Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Review: Deception by Lee Nichols

(summary from goodreads)

When Emma Vaile's parents leave on mysterious business trip, it gives her the perfect excuse to be a rebellious teen. Throw some parties, get a tattoo (or maybe just a piercing), and enjoy the first few weeks of her junior year. Then her best friend stops talking to her, the cops crash her party, and Emma finds herself in the hands of a new guardian—her college-age "knight in J.Crew armor," Bennett Stern—and on a plane to his museum-like mansion in New England. 

After enrolling at Thatcher Academy, Emma settles in by making friends with the popular legacy crowd. But she can't shake the strange visions that are haunting her. She has memories of Thatcher she can't explain, as if she's returning home to a place she's never been. Emma doesn't trust anyone anymore—except maybe Bennett. But he's about to reveal a ghostly secret to Emma. One that will explain the visions . . . and make Emma fear for her life.


Review: There were many things that I liked about this book, and, unfortunately, there were also some unlikeable parts.


I'm going to start with the good. This book had some very likable characters and a very good story line. I usually get sick of the whole "girl finds out she has immense unknown power" plot, but this book was different. Although Emma did find out she had immense power she didn't jump in headfirst and save the world with it. She practiced and learned how to control it. 


As for my complaints, they're not really complaints. They're just things that I didn't understand or were left unanswered. Since I'm feeling lazy today I'm simply going to make a list. But be warned, spoilers may be ahead if you haven't read the book.
(1) I didn't see the importance of Abby. She took up maybe 20 pages in the whole book and had virtually nothing to do with the plot.
(2) Were the guardianship papers real or fake? Or am I looking too much into this? Because when Emma asked Bennett about it he never did answer her.
(3) Why didn't her family tell her?! And why are they hiding from her?
(4) Why did Neoss want Emma? Was it because of when she was little or did he want her then too for some reason?


Like all books that are the first in a series I try and give it the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps the author is setting up the next book in which all of my questions will be answered.


Never the less, I encourage those who enjoy a good ghost story to go out and read this. Although there are some questions left unanswered the plot and characters made for a great read!  

1 comment:

Small Review said...

I don't remember why Neos wanted Emma so badly, but I think it had something to do with her power being unique. When he took her blood when she was young it gave him a lot of power. Aaargh, my copy is in the mail but when it gets here I'm going to have to check on this.

I totally agree about her parents! Their actions seem so messed up! I think they're going to play a larger role in the sequel as Emma starts to investigate her mother's message, necklace, and involvement more. I hope they have a good explanation for hiding the truth from her and then running away.

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