I really really wanted to like this one: Mind Games, Visions, Sleepwalking, A Boarding School, A Mystery, A Dark and HandsomAs seen on Zombie Mommies.
I really really wanted to like this one: Mind Games, Visions, Sleepwalking, A Boarding School, A Mystery, A Dark and Handsome Mysterious Boy? All the perfect ingredients for a great story...
...that fell flat like a homemade souffle.
The main problem with Harbinger were too many lose ends. With thrillers, I am completely prepared for unanswered questions that compel me to turn the page, eager to find the answer. But with this one, when i finally got to the end, all the lose ends just became a jumbled mess.
*****I am sorry but this is going to contain major spoilers.*****
In the beginning, Faye gets dropped off (against her will) at Holbrook, which is basically a school for wayward kids. The world has been destroyed and people live in "cooperatives" (which is never really explained; plus, what happens in the story could've just taken place without that). Faye has visions of drowning which began when she was a child but her episodes are getting worse. Then at Holbrook, she begins to hear drums and mysterious thingshappen.
The Holbrook Director, Dr. Mordoch plays mind games with the group in order to ensure cooperation: solitary confinement, privileges taken away, etc...Plus, there are pepper-spraying, taser-loving caretakers. Faye meets a host of characters who bond together like "Survivor Island" against Dr. Mordoch. There's even a ghost. The friends find themselves supposedly sleepwalking and in the morning, their hands are red and there are drawings on the floor.
So of course, I have to know what happens...and in the end, the only things I can gather are: 1) A long time ago, there were a group of people who had power over the earth and had a special meteorite seer stone. (Yes, a meteorite, and I have no idea where they got their power from.) 2) They saw that the earth was going to go to waste in the future so the members transferred their spirit to some relics that were buried. (So they could save the world in the future.) 3) When Faye touched the ocean when she was a child, one of the spirits transferred into her body causing her the visions. (I have no idea how the spirit attached itself to the ocean and what happened to the original Faye.) 4) Dr. Mordoch was being haunted by one of the original tribal spirits. Rita (the ghost/tribal spirit) leaves clues for Faye in the form of a prophecy on Tarot cards. 5) Faye begins to realize her visions as images of the past. 6) Faye, who originally wanted to 'save' the world, now wants to destroy/cleanse it. 7) Her group of friends had been sleepwalking and digging for the relics and become possessed with the spirits of the past and now have powers. They try to prevent Faye from destroying the earth. She ends up changing her mind because of Kel (eye roll). 8) Everyone sings (SINGS!!!) and the pollution from the sea and sky begin to dissipate.
But wait, I never learned more about the bones that Faye finds comfort in or why there were creepy Dr.-Who-Like-Weeping-Angel statues at the Academy or how the friends sleepwalked in the first place.
And although the cover says "psychological thriller," I never felt it as psychological as it was more weird fantasy. And my idea of a psychological thriller does not include spiritual possession. It does remind me a little like a Dr. Who episode (surprise, surprise. since Etienne is a fan) but where Steve Moffat's creepy paranormal scenarios are wrapped up nicely, Etienne leaves you with a disjointed and confusing story. I do have to say some of Faye's lines are a bit humorous but the entire premise was so poorly formed and left me quite angry at the end.
Jerome is your typical teenage boy "misfit" that finds himself on the rehabilitation side of Heaven. And by typical, I really mean, stRated 2.5 Stars.
Jerome is your typical teenage boy "misfit" that finds himself on the rehabilitation side of Heaven. And by typical, I really mean, stereotypical: lives on the wrong side of the tracks with his drunk dad, has no future, can't stop thinking about "milk cartons" or short skirts, and acts without consequences--like letting his cousin shoot an apple off his head. Which is how he found himself in Heaven's rehabilitation program in the first place. His last saving grace is to be Heidi's guardian angel. So since her birth, he's pretty much made her believe she hears voices in her head, singing FreeBird.
When Jerome finds himself in the Rehabilitation Program, he learns about the "Guardian Angel's Handbook: Soul Rehab Edition" (which he promptly loses), the 9 levels of Hell (Level I: Everlasting Standardized Testing, Level II: Ballroom Dancing with the Elderly, etc...), Morning Therapy Group Sessions, and of course, swearing sensors.
While I admire the creative parody behind the story, I found it tiring after awhile. And even with the "swearing sensors" in place, Jerome has a pretty active mouth. The barrage of slang (chevy, motherflasker, apple hole, well...you get the point) was distracting and overwhelming...after reading it for the HUNDREDTH TIME.
The plot was also a bit unbelievable: Heidi wears a black-and-white spandex outfit and dances with her best friend, Megan, in front of the entire school in the Talentpalooza. According to BFF Megan, "We have to do this, Heidi, if only to take high school back from the people who rule it....We must defeat them." Now either I'm missing something or Megan's lost a few screws because when was dancing with another girl in front of the entire school EVER going to be a winner? I just can't believe that a teenager would ever think so. So of course, Heidi's upset and ends up taking a walk near a frozen pond.
