Sweet Hitchhiker

 

Published:  October 1st, 2013

The Beautiful and the Damned

By: Jessica Verday

Simon Pulse

ISBN-13:  9781442488359

 

Cyn’s blackouts have deadly consequences in this sexy, suspenseful spinoff to the New York Times bestselling Hollow series.Cyn and Avian are far from a perfect match. She’s a witch who casts spells on men so she can steal their cars. He spends his time being judge, jury, and executioner to the truly evil in the supernatural realm.

When the blackouts Cyn’s been having ever since her time in Sleepy Hollow start escalating, she finds herself unable to remember where she’s been or what she’s been doing. Frightened, she seeks guidance at a local church, and it’s there she meets Avian.

The unlikely pair soon discovers that her blackouts are a side effect of what she truly is—an Echo—a conduit for souls of the dead. The only way to prevent Cyn from losing complete control is to return to Sleepy Hollow and vanquish the source of her power—but she may not survive the process. And if she does? She won’t ever be the same...

 

Review

 

     Cyn is on the run from her life right now, starting over with a new identity.  If only she wasn't blacking out and losing chunks of time where someone else has control of her body, using it to do horrifying things.  What is sharing Cyn's body?  And did it cause her to kill her boyfriend Hunter, the love of her life?  Maybe with the help of Avian, also known as Thirteen, who is a Revenant and belongs in neither Heaven or Hell.  Half angel and half demon, Avian no longer wants to get mixed up with Echoes (people possessed with souls of the deceased, sharing their bodies) and at first avoids Cyn at all costs.  But when Father Montgomery, the priest helping them both, is murdered and Cyn gets in over her head he decides to try and bail her out.  Is it too late, or can Cyn be saved from the monsters within?

     I originally was a pretty large fan of the initial Hollow trilogy.  At least until the third book, when I feel like the series completely fell apart.  I don't even know why I decided to read this one, seeing as I honestly didn't enjoy numbers 2 or 3 in the last series and its a companion novel.  I was intrigued though, so I decided to read it anyways.  I was not very impressed to say the least.  I felt like while the action kept the plot moving along fairly well, that the world-building didn't allow for newcomers to really understand everything that was happening.  I enjoyed the cameo with Abbey and Caspian near the end of the book, when Cyn and Avian head back to Sleepy Hollow but I felt like it was kind of cheesy all the same. 

     I am not a very big fan of undying, clichéd romantic relationships so I wasn't all that invested in Cyn and Avian's slow burn for each other.  I did like that they weren't involved with one another right away though, as insta-love would have been ten times worse.  The coolest part of this book was the mystery behind whether or not Cyn was being possessed and what it meant to be an Echo sharing a body with the soul of a Revenant, especially since the Revenant was trying to kill her.  I did like Cyn for the most part, but I felt like I didn't get to know her all that well either.  This book was kind of short for any in depth character development, or real backstory on what makes her tick.  And the conclusion about Avian's dead girlfriend's soul made me roll my eyes.  I found myself skimming pages and just trying to get finished.  So in the end, all I can really say is that this definitely was NOT the book for me personally.  Maybe the whole angel/demon thing would appeal more to someone else and make up for the pretty weak writing in this one.

 

VERDICT:  2/5  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.  This book was published October 1st, 2013.*