100 Pages A Day...Stephanie's Book Reviews

Maura DeLuca is coming to the end of her Junior year of high school.  Most of her high school career has been uneventful, with no real friends, Maura spends most of her time with her single and very overprotective mother, Caelyn.  That is until, Caelyn informs Maura that they will be moving to Vancouver, Canada at the end of the school year.  Once news of Maura's departure spreads, many of the popular kids want to invite Maura out suddenly.  When Maura's encounter with the popular crowd turns sour, Maura discovers an anger inside her.  Along with it she notices strange changes, something is happening to her teeth, her hair won't stop growing, her aversion to the sun seems worse and she has a craving for raw, bloody, meat.  The one good thing that came out of her Junior year is a new boyfriend, Ron. Ron is perfect in every way.  He is understanding of Maura's changes, and Caelyn even approves, too bad Maura is moving away in a few weeks. Maybe she'll use the time to figure out what is wrong with her.




This was an interesting YA paranormal read.  It does fall into many of the same patterns as some other YA paranormal, but is still engaging.  The first part really grabbed me, Maura seemed like a kindred spirit that I could easily relate to.  The writing easily conveyed Maura's emotional struggle as she dealt with school bullies, her mother's rules and the changes going on within her. The romance with Ron is really sweet and easy, I hope something more develops there.  It also seems that Ron may know more about Maura then she does herself, maybe he is hiding a secret, too.  The one thing that bothered me throughout the book is that once Maura caught on that something was different about herself, her mother did not do a great job reassuring her or just plain telling her what it was.  It is painfully obvious to the reader what is different about Maura, it is also obvious that her mother knows what is happening, but she almost waits until it is too late to reveal it to Maura.  Also,the pacing in the second half of the book, after Maura moves to Vancouver, is a little slow.  The second part alternates between Maura trying to figure out what is wrong with her and missing Ron.  The ending is slightly abrupt as it is revealed to Maura what she truly is; however I still look forward to the next installment to see what Maura does with this knowledge. 




This book was received for free in return for an honest review.