Review: Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz

(Spellbound, #1)
By: Cara Lynn Shultz
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: June 28, 2011
Genre: Paranormal YA
Pages: 344
Source: NetGalley
Format: eBook
Rating: I loved it!

Life hasn’t been easy on sixteen-year-old Emma Conner, so a new start in New York may be just the change she needs. But the posh Upper East Side prep school she has to attend? Not so much. Friendly faces are few and far between, except for one that she’s irresistibly drawn to—Brendan Salinger, the guy with the rock-star good looks and the richest kid in school, who might just be her very own white knight.
But even when Brendan inexplicably turns cold, Emma can’t stop staring. Ever since she laid eyes on him, strange things have been happening. Streetlamps go out wherever she walks, and Emma’s been having the oddest dreams. Visions of herself in past lives—visions that warn her to stay away from Brendan. Or else.

My thoughts...
For being a debut author I felt that Cara did an amazing job. This book dragged me in and had me reading it until 4am... when I had to get up only a few hours later. Very rarely do I fall "head over feet" in love with a book, usually I like a book and get sucked in but I wouldn't really reread it again. However, this book has be lining up to buy it when it comes out. I really wish that I was in NYC for the book release and signing that Cara is doing.

Okay on to the good stuff and I promise that I won't give anything away. At first I had no idea what the cover meant. It is rare that you find a book that doesn't have just a posing girl in a ball gown or the typical head shot. So I was intrigued to see that the cover was of a girl (small compared to cover) walking under a bursting street lamp on a bridge. After reading the book it all makes sense since this is a significant (in my point of view) turning point in the book. That is when you realize something isn't quite right. Street lamps don't normally burn out and shatter one right after the other down the street, they just don't do that. So it was a breath of fresh air to finally see someone who put some extra thought into the cover art.

I liked that the story didn't sweat on the small stuff leaving you skimming pages just to get back to the story. Cara Lynn Shultz gave you just enough information to draw a picture in your head without over doing it. However, with that being said there were some parts that I just didn't like. First off, the secondary characters that were introduced didn't really play a huge part in the book after the initial introduction. Like her friend Cisco for instance, he is the first guy that is nice to her and he invites her out to see a band play but then he sort of just falls off the face of the planet. Okay, maybe there are a few cameos with him in it towards the middle to the end but I sort of feel like he was only there to introduce Emma and Brendan and that's it. The same thing can be said about Angelique even though she does appear a tiny bit more than Cisco due to her being a witch and having knowledge about the reincarnation scenario, she still doesn't pop up a whole lot towards the end either. It sort of felt like Cara Lynn Shultz forgot about the other characters in the book. The other thing that I was not really sure about was the insane rage that Anthony has. After a while I started thinking "Maybe he is possessed by the devil?" and then it turns out... nope he is just plain insane. I don't know if this is number one in a series or a stand alone book but I was sort of disappointed at the fact that they introduce Angelique who is a witch and yet there is no crazy spell casting.

My favorite part of the book:
Let's talk a bit about Brendan. Really, how could I not? Sometimes YA books can get a little cheesy and sometimes over do the whole "first love" thing but I think that it was adorable. my favorite part was when Brendan opted to drink bottled water over beer because he didn't want Emma to feel weird since she was the only one not drinking alcohol. Of course this is after he gives her his hoodie when he notices that she is cold. Chivalry is not dead in this boy, not in the least.


My favorite quote in the book is:
When Emma's aunt Christine tells her that she needs a haircut. She then proceeds to go on saying "You look like the girl from The Ring. And not the blonde one. The wet one. You need a haircut." "You can't go around looking like you're about to climb out of my television set." - This had me cracking up, rereading it and laughing all over again at it.