BBReview: "Whisper Trilogy 1: Whisper" By Chelsea M. Cameron

Genre: Young Adult - Paranormal
Publishing Date: June 16th, 2012
Page Count: 249
Source: Bought on Amazon
Format: Kindle

Description from Goodreads.com:
People think I'm crazy. Maybe I am, since I've been able to talk to spirits for as long as I can remember. They are the forgotten, the souls who have unfinished business and can't cross over. I help them, or at least I try to. There's this one in particular, Jack, I call him, who's been following me around a lot. Usually they tell me what they need to do and move on. Not him.

It isn't until he brings another spirit, Tracy, the victim of an unsolved hit-and-run accident, that I know for sure he's something more than just your average spirit. Then I start seeing him. And feeling his touch. And falling for him.

In our quest to get justice for Tracy and help her move on, Jack and I become something more than just a dead boy and a living girl. I'm just waiting to see what happens next...

Review:
I am so excited to be starting the Whisper Trilogy. As most of you know I am a HUGE fan of Meg Cabot's The Mediator series, and that I am halfway done with it and will not know what to do with myself once i finish it. This is the reason that I am so excited to have found Chelsea Cameron's Whisper Trilogy, because it reminds me so much of The Mediator Series. It is a perfect distraction for me. Although Whisper does remind me a lot of Meg Cabot's series, they are very different. Meg Cabot's series is very light and simple, but this trilogy seems to have taken on a much darker tone, and I really enjoyed it.

The number one thing that I really liked about Whisper is the main character, Anna. I absolutely loved her personality and what I really appreciated is that there is a reason she is hiding her secret of being able to communicate with those who have deceased. I don't really like when there is a secret that a character is keeping from those closest to them, because they don't know how they will react to it. It makes me feel like the character doesn't have enough trust in those closest to them so it causes me to just want them to tell someone so they aren't alone with their secret. In Whisper Anna has told her parents before and they do not believe her. They threaten to send her to a mental institution in order to help her with her "problems". This is what I am talking about when I say "darker tone". It really makes the story feel more real, because in the real world when someone tells you they hear and see dead people, you send them to a doctor. It just caused there to be so much tension in the story with hoping that eventually Anna will have someone she can trust and talk to.

I also really liked the pace of the book. Nothing seemed to happen too fast and was all pretty much worked out in the right amount of time. There is something awful that happens to Anna towards the end of the book, and it really made the book that much better. It is awful what happens, but it gave the story that huge dose of emotion that further connected the reader to the story and its characters. I absolutely love it when a book can make me physically show emotion, and Whisper definitely succeeded in making me cry.

Overall:
I absolutely loved Whisper. I am so happy to have found another book like Meg Cabot's The Mediator series so that I will have another set of books to read once I finish Meg Cabot's series. The main character, Anna, is completely loveable and makes the story feel very genuine. I really appreciated that Chelsea Cameron really let the book go down a dark path, because she could have easily made it a light, heartfelt read. It really puts the cherry on top when a book can make me physically show emotion, and Whisper did not disappoint. I will absolutely be continuing the trilogy, and I encourage you all to try this book.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 5/5



**The books cover, description, and info was all found and borowed from Goodreads.com. A link back to it's Goodreads site has been provided. All other work and ideas are of my own creation. This novel was not sent to me by the author or publisher. I personally bought this novel for my own personal enjoyment.**

{Beyond the Eyes Book Tour/GIVEAWAY} BBReview:"Beyond the Eyes" By Rebekkah Ford

Genre: Young Adult - Fantasy/Paranormal
Publishing Date: June 3rd, 2012
Source: Sent to me by the author for review
Format: E-Book

Description from Author:
Paige knows evil exists in the world, but she never imagined it would want something from her.

After a ghostly voice whispers a haunting message to seventeen-year-old Paige Reed, Paige's life takes a nightmarish turn. Unwilling to tell her friends about the supernatural occurrences happening in her life, Paige feels more alone than ever--until she meets Nathan Caswell.

Nathan is not only hot, but seems to peer into Paige's soul, evoking a magnetic energy between them that cannot be denied. But he's no ordinary guy. He tracks dark spirits, and becomes alarmed when they set their signs on Paige.

And then there are the two power-hungry dark spirits who believe Paige can find King Solomon's magical ring for them, because when her father was alive, he was close to finding it. If Paige doesn't comply with their demands, they'll kill her.

Paige is forced to dig into her father's past and unearths shocking secrets about him and his bloodline. With the past and present colliding, Paige is only sure about two things in her life: she needs to outwit the dark spirits to stay alive, and she's completely and helplessly in love with Nathan.

Review:
Beyond the Eyes is a very interesting book. Paige Reed has been hearing ghostly premonitions since she was little and has never told a soul about them. One day she gets a message about her own future and must figure out what the cryptic message means when she meets Nathan. Nathan is a hot dark spirit hunter who is usually a loner, but once he notices Paige he can't keep his eyes off her.

I think Beyond the Eyes is definitely a unique read. The topic the book is on has been done before, but I don't think I can compare it to any other novel or vice versa. I almost feel like this book is several separate great ideas for several separate books, but all combined into one. You can take several events/idea of the novel and cut it out and make it the basis for its own book. I think that is one thing that I really appreciated about Beyond the Eyes. It really explored a lot of different ideas and kept the reader interested at the same time.

I really liked the characters, but I do wish there was just a little more romance. I mean there is a lot of really good scenes between Paige and Nathan, but they always have something to do with another plot point. I wish there would have just been at least one whole chapter just devoted to them getting to know each other or expressing their feelings, or just have a normal every day chapter together, instead of their usual hectic/insane lives. I absolutely loved Paige's friends. Tree is definitely my favorite, because of how much of a good guy he is. He is just so caring and patient.

I also really, really liked the pace of the story. I think since this book experimented with so many different ideas that it could have easily been a disaster if Rebekkah would have tried to rush the timeline. In order to make another big event happen in the book she would have had to rush the timeline causing details to be lost or misunderstood and it would have ruined the story. I really liked that this novel seemed pretty slow paced and basically in real time. I was able to stay with the story and not get lost or confused and have to go back and re-read things.

Overall:
Beyond the Eyes is a unique read. Rebekkah Ford seems to have combined a bunch of ideas and experiment with how they would all play out together. It caused really nice tension to build for the story and kept my interested. I also really liked the pace that the book took. It could have easily went faster, ending up with a very confusing and muddled up story that people would have to re-read in order to understand all that was happening, but Rebekkah kept it slow and clear. The characters all seemed to be very well developed and have their own personalities and really stuck with their true selves through out the entire story. I recommend this novel to those who are into young adult fantasies.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 4/5

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Author Bio:

Rebekkah Ford grew up in a family that dealt with the paranormal. Her parents' Charles and Geri Wilhelm were the Directors of the UFO investigators League in Fairfield, Ohio, back in the 1970's. They also investigated ghost hauntings and Bigfoot sightings in addition to UFO's. Growing up in this type of environment and having the passion for writing is what drove Rebekkah at an early age to write stories dealing with the paranormal. At one point in her life, she thought she wanted to be a journalist, and although she enjoyed writing articles, she quickly discovered her real passion was writing fiction. Her fascination with the paranormal is what led her to write the 'Beyond the Eyes' series.

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