Lunangelique (Lunangelique #1)
by Kristin R. Campbell
Summary: For Alexis and Alex life has been great. They have loving parents, great friends and live a life every teenager dreams. However, they are adopted and Alexis struggles with wanting to know who their real parents are and not wanting to hurt her adopted parents. Then, a stunning guy moves across the street from them. One who has a secret past and seems to know things about Alexis. One who does mysterious things and leads her to other mysterious persons. One who pushes her to discover her extraordinary birth family and the truth between mythology and religion.
Review:
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
This book was wonderful and I think this series has become my new guilty pleasure. I loved it.
I connected with Alexis on so many levels. I felt like I knew her and discovered so many of her traits were similar to my own from her love of cold sandwiches to her attitude about dating and school. She was a strong female character who had a good head on her shoulders and was sharp as a tack, which is something I feel like I don’t see enough of in YA fiction. When weird things happen, she writes them down and doesn’t ignore them. The clues and foreshadowing of certain events do not go unnoticed by her at all and I loved that.
The book is written from Lexi’s point of view in present tense. In my experience, present tense novels are tricky, but if it is executed well, I enjoy it a lot. I felt like I was experiencing everything as it was happening, which quickened the pace of the book and had me turning the pages rapidly. Alex and Lexi are twins and adopted. Their adoptive parents are a huge part of their lives, which is also something I don’t see a lot of in YA fiction. I liked that their parents were a part of their lives and not an afterthought. While they gave their children tons of space and were relaxed on rules, they were still there, asking about their children’s day and giving advice.
Lexi ends up meeting Cole when he moves in across the street. He is nineteen, just a little over a year older than Lexi. Her parents meet him and approve of him when Lexi notices a strong connection between them. Cole and Lexi fall in love and end up spending a lot of time together. Strange things start to happen and Lexi unravels the mystery of where she came from. Without giving anything away, there are strong supernatural elements surrounding Lexi and her twin brother, Alex. There are lots of things to figure out and lots of questions. She figures out she has strange talents and eventually confronts Alex, who figures out he does as well.
This is all I’m going to say about the plot because I didn’t have any idea what to expect and I like being pleasantly surprised. It’s similar to other YA books I’ve read recently, but different enough that I think it’s pretty unique and intriguing. I also liked the fact that Lexi wasn’t completely blinded and consumed by her blooming relationship, which happens sometimes in romances. While the romance is definitely a part of the plot, I didn’t feel like events were happening, but Lexi was completely consumed by her feelings that it went unnoticed. This irks me so much in books sometimes, so I was relieved.
I would definitely recommend this book to others, especially if they enjoy well written YA fiction with tons of supernatural elements and a bit of romance. It is definitely a YA novel, as Lexi is seventeen. While I thought she was much sharper and mature than many other YA heroines, she’s still a teenager and the book is from her point of view. If YA isn’t your typical genre, it may throw you off, but I liked it. Also, I loved the cover of this book and the title. It fits the story so well, is unique, and doesn’t give anything away.
Kind of off topic, but I think the connection I felt with Alexis is the main reason for me loving this book so much. I had so much in common with her when I was seventeen, it was uncanny. I loved how she looked at the world and dating boys in high school and I was the exact same way. When she finds out all of her friends have been sexually active with their steady boyfriends and she’s the only virgin, I could totally relate. I still remember the exact moment I discovered the same thing at the age of seventeen in my school lunch line with my group of friends. I fell in love with my husband at the same age and he wasn’t a student at my high school, either. I never get my subs toasted, either, and a cold sandwich or sub is my first pick for lunch, just like Alexis. Her observations about Virginia Beach, VA were spot on and I definitely agreed about the traffic and how ridiculous it is that you can get fined for profanity in VA Beach, since I lived in that area for a couple of years. It was ridiculous how many times I stopped and thought, “OMG, me too!” when I was reading. Because of all these things I had in common with her character, I connected with her so well. I didn’t have everything in common with her since I’m not a twin or adopted, I hate wearing dresses and I wouldn’t have made all of the same decisions, but it’s the first time this has ever happened to me and I thought it was pretty cool. I felt like I knew her so well and she would have been the perfect friend when I was her age. I think it’s awesome when a reader can connect so well to a character.
I will definitely be continuing the series!