You can imagine what happens. She falls through the ice, and Jerome inadvertently saves her...by detaching her soul from her body, and they now have 48 hours to make things right. I have to say, this is where the story went south for me. With so much emphasis on the comedic aspect of heaven, it became too much.
I was surprised by Heidi's lack of despair or panic when she finds herself "dead." I also thought the entire side plot for saving her dog Jiminy was a bit ridiculous. She pretty much occupied his body in order to save it while Jiminy's spirit went off to chase squirrels. But then again, I've never had a dog...
In the end, I did like how Jerome changed and became more confident and responsible. The story is a bit predictable and somewhat confusing towards the end (what was the celestial squirrel nut for?) and I thought the reincarnation was a bit out of left field. And being a romantic, I don't always like stories where the (view spoiler)[boy and girl don't end up together. (hide spoiler)] I admire the creativity behind DI but after that, it didn't really do much for me.
So should you read it? Maybe...if you've got a lazy afternoon with nothing to do.
A very disappointing debut by author Jodi Meadows. The premise had so much promise: reincarnated souls, dragons, mystery, romance...and yet sometime aA very disappointing debut by author Jodi Meadows. The premise had so much promise: reincarnated souls, dragons, mystery, romance...and yet sometime after the first few chapters, the story went....nowhere.
Anna is raised as a "nosoul": a soul that is not considered viable since she hasn't lived over and over again. The souls that do reincarnate have lived among each other for thousands of years. When Anna meets Sam (technically a thousand plus years old...um...Twilight?), Sam sees something unique in her as they both try to solve the mystery behind Anna's birth.
Well, this so-called mystery was so overshadowed by the awkward romance between Sam and Anna that I didn't even know what the story was about anymore. About 85% of the time, I was trying to understand the relationship between Sam and Anna: in one scene Anna challenges him; the next she wants a kiss. The dialogue was so rough and choppy that at times, I had to reread the page just to understand what they were even talking about which pretty much consisted of either: music, danger, or pondering their relationship. Which, I never really did find out why Sam was so (view spoiler)[hesitant to get involved with Anna (hide spoiler)]. Was it their age difference? Society's view of him? Apparently that was one detail that wasn't important to the story...The only thing I kept thinking about through all the romance was that maybe Stephanie Perkins should offer writing lessons to Meadows.
My main disappointment was that the theme of reincarnation was so poorly explored and confusing. The souls of Incarnate's world are asexual in nature which seems so at odds with what I understand the soul to be. A soul can be a man in one life, a woman the next, then a son, then a mother. Does that mean gender is purely physical and not part of who you are? That's hard for me to understand. I keep thinking about circumstances in today's world where there are individuals who adamantly feel like they are in the "wrong" physical body.
Also, what about their society? How does being reincarnated affect the way people treat each other? We only get glimpses of how Sam and his friends know information about each other but we don't get to see how life would be different when you've known everyone for thousands of years.
Also, who this all powerful Janan God and how or why does he have control over the souls? Another mystery not clearly addressed. And where do the "new" souls come from if Janan is the "God?"
Oh, and the big reveal at the end? The clue to Anna's very existence? My mouth hung open: are you kidding me? THAT's. IT?! That's what I read 370 pages to find out? (view spoiler)[ that Janan inhabits the temple and when he's poisoned, the souls can't reincarnate--and thus 'newsouls' are born (hide spoiler)]. It almost seemed like all the stuff in-between was purposefully drawn out because the climax was too simple non-existent.
I had been waiting for over a year for our library to order this book so it was with much anticipation to finally be able to delve into this mystery.
WI had been waiting for over a year for our library to order this book so it was with much anticipation to finally be able to delve into this mystery.
Which lasted about 61 pages. I. just. can't. go. on....
First off, I'm not a big fan of the 3rd person POV--especially with YA; and unless the author is a very talented writer, the 3rd person perspective ends up making it sound like a narration from a screenplay.
Miller is case-in-point. There were about 5 pages covering 2 short chapters where there was nothing but a long description and retelling of Haven Moore's life. (I almost forgot I was reading a novel; it sounded so much like an bibliography.) What happened to the "Show, not Tell"?
Some of the scenes were pieced together so jaggedly that I was left confused. There's a scene in the past followed by another scene in the past but linked by the word "Now" which makes me think of the present. (e.g., p.24) I was also puzzled by which time period this story takes place in. For a story that supposedly takes place in the "present day," I felt very backwards; the insistence that Haven's visions are due to demon possession seemed very forced and ridiculous; mind you, I've never been to the "bible belt" states, but the way the townspeople acted seemed unrealistic.
None of the characters seem interesting enough to me. The "soul mate" theme is a little tiresome. The gay best friend, the domineering grandma matriarch, and the hot love interest are too cliche. I'm also puzzled by Haven's mother who initially acts subservient and yet a few pages later suddenly stands up to grandma and then persuades Haven to pursue the truth.
I can't say much about the rest of the plot nor Haven's future love interest. It's a VERY thick story and if it was shorter, and if I didn't already have a stack of "To-Reads" I might, just might have forced myself to finish....more
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