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Jacquelyn Wheeler

Autor von Rising Shadow

3 Werke 36 Mitglieder 12 Rezensionen

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Beinhaltet den Namen: Jacquelyn Wheeler

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Werke von Jacquelyn Wheeler

Rising Shadow (2009) 28 Exemplare
Merger (2010) 7 Exemplare
Fracture (2011) 1 Exemplar

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I went into Rising Shadow completely blind, all I knew about the story was that there was a race called Soterians that are created when evil begins to outweigh good in the world. Interesting premise! After reading so many books in a row about paranormals, and people with special powers, I was looking for a different take on the subject. My hope was that the Soterians would sate my need for some superhero goodness with a bit of a twist.

The story starts with a flash forward look at the ending, and therefore begins with a big bang! As I opened the first page, I was immersed. Jacquelyn definitely picked the perfect opening to the book. It pulls you in and makes you want to keep reading. Sadly, this pace doesn't continue throughout the book. As I was getting to know the characters and their friends, the story was getting slower and slower paced. There were pages I found my eyes glued to every word, and then other pages where it seemed as though nothing was going on.

One thing that I did love about this book was the cast of characters and their diversity. From the hot headed Michael, to the sweet and patient Rebecca, I found myself adoring the way they interacted with one another. It was refreshing to see romance present in the book without it overpowering the overall story line. However my one gripe was that Ashlyn was often extremely selfish when it came to the team. I kept trying to remind myself that it made her more human and realistic, but honestly it was a bit frustrating to read.

Overall I enjoyed Rising Shadow enough to finish it and I did love the ending! If the pacing had been a bit better, I truthfully would have loved the story even more. Jacquelyn Wheeler has created a new world, complete with the superhero twist that I was looking for! I'm looking forward to diving into her new book, Merger and finding out what happens to Ashlyn and her crew.
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roses7184 | 10 weitere Rezensionen | Feb 5, 2019 |
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.

Quick & Dirty: Great idea but I felt a big disconnect with the story and I had a hard time getting through it.

Opening Sentence: Suddenly, the road ahead of us was a mosaic of red brake lights, and traffic slowed to a stop.

The Review:

Ashlyn Woods has just gotten into her dream college. In high school she partied a little too much and didn’t get the grades she needed to get into a good college. So she went to community college for two years and worked a crappy job to save up to go to UCSB. She will start her junior year there and can’t wait to leave her old life behind. She had a crappy boyfriend she broke up with and friends that weren’t very supportive. Upon arriving to her new life Ashlyn makes some new friends and even meets a great new guy. Then things start to get weird.

The balance between good and evil has shifted and someone needs to help restore it. Turns out Ashlyn is a Soterian: a person that develops supernatural powers to help restore balance. Ashlyn has always dreamed about flying and now she actually can, and that’s not her only power. With a team of other Soterian’s by her side she fights to stop an evil villain that could destroy the world as we know it. But once everything goes back to normal so will Ashlyn. She doesn’t know if she will be able to deal with living her dreams and then have them taken away. Is it worth loving and losing then to have never loved at all?

Honestly, I had a really hard time with the characters in this book. Ashlyn is the protagonist and I felt that she was a really weak character. She was really wishy-washy when it came to making decisions which really bugged me. One moment she would be this strong confident women and the next moment she would be totally insecure. She has worked so hard to get where she’s at and then all the sudden she makes a whole bunch of life changing decisions at the drop of a hat. It was like she was bi-polar and that really didn’t work for me.

Kai is the love interest in the story and I don’t really get why Ashlyn was so smitten with him. I get that he is good looking and wants to be a rockstar, but once again Ashlyn is suppose to be this put together girl and dating someone like him didn’t really fit. He dropped out of college to pursue a music career and now he has decided to move across the country because he feels like it. Sure, he was sweet and trusting but really he had nothing else going for him. Their love was total instalove and there was no development at all. They meet one time and the next time they see each other they are professing their undying love for each other. So suffice to say, I wasn’t a huge fan of them being together.

