Welcome to Seeing Night Reviews stop on the Deceived blog tour hosted by YA Bound Book Tours. Click HERE to see the full blog tour schedule!
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
GENRE: YA Contemporary
THEME: Mystery, Romance, and Thriller
RECEIVED: Tour
BLURB:
Ever since she could remember, Elle has had to hop from town to town to keep up with her dad's demanding career as a corporate insurance agent. Each time, a reoccurring nightmare followed her wherever she went--until the day that the frightening figures haunting her at night became all too real. When news of a serial killer spreads throughout her new school, Elle worries that the Reaper has been leaving her his calling card in the form of cigarette butts on her doormat and an unusual ribbon in her locker. With the help of Brian, a boy she meets at a flea market, she discovers that this isn't her first encounter with the murderer and that her father has been concealing her true identity for the past twelve years. But despite her father's desperate attempts to protect her, Elle still comes face to face with the darkness she has been running from her whole life. Trapped in the woods and with help hundreds of miles away, will Elle be able to confront the Reaper and reclaim the life she lost?
REVIEW:
I’m always on the look out for something new, with Deceived I got a mystery thriller that had me guessing until the very end. There were so many twists that started connecting the dots from the characters young age to the present. Lindsey crafted a great amount of suspense, adding in touches of humor, romance and characters that were easy to connect too.Deceived follows Elle a senior and new student Francine Frances boarding school. All her life she has moved town to town because of her dad’s job, now she finally found a school and friends she likes. But she is still having her night terrors, she feels she’s being watched and a ribbon reminding her of her past is randomly left in her locker. Not only that, but the boy Bryan she met one day at a flea market suddenly shows up at her school and is everywhere she is. Elle soon discovers she in danger, her life has had many secrets and Bryan is apart of it.
Elle hasn’t had it easy, moving from one town to the next doesn’t really leave time to make friends or have a place to call home. Once she starts at her new boarding school, she easily connects with her wild roommate Pixie and the boy she crushed on at a random flea market is now at her school. But she has always been cautious, paranoid and then some. Having her father making it even harder since he is always concerned about her safety, even though he’s always away for work. What was great about Elle is that she was determined to get to the bottom of all the coincidence that start happening. She is also extremely brave for someone who knows there is danger out there and she still heads out by herself. I did however feel that was kind of carless of her that she wanders around a lot alone. Her relationship with her best friend pixie was fun and added some humor to the more serious tones. Overall her family past connect to the danger is key to the plot and the readers get to kind of solve the mystery with Elle.
Bryan is probably one of the biggest mysterious until about a little less than half way through. The readers will be shocked by his secrets and I actually loved the idea behind his character. He’s an overall great guy, who just followed his heart and also takes his job very seriously. I adored his entire family and loved the warmth and liveliness that they brought to Elle when they meet her. The only thing that I didn’t really agree on was the insta-love, I wished there was more of a growth or at least a more subtle approach to how they connected. But nonetheless I loved their bond, their adorable scenes, and the protective nature he has with Elle.
Overall I think this story rocked, the mystery was so suspenseful and how the danger was connect to Elle and her family, as well as Bryan. I don’t want to give too much away but I will say the villain is uber creepy and so well written it gave me chills. There are lot of surprises, and some pieces I felt happened a little fast and would have been better if explain in a bit more detail. Elle discovers she’s been deceived, which of course is a great title, eh? In the mix of it all she has to leave a lot behind to learn more about the danger she should be trying to get away from. I will definitely be looking out for more work from Lindsey, she brought to life a mystery that unfolded through a bunch of secrets within secrets that all came together in the end nicely.
RECOMMENDATION:
This is a young adult novel that will have you on the edge of your seat and make you take a second look over your shoulders. Fans of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl and Kelly Armstrong’s Omens will enjoy Deceived by Julie Anne Lindsey.
Julie Anne Lindsey is a multi-genre author who writes the stories that keep her up at night. In 2013, Julie welcomes five new releases in three genres including her newest title, DECEIVED, a YA suspense from Merit Press, and her first cozy mystery, MURDER BY THE SEASIDE, book one in the Patience Price, Counselor at Large series from Carina Press (a digital imprint of Harlequin).
Julie is a self-proclaimed word nerd who would rather read than almost anything else. She started writing to make people smile. Someday she plans to change the world. Most days you'll find her online, amped up on caffeine and wielding a book.
Julie is a member of the International Thriller Writers (ITW), Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI), Sisters in Crime (SinC) and the Canton Writer’s Guild.
Find her online:
Prize Pack 1-5 US Only Prize Pack 6 International
No comments:
Post a Comment