Title: Essence
Author: A L Waddington
Genre: YA Fantasy
Reviewer: Aly
Book Blurb:
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:
The writing was good in this novel but I also found that it took me a while to get into this book. I wasn’t hooked right from the beginning and that occasionally made things a little more difficult. But once I was into the book it became all I could do to put it down and sleep or study. The plot is certainly unique. I don’t think I’ve ever read of something like this and that added to the story.
The frustrating thing about Essence is how long it takes to get an explanation for why she’s fainting around Jackson and seeing this other life. It made me want to read on, definitely but at the same time I was just growing annoyed with the fact that we didn’t get any answers until later in the book.
This approach did give me time to slip into the book a bit more deeply as well as learning about the two main characters, Jocelyn and Jackson. The book is told from Jocelyn’s perspective, both present and past and this adds to the confusion about what is going on because you’re not only feeling her confusion but also yours as well. Not to mention you also felt the emotions of Jocelyn which just made you find it in your heart to love Jackson, even though you know he knows what’s going on and you just want to shake him down for answers. (True story. If I could have I would have.)
While Essence didn’t hook me right from the beginning it was a unique story, and one that will have you trying to think of any explanation that you can to satisfy your curiosity. Which can actually be fun because you come up with the weirdest things ever but the actual explanation when it comes is something that you would probably never really guess. It was a good book, one that I enjoyed.
Rating:
