Book Review: Gift by Andrea J. Buchanan

13450162Title: Gift
Author: Andrea J. Buchanan
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Romance, Ghosts
Age Group: Young Adult
Rating: 3 stars
Purchase: Amazon

Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Daisy has an electrifying secret that could save her life—or kill her
High school sophomore Daisy Jones is just trying to get by unnoticed. It doesn’t help that she’s the new girl at school, lives in a trailer park, and doesn’t even own a cell phone. But there’s a good reason for all that: Daisy has a secret, unpredictable power—one only her best friend, Danielle, knows about.  Despite her “gift” (or is it a curse?), Daisy’s doing a good job of fitting in, and a gorgeous senior named Kevin even seems interested in her! But when Daisy tries to help Vivi, a mysterious classmate in a crisis, she soon discovers that her new friend has a secret of her own. Now Daisy and her friends must deal with chilling dreams and messages from the beyond. Can Daisy channel the power she’s always tried to hide, before it’s too late?

Gift was a so-so read. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either. Daisy is a loner, but she doesn’t mind. She’d go by unnoticed by everyone, if she had the choice. But unfortunately for her, she has a secret power only her best friend – and only friend – Danielle knows about. She can send out electric waves and feel another person’s energy. Telling Danielle about is was tough enough, but then she’s stuck with Vivi, a shy, mysterious classmate in crisis, who has a few secrets of her own. Vivi is convinced she can talk to her soulmate, Patrick.

While the book hs an intriguing premise, and it’s that premise that drew me to the book in the first place, it fails to execute it well. Daisy is kind of like a Mary Sue on fire. Not only can she feel other people’s energy, then she can suddenly create force fields, then there’s ghosts, dreams of the past, soulmates. It’s all too much when cramped into one book.

There weren’t enough explanations for why certain things happened, and all in all, it felt more like a middle grade than a young adult book.

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