swoon Reads is the crowd-sourced teen romance imprint founded by Jean Feiwel and published under Feiwel and Friends, a division of Macmillan. 

Swoon Reads is a community where members are included in every step of the publishing process, from acquiring manuscripts to choosing cover directions. 

To find out more and discover the best in swoon-worthy novels visit SwoonReads.com.

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