Review: Essence

Title: Essence (The EVE Series #1)

Author: A.L. Waddington

Page Count: 308

My Rating: 3.5 TURTLES: A very enjoyable read, I recommend you check it out.

Description:

Jocelyn Timmons does not believe she is anything special — just an ordinary high school senior, living an ordinary life full of school-work, volleyball and friends. She’s about to find out how wrong she is.

Jackson Chandler moved in to the house across the street. His dark wavy hair, green eyes and charismatic personality draws everyone to him. Everyone, but Jocelyn.

Whenever Jackson gets near Jocelyn she feels ill and dizzy. When he touches her, she blacks out and has visions of another life, in another time. As the odd hallucinations evolve and become clearer, she feels a strong pull towards the people she sees there. Frightened, she watches her once stable life begin to crumble around her and she begins to question her own sanity.

Could it be possible that these episodes are actually her own memories of a life she is living somehow, somewhere, some-when? Maybe this is time-travel or some other paranormal mysticism? Our minds often wander, but can our souls?

Review:

Essence is a YA, paranormal, historical romance that I received from the publicist in exchange for an honest review. I was very intrigued by the original premise and the story did not disappoint.

Waddington did a great job creating plots in both parallel timelines as she slowly starts to bring them together. There was momentum to the story all the way up to the end, where the author left me wanting to know what came next. I did not know (or remember?) off the bat that Essence was part of a series, so I was surprised when I was close to the end and the story was nowhere close to a resolution. I figured it out soon enough though, and now am excited and intrigued to see what direction the rest f the series takes.

I liked the story twelfth well enough to give it a solid four, and it was close, but I needed up giving it 3.5 for several main reasons. On if them being that at times there were really clunky or awkward sentences, and I found that I was rereading parts to see if I had read them right. There were also instances where I felt like there could have been more showing instead of telling. The last major thing for me was that I felt the explanation for why Jocelyn is leading two lives was anticlimactic. Most of the novel is leading up to Jocelyn finding out what is happening to her, and when I read to that point, I felt the explanation of the mechanics itself was an afterthought. Almost just saying, "just accept this because it is the premise of the book". This doesn't always bother me, but it did this time. It's possible that all will be made clear in the next installment, but for now it seems a bit inadequate.

Essence is a YA romance with a twist. I haven't come across a thing quite like it before, and am glad I did. I encourage you to check this one out.

Check Essence (The EVE Series Book 1) out on Amazon