Silver Bells and Cockleshells

Expected Publication: October 2nd, 2012
Posion Princess (The Arcana Chronicles # 1)
By: Kresley Cole
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 9781442436640

Sixteen year old Evangeline “Evie” Greene leads a charmed life, until she begins experiencing horrifying hallucinations. When an apocalyptic event decimates her Louisiana hometown, Evie realizes her hallucinations were actually visions of the future—and they’re still happening. Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she must turn to her wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux.

But she can’t do either alone.

With his mile-long rap sheet, wicked grin, and bad attitude, Jack is like no boy Evie has ever known. Even though he once scorned her and everything she represented, he agrees to protect Evie on her quest. She knows she can’t totally depend on Jack. If he ever cast that wicked grin her way, could she possibly resist him?

Who can Evie trust?

As Jack and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have gotten the same call. An ancient prophesy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of twenty-two teens has been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it’s not always clear who is on which side….

Review

 

   Evie Greene was leading a great life with the perfect boyfriend, popularity and good friends.  Then she started to have visions about the end of the world, which led to her being committed to a mental hospital and brainwashed.  Now that she's out, Evie is ready to make a fresh start without any more psychic nightmares and predictions of doom.  But when the visions start up again and her drawings of them get the attention of Cajun bad-boy Jackson Deveaux, Evie begins to spiral out of control again.  So when the apocalypse really does happen, she and her Mom barely survive.  Struggling with the meaning of her visions, Evie and Jackson find out that the end hasn't quite happened yet and the worst is still on its way.  But when your blood gives life and you have secrets that could kill, who can you trust?  Will they survive when the truth comes out into the open?  Or are Evie and Jackson about to lost the fight once and for all?  This was an intriguing concept and I had never read anything by Kresley Cole before.  So I decided to give it a shot.  I couldn't put it down once I started reading!  Evie is a realistic portrayl of a teenage girl, who is by turns annoyingly weak and strong beyond her years.  The situation of love-hate with Jackson was funny and sad all at the same time.  They're two of the only surviving teens in the whole area around where they live.  Of course they would cling to what they know - represented by each other.  The idea of the apocalypse being a battle between the living embodiments of the tarot deck is something I doubt anyone else has ever thought of before.  The originality was very pleasing.  Some of my biggest complaints were how long it took before anything actually happened and Evie's stupid obsession with finding her Grandma (the one who knows about her place in the tarot and what it means).  She should focus more on surviving before worrying about finding someone who is 99 percent more likely to be dead than alive!  It also took almost  a fourth of the book before the apocalypse actually happened.  The beginning was filled with average high school happenings.  Yes, they gave a backstory.  But they also got boring after the first fifty pages or so.  I liked some of the plot twists, especially the ending which really shocked me.  I did not expect it AT ALL.  I will be reading the next one for sure when it comes out!  Not perfect by far, but a really good start to a fresh new YA series.

 

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

 

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. It will be available for purchase on October 2nd, 2012.*