This book was a pretty bad read for me. I have my little list of pet peeves that I can’t stand in books and this hit pretty much all of them. It seemed that everything conveniently worked out, and it was very predictable. Also, I felt that the writing was too descriptive. There was really nothing left for the reader to imagine on their own. I obviously didn’t connect with the characters very well. I felt that for their age all of the characters should have been more mature and put together and they just weren’t. So that all being said, I know that there are people who would not agree with me. This book actually has decent reviews on Goodreads so if you are intrigued by the synopsis, by all means give it a try and hopefully you have a better experience than I did.

Notable Scene:

I was falling in love with Kai, the most amazing person I’d ever met, and he was falling for me, too.

Pull, pull, pull, breathe.

I had inexplicably levitated, and Rebecca was reading people’s feelings, meaning that we were either crazy or freaks of nature.

Pull, pull, pull, breathe.

Speaking of freaks, I had professor Gordon’s class again tomorrow. I had to decide whether I was going to drop the class or just tough it out.

Pull, pull, pull, breathe.

Gordon kept pressing me to come to his office hours…

And then suddenly, I knew what I had to do. The connection was so simple, so clear now. I jumped out of the pool and ran to the locker rooms, where I showered and dressed as quickly as I could. I practically sprinted to the religious studies building. I wasn’t sure whether he would be there that early, but it was worth a shot.

I found his office and knocked on the door. As soon as my knuckles touched the wood, the door opened, and Professor Gordon was standing there with a slight smile on his face.

“Come in, Ashlyn. We’ve been expecting you.”

FTC Advisory: Jacquelyn Wheeler provided me with a copy of Rising Shadow. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
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DarkFaerieTales | 10 weitere Rezensionen | Aug 17, 2013 |
Merger is an enjoyable second book in the series. The Soterians are great to read about and it is such a unique concept how their powers are distributed and how they work.
Ashlyn is once again a great main character with a voice that is fun to read, and it is ever so easy to get caught up in her world. She is easy to relate to because she is not perfect, but she is working through her problems. She deals with jealousy and assuming the worst in a situation and I can totally understand how that feels and how easy it is to fall into.
There is still action, but not quite as much in this book. It is really interesting to see how they tackle corruption from politicians and corporations and the widespread effects. While there was less action, there was a lot of character building. I got to know and love the secondary characters. Jesse was my favorite, as they spend more time together. He is funny and a very real character.
Merger is well paced, and I was never bored, and I am craving for the next book! The Soterians is a great series, and it is a wonderful world to get lost in.
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brandileigh2003 | Dec 2, 2010 |
I had previously heard about this book and when an ARC tour of it was announced I didn't hesitate to join. The idea of the Soterians is very unique and was a joy to learn about. It started out decent but felt like the author was trying too hard to push into our heads the idea that something was up with Ashlyn, the main character. But at about 60 pages in, that feeling fades away and it really starts picking up. New characters are introduced throughout the book and just when I thought I had everything figured out there was a twist in place.

As far as the action and romance went, Wheeler couldn't go wrong. The characters of Ashyln and Kai were meant to be together.

This novel involves a lot of politics. If you aren't a politcal person and think that just because this books talks a lot about politics that it won't be for you, then you are wrong. The Soterians can be helpful in any situation(I am sure of it!!), it just so happens in this book, its a politcal backdrop(I hear the next one is financial).

It's exciting to see YA go into a different direction. I've never read anything quite like this, and I think that's one of the reasons why I enjoyed it so much. It's new and refreshing.

I look forward to the sequel, titled Merger, which was released March 18th.
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ssalach21 | 10 weitere Rezensionen | Nov 19, 2010 |

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Werke
3
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36
Beliebtheit
#397,831
Bewertung
½ 3.6
Rezensionen
12
ISBNs
5