Irina Elena's Reviews > Storm

Good... good. Very good. Nothing eartshaking, but hey, good is already more than I expected, since I haven't touched a het paranormal YA in months.
It looks like I read it in 8 days, but it was actually 4, with one long break in the middle. This means that no, I wasn't completely sucked in and sitting on the very edge of my seat, but while reading I was mighty interested in what was going to happen next. Good enough.

I was planning on talking at length about all the typically PNR-het-YA stuff that bugged me, but since I've had this review languishing in my brain/to-do list/fingers for ten days what I want right now is honestly to just get rid of it.
So: schoolgirl mooning over complete strangers, a love triangle (let's not even), pointless descriptions of clothing, secretly following people around (does anyone actually do that irl? Because it sure happens a lot in books), immediately accepting paranormality but then refusing to trust someone evidently trustworthy just to stick with the mysterious hippie guy (er... yes, I was team Chris. Oh dear. Team? I guess I haven't managed to exterminate my inner schoolgirl completely yet), people who say "crap" (SHIT. Shit. Shit).

BUT. There was a lot of good stuff too! Like the fact that all that testosterone was fogging up my phone screen. If I'm reading the next books for one reason, it's the Merrick brothers. I'm sure as hell not interested in the girls. *vaguely disgusted face*
I just love the guys' relationship, the way they fight and seem to want to kill each other all the fucking time yet gang up on an enemy or outsider in a second. It might not be the friendliest or most healthy attitude, but it's fantastic to see.
btw, I refuse to believe that the guys on the cover are the Merrick brothers. They look like complete tools.
Colton Haynes though. Oh god, I'd climb that like a squirrel. (You see? Everything goes back to Teen Wolf.)
So Colton Haynes is Chris, in my mind - as if I needed one more reason to want to lick him. Chris, that is. Not that I don't want to lick Colton Haynes. He (Chris) was just too adorable and natural and spontaneous and grumpy and just plain nice to resist. Plus he looks like Colton Haynes. (Humour me.)

Hunter, on the other hand, made my brain itch. He was cocky in that "I'm so cool I don't even need to rub it in your face" kinda way that is even worse that straight-out bragging, yet he still had this almost ethereal feel about him that confused me and annoyed me and made my leg automatically jump and kick the table everytime I read his name. If this was the author's intention, kudos; if it wasn't, fix it. Still, I want find out what the hell the deal is with him. One more reason to continue the series, I guess. Also, discoveries! Did you know that hair on a scar grows back white? I had no idea, and when I first read about it here I called bullshit. That's actually kinda cool, anyway.

On to Becca - I do have to talk about her, even if I could do without; she's the MC after all. *sigh*
Becca was... a girl. As in such a girl. I don't know if I've just lost the ability to like or relate to female characters or authors are just that bad at portraying them, but they end up pissing me off more often than not. Are clothes and boys and the occasional paranormal ability really all we think about? She acted in a moderately logical way though, so I didn't outright despise her. Thank fuck she had some family issues too, at least I could like one thing about her - the way she interacted with the 'rents.

The romance was... cheesy, sweet, angsty (in the girly way, which is not angsty at all) but surprisingly okay, because of the good pacing and slow-building tension. Although I can't help but be suprised by the complete absence of actual smut in here - it's like the main characters' hormones are hybernating for some reason. There's an almost-rape (not with one of the love interests, chill!), so the author might not have wanted to put both elements in the same book, but... no, even that doesn't make sense. Whatever.

There are some suprises too, if YA lurve and girliness hadn't convinced you to give this a try yet. The double twist at the end took me completely by surprise, despite a couple generous clues dropped during the story. But that's probably just me.

tl;dr
It's het YA paranormal romance.
But it's a few steps higher on the originality scale than I expected - and I tend to be pretty optimistic.