Elixir
Elixirby Hilary Duff
As the daughter of a renowned surgeon and a prominent Washington D.C. politician, Clea Raymond has felt the glare of the spotlight her entire life. And though she dreads the paparazzi who track her every move, she herself is a talented photojournalist who takes refuge in a career that allows her to travel to the most exotic parts of the world.But after Clea’s father disappears while on a humanitarian mission, eerie, shadowy images of a strange and beautiful young man begin to appear in Clea’s photos—a man she has never seen in her life.When Clea suddenly encounters this man in person she is stunned—and feels an immediate and powerful connection. As they grow closer, they are drawn deep into the mystery behind her father’s disappearance and discover the centuries-old truth behind their intense bond.Torn by a dangerous love triangle and haunted by a powerful secret that holds their fate, together they race against time to unravel their past in order to save their future—and their lives. (goodreads.com)
This book was brought to you by Jenny @ Wondrous Reads. She kindly sent it to me! I admit that I had my reservations about a book written by Hilary Duff. You know you all did. I mean, former Disney start of Lizzy Maguire, turned pop singer, turned author? Can this be taken seriously?The book was much better than I was expecting and had an original plot so that made turning the pages easier. I did have some issues with the story (especially towards the end) but overall this was a pretty entertaining read. I'm impressed. I am curious though as to how much was Duff and how much was the "with Elise Allen" contribution.One of my biggest issues with the ending of the book is that Clea suddenly seems to lose complete interest in what happened to her father. The entire point of the story at the start is all about how she is determined to figure out where and how her father vanished. I would have thought when she got to Magda finally that she'd ask HER where her father was, but no. Not one mention of what happened to her father happens in the last third of the book. It's suddenly all about her and Sage and these extremely cheesily named groups - Cursed Vengeance (REALLY?!) and Saviors of Eternal Life. And what the heck happened in the end? Clea made a phone call and everything went to pot? I had no idea what happened in the last chapter at all.Obviously this book will have a sequel (I didn't know when I started it that Duff was signed for a trilogy) and I felt that the ending was all chaotic and discombobulated just to build a need for a second book. Will I read it? Yes. Why? Because the overall story was rather interesting and I didn't hate the characters (ok, I didn't like Sage). I also want to know what the heck happened to Clea's father - even I seem to be the ONLY one who still cares about that if you take the book into account.The day after I finished reading Elixir I saw that Simon & Schuster was linking to the newly revealed cover of the next book Devoted which is scheduled to come out in October t his year. I think it was very nice of them to cater directly to me. Thanks, Simon & Schuster! ;)Elixir series (is anyone else getting tired of series that are all named after the first book? Or is it just me?)