Sixteen-year-old Maya is just an ordinary teen in an ordinary town. Sure, she doesn't know much about her background - the only thing she really has to cling to is an odd paw-print birthmark on her hip - but she never really put much thought into who her parents were or how she ended up with her adopted parents in this tiny medical-research community on Vancouver Island.
Until now.
Strange things have been happening in this claustrophobic town - from the mountain lions that have been approaching Maya to her best friend's hidden talent for "feeling" out people and situations, to the sexy new bad boy who makes Maya feel . . . . different. Combine that with a few unexplained deaths and a mystery involving Maya's biological parents and it's easy to suspect that this town might have more than its share of skeletons in its closet.
So I picked this book up because I'm a fan of Kelley's Darkest Power series, if you've read those you know that they are kind of a supernatural thriller with some romance thrown in, and they're a tad bit dark, by dark I mean scary and not very happy go lucky, less laughs more thrills. So that is what I was kind of expecting from this book.
I really enjoyed Maya as the main character, I loved her interactions with her parents and the confidence she had in herself. I also liked the way she approached Rafe (the sexy bad boy) she wasn't taking his bull, even if she did find him a little bit really sexy. That said I did like Rafe, he seemed nice and I did believe that he cared for Maya, however I would have to say that if Armstrong decided to create a love triangle between Maya, Rafe and Daniel (Maya's best friend) I would have to side with Daniel. Daniel was nice and loyal, and I loved him!
The plot line of this book seemed predictable at first, but the end had me going "ummm what just happened?" I loved loved loved the shape-shifter thing, it's a paranormal aspect that I've always found intriguing but I feel like is never brought up outside of werewolves. I also liked how this book had serious parts but still had parts that made me laugh, quite hard in fact. As I said before Armstrong's Darkest Powers series was lacking in the laughs so the fact that this book had a lighter aspect was a surprise.
This book left me longing for the next book, and intrigued by the beautiful cover! The earring! The dark hair! The red lips! Give me more Maya, Daniel, and Rafe please!
Zahra, Kali, and Syd would never have met if their parents' marriages hadn't fallen apart. But when the three girls collide in group counseling, they discover they have something else in common: they've each been triple-timed by the same nefarious charmer, Eric, aka Rico, aka Rick. Talk about eye-opening therapy.
Cheerful, diplomatic Zahra is devastated. Rico had been her rock and sole confidant. How could she have missed the signs? Folksy, flirtatious Kali feels almost as bad. She and Rick had only been on a few dates, but they'd felt so promising. Hardened vintage-vixen Syd is beyond tears. She and Eric had real history... Or so she'd thought. Now all three girls have one mission: to show that cheater the folly of his ways.
Project Payback is such a success, the girls soon have clients lining up for their consulting services. Is your boyfriend acting shady? Dying to know if your crush is into you? Need match-making expertise? Look no further than Love, Inc.
So I saw this book a few months ago on another blog and thought it sounded great and of course promptly forgot about it, then a few weeks ago I saw it on my to-read list and picked it up from the library, and I'm so happy I did!
Within the first few pages of this book I could tell that I was going to like it mainly because I instantly liked Zahra. Zahra is someone that I could see myself being friends with, she's sweet and funny, and a little bit snarky when it comes to her family. In fact her interactions with her family were some of my favorite parts of the book since it was so unexpected, you think you're going to read a silly break-up story but BAM you get a little struggling-with-my-heritage thrown in. Anyways, back to the characters...... I didn't really like Kali and Syd at first but they grew on me, kind of like they grew on Zahra. I loved them for their unique personalities,and their problems, I actually teared up a few times when we got to see Syd's interactions with her family, and her reaction to the break-up with "Rico".
The storyline of this book was just fantastic, at first I was surprised at the length, since it seemed relatively long for a YA contemporary novel, but I actually thought it was the perfect length! In fact I wanted more! I guess you could say I kind of predicted the end, but I was still pleasantly surprised at the way it turned out, and I definitely laughed out loud at a few of the situations Zahra got herself into.
So if you enjoy love stories, revenge stories, stories about friendship, or stories about a girl struggling with her broken family, then this is definitely a book to consider picking up!
