Books4Tomorrow: REVIEW: "THE FALLEN STAR"

Thursday, December 27, 2012

REVIEW: "THE FALLEN STAR" - by Jessica Sorensen

“THE FALLEN STAR”

(Fallen Star, Book 1)

by Jessica Sorensen

REVIEWED BY: Ellen Fritz

OVERVIEW

For eighteen year-old Gemma, life has never been normal. Up until recently, she has been incapable of feeling emotion. And when she's around Alex, the gorgeous new guy at school, she can feel electricity that makes her skin buzz. Not to mention the monsters that haunt her nightmares have crossed over into real-life. But with Alex seeming to hate her and secrets popping up everywhere, Gemma's life is turning into a chaotic mess. Things that shouldn't be real suddenly seem to exist. And as her world falls apart, figuring out the secrets of her past becomes a matter of life and death.

REVIEW

I truly and thoroughly enjoyed reading “The Fallen Star”! Gemma, the main character, is still learning to deal with her newly awakened emotions, when Alex and his sister, Aislin, arrive at school. With their arrival, Gemma's life changes as she discovers that magic, witches, vampires and the monsters from her nightmares are real. As though that is not enough, she also starts having visions and becomes aware of some painful, scary secrets concerning her background. In the end she does not know who to believe or trust and betrayal becomes a nasty reality.

This book hooked me from the very first paragraph. Non-stop action, nail-biting suspense and monsters that can freeze their victim to death, kept me turning the pages. The well-crafted characters are realistic and their interaction can be highly amusing as well as touching. Gemma's inner dialogue had me smiling most of the time and her smart mouth made me laugh out loud.

The light romance between Gemma and Alex is tastefully worked into the story. Amidst the action and monster dodging there is also a fair amount of sadness that definitely brought tears to my eyes.

“The Fallen Star” is, however, not just all action and monster fighting but also about coming to terms with betrayal and the testing of loyalties. I highly recommend this book to readers of all ages and, as it ends with a magnificent cliff hanger, I, for one, can't wait to get hold of the next book in this series. Five Stars and a thumbs up for “The Fallen Star” and an excellent author!