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| The Lynburn Legacy #1 |
Rating: 5/5
Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met . . . a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn’t silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn’t suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head.
But all that changes when the Lynburns return.
The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown—in fact, she’s determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him?
I wasn't sure what to expect coming into this book, it had an interesting sounding premise and good reviews so I thought id give it a go. It was a good choice. This book is a ray of sunshine amongst some of the other YA books I've read recently.
The characters were my favorite part if this book, they all had their own personality and everyone stood out for that reason. They came across as real teenagers with teenage personalities. It's great! Kami is a great lead female and im happy to report she's not TSTL. She doesn't go around pretending to be smart when her actions betray her a being stupid, she has sass and she can actually look after herself while still being believably flawed. I felt that all her actions and decisions, whether right or wrong, could be explained by her desire to be a journalist. In fact she kinda reminded me of Lois Lane in her tenacity and aspiration to get to the bottom of a story no matter what, for me it worked. The only thing that I found a bit annoying was the few times she reffered to Angela and Holly being so much hotter than her. However, it wasn't overdone and I guess we're all allowed a bit of self-consiousness.
Jared was a well written tortured character with anger issues, insecurities and all. But at the same time he was also very sweet, especially with Kami. By the end of the book I did feel like I needed more explanation for the way he was but considering there's more books in the series I wasn't too worried. I think my favourite line of Jared's had to be when he tols Kami that they should date.
As for the other characters I can't say there was one that felt flat. Angela was hilarious in her hatred for all people and her laziness. She was also kick-ass which is a huge plus. I loved how the relationship with Holly developed in the book. Ash was complex. And I loved the contrast between Kamis family with her awesome dad who picked on them and the Lynburns who were closed off and just a little mad.
The relationship was written very well. It wasn't insta-love which is a nice change. Kami and Jared had developed feelings for each other for many years even if they didn't know the other was real. And finally when they do realise it in the elevator it's not all sunshine and rainbows; it's difficult. Despite prior feelings for each other they do not follow on that easily. Yeah, feelings develop but there's this awkwardness and unsureness about it. They're no longer sure of their feelings and whether they're real or not. It just moves at a more natural pace than a lot of YA books at the moment where it's love and happiness at first sight.
The plot was also very good. It had enough intrigue to keep me interested and while I figured out some of the secrets there were others that I didn't see coming until they were on me. Clues and secrest were revealed throughout the book so I wasn't getting frustrated at the lack of revels despite the obviousness of it.
Unfortunately, now I have to wait until next year to get the next installment to find out what happens next and to hope that what happened at the end of the book will not be permanent.
