I'm taking a quick breather from The Four Flavors of Summer to spotlight upcoming YA debut, SPELLBOUND by Cara Lynn Shultz! Thanks to Kismet Book Touring for the great opportunity and you can stop by HERE for the rest of the tour stops. Scroll down for my review and giveaways! :)
You can find Cara on her: {website} · {twitter} · {facebook}
You can find Brendan on his: {twitter} · {facebook}
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Summary:
What’s a girl to do when meeting The One means she’s cursed to die a horrible death?Life hasn’t been easy on sixteen-year-old Emma Conner, so a new start in New York may be just the change she needs. But the posh Upper East Side prep school she has to attend? Not so much. Friendly faces are few and far between, except for one that she’s irresistibly drawn to—Brendan Salinger, the guy with the rock-star good looks and the richest kid in school, who might just be her very own white knight.
But even when Brendan inexplicably turns cold, Emma can’t stop staring. Ever since she laid eyes on him, strange things have been happening. Streetlamps go out wherever she walks, and Emma’s been having the oddest dreams. Visions of herself in past lives—visions that warn her to stay away from Brendan. Or else.
My Thoughts:
Honestly? I wasn’t that excited going into SPELLBOUND. As much as I love me some “rock-star good looks,” there wasn’t much that really popped out at me. New girl attracting the school’s “it” guy, true love reincarnated, and a prep school setting in NYC? What else is new? Actually, Cara Lynn Shultz had a few new tricks tucked up her sleeve...
The first third didn’t do much to prove me wrong. Brendan is hot and all, but he plays the hot-and-cold game à la Katy Perry. And like many YA girls out there, Emma falls for him in that inexplicable and annoyingly-superficial manner. The love-at-first-sight thing is my largest issue with love reincarnated plots and SPELLBOUND seemed to only serve as justification for my wariness. Everything else didn’t get off to a much better start. Emma quickly gets close-and-personal with the ice bitch, the gay friend, and the man ho and proceeds to feel lonely and isolated. Right.
BUT then I saw the light. I saw the sweet, understanding of Brendan and true basis for their feelings for each other. I saw Emma being brave and proactive. I saw then clinging on to that hope. I saw the plot thickening and moving away from an elite prep school and towards the more sinister paranormal workings. SPELLBOUND is definitely one of those books that had me on the brink of sighing in defeat but realy redeemed itself in the latter portion. The plot was fleshed out nicely and I had a hard time putting it down.
What I loved the most was SPELLBOUND's authentic teen voice. Cara Lynn Shultz is spot on with her humor and jokes, so spot on that it feels like I’m talking to a high school friend. The bits of funny kept me plowing through the dark times and shine as one the more memorable aspects of the book.
Ultimately, SPELLBOUND isn't exceptionally amazing, but it’s enjoyable. I didn’t connect that deeply with any of the characters and the ending was slightly anticlimactic, but it was a light, fun read that flowed easily in both writing and plot. And, hey, it's a standalone with a satisfying ending. :)
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY
· In order to enter to win a iPod nano including the Spellbound Playlist and covered in a GelaSkin of Spellbound's cover art, you must collect the pink highlighted words the text messages between Brendan and Emma that are provided each day at the individual tour stops. The daily words can be joined together in sequential order to create the winning secret message. Once you've constructed the winning secret message, you will need to enter that message on Spellbound's tour home page .
· No purchase, affiliation, status as follower to a certain blog or any other association is required to enter.
· Winner of the iPod give-away will be announced on Cara's homepage on Tuesday, July 5th.
The rest of the tour dates:
June, 13th - The Page Turners / Character Interview , Brendan
June 14th - Candace's Book Blog / Guest Post
June 15th - Baffled Books
June 16th - Hooked To Books /Guest Post, Playlist
June 17th - Truly Bookish
June, 20th - Paranormal Opinion
June 21st - Mission to Read /Interview with Cara
June 22nd - Reading Angel / Character Interview, Emma
June 23rd - Miss Page Turners
June 24th - Books At Midnight
June, 27th - Pure Imagination
June 28th - (Spellbound Book Birthday!) - The Unread Reader special Guest post
June 29th - Bookish Delights
June 30th - Mimosa Stimulus / Guest post
July 1st - writers write, right? /special Guest post
Tuesday, July 5th: Announcement of the big prize winner on Cara's Site!
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GIVEAWAY
In addition to participating in the grand prize giveaway, I also have the chance to giveaway one finished copy of SPELLBOUND!
Rules:
• To enter, fill out the form below.
** You must be at least 13 years old to enter.
• Open to U.S. and Canada addresses
• Contest ends Friday, July 1st at 11:59 EST
• For more information, please view my contest policy.
