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Thursday, July 12, 2012

BB(early)Review: "The Soul Seekers" By Amy Saia

Genre: Young Adult -Paranormal
Publishing Date: August 7th, 2012
Page Count: 274
Source: Sent to me by the author
Format: E-Book

Description from Goodreads.com:
When Emma's father dies, she and her mother move cross country to a small, boring town. Now the only constant in Emma Shay's new life is him. Beautiful, silent, him: the mysterious guy at the library she secretly calls Superman because of his dark, good looks. But Emma is puzzled and intrigued by his behavior. He speaks at her, but never to her. He comes up to touch her hair and then suddenly leaves. And then one day an impulsive meeting between them uncovers a strange truth about William Bennett.

Set in Southern Indiana during the summer of 1979, The Soul Seekers is about one girl and the future she tries to deny. Can she save William from his purgatory, or is she doomed to share his fate?

Review:
The Soul Seekers  is a very interesting novel! It is full of boys, trouble, a secret society, mystery, and love. It honestly has you questioning how it is going to end the entire time, because as soon as you think one thing will happen another thing happens to change that thought. I was really happy that it wasn't predictable at all. I had no idea how it was going to end until it did. Maybe others might guess it, but I know I sure didn't.

I also really like that it was set in 1979. I know sometimes when books are set in the past it kind of makes some people squirm, because they don't know if that is going to be a good thing or a bad thing. Or, sometimes people even question why it was set in the past in the first place, because it could have happened in the present. I didn't feel that way with this novel. I think setting it in the past was a great idea. Now, I do not know what it was like in the 1970's -1980's as I was not born until 1992, but I think it gave the novel a sort of innocence being set in the past. When you watch movies from that time period everything is kind of happy-go-lucky where any "big" problems really aren't too bad. It made it believable for what happened in the story, because I don't think what happened in this story could take place today and be told the same way. It would need major changes. The novel also kind of reminded me of the movie Pleasantville. Where everything is innocent and happy and then it turns bad. I could definitely see The Soul Seekers  being made into a movie and people really loving it!

I did enjoy Emma's character, but sometimes I kind of questioned her judgement. Sometimes she acted like the dumb girl from a scary movie who checks out noises in the basement by herself and then falls down running. Emma definitely had those tendencies sometimes which made me want to yell at her "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?! DON'T DO THAT!" lol I did also really like William and Jesse's characters. I liked Jesse the best, though, because we learned more about him. I really wish there were a few added pages to Emma and Will's relationship, because it happened a little too fast for me. I felt like one minute she was staring at him and then next she was in love, I mean she did say she loved him before he even talked to her. Also you could tell there was some history of Emma's gift and so I wish there was more story line between Emma and her Grandmother, because Emma's gift is never explained to her.

Overall:
I really liked The Soul Seekers  I do just wish there was a little more story line of Emma and Will's relationship so that it felt a little more real. I loved Jesse's character and think of his as the best one. I also wish there was a little more story line between Emma and her Grandmother. The setting of the story is completely believable and I wouldn't change it. I think it helps it a lot that it is set in the past. It reminds me of the movie Pleasantville in a way and I can really see this novel becoming a movie. If there was a little more story line between Emma and Will and her Grandma this would most likely definitely be a 4 or 5 star review, but it just lacked that little extra pop, but I still definitely enjoyed it =]

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥  3.75/5


*The cover photo and the description are from Goodreads.com. They are both linked to it. The novel was sent to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. All other work is of my own creation*