Welcome to my stop on the Deceived blog tour hosted by YA Bound Blog Tours! Check out my review, then hop down to the bottom for a fantastic giveaway. Don't forget to visit the other stops on the tour!
Published September 18, 2013
Publisher: Merit Press
Format: e-ARC, provided by YA Bound Blog Tours and the author in exchange for an honest review
Genre: young adult suspense, romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Book Depository
Rating: 3.5 STARS
(From Goodreads) When Elle's father, a single parent and a big shot in corporate insurance, moves her to yet another boarding school for senior year, Elle is disgusted when nothing changes. Her night terrors don't go away, and, soon, despite her father's caring calls and visits, Elle starts to believe she's losing her mind. She knows she's being followed; a ribbon is tied around her doorknob, and there are those cigarette butts that keep turning up on the doormat, in violation of a strict smoking ban on campus. Then there's Bryan, an intriguing boy Elle meets at a flea market and later finds out is a student at her school. Yet on campus, he pretends he doesn't recognize her - until the day he divulges just how much danger she's in. In her search for an answer to all the madness, Elle unravels the truth about her dad's real identity, why someone has lied to her all her life, and the terrifying truth that she may be the only one who can save her from the one who's following her now.
I've always been a big fan of the "whodunit" kind of mysteries. I like the suspense of not knowing everything that's going on. Of not being quite sure who the good guys and the bad guys are. Any book that can wrap that kind of suspense up with the romance that I really need to keep me sucked it is definitely one that I want to read. Deceived has all those elements, so naturally, I was excited.
Elle doesn't have all her memories from when she was a child, but she knows something scary must've happened because of her dreams. And, now she is away at school with the opportunity to finally shake her fears, except they seem to have followed her. Signs that she's being watched are all over. But, who's doing the watching? No doubt Brian is, but there's something different about him. His presence actually makes her feel safer, and she may need his protection if the real watcher has his or her way.
I loved not knowing what was going on. I love to be surprised. Deceived surprised me, and that's hard to do these days. The mystery in Deceived was a really good one. There were plenty of twists and turns wrapped up in a little bit of cloak and dagger and sealed with a kiss.
The romance was a sweet one, albeit a tad unbelievable. Brian has his own secrets that come out relatively quickly, so thank goodness we don't have to wait until the end for that. He's a bit older than Elle, but the age difference never bothered me. I was never overly aware of it. I think Brian was my favorite character. He was aloof and slightly creepy in the beginning, and then brave and strong when he needed to be. He was the perfect compliment to Elle.
Elle was the weaker character, I thought. She was very fearful and timid. I prefer my female characters to be strong and bold. Elle was mousy almost to the point of ridiculousness. Sometimes I just wanted to shake her and tell her to man up. She did have her moments, including a big one, where she does reach deep down to find the strength the situation calls for, so I did appreciate that.
Many times, I felt like some of the things that were going on were just not plausible. I can't say too much without giving major plot points away. But, there are definitely some events and some plot elements that seemed a little far fetched. I feel like stories should be seamless - they should reflect real life and I should feel like I could take a trip to where the story is happening and really find the characters there. I didn't feel that way with Deceived.
Overall though, Deceived was a really good book. I remained engaged and interested. I really wanted to find out which of the possible baddies was the real one. And I wanted to find out if Elle and Brian found a way to be together. The suspense was killing me - and that's a good thing.
About the Author
Julie is a self-proclaimed word nerd who would rather read than almost anything else. She started writing to make people smile. Someday she plans to change the world. Most days you'll find her online, amped up on caffeine and wielding a book.
Julie is a member of the International Thriller Writers (ITW), Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI), Sisters in Crime (SinC) and the Canton Writer’s Guild.
Learn more about Julie Anne Lindsey --> Twitter / Goodreads / Facebook / Blog / Pintrest / Tumblr
Giveaway
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I, too, enjoy a good mystery. I don't like to know "whodunit" or if the author divulges the bad guy, there best be a very relevant reason for doing so. I like a strong heroine, as well, so the wimpy woman here would probably make want to shake her, as well. On the bright side, the author wrote her so clearly you DID want to shake her, so she wasn't lifeless. That's always a great sign, when the reviewer wants to reach in and say, "What the heck is wrong with you?? Get with the program!" I loved this review. Thank you so much for sharing. michelle_willms@yahoo.com
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