Friday, February 10, 2012

Anew by Chelsea Fine

Anew by Chelsea Fine
Published by Accacia Publishing
A Big Thank You to them for my review copy!
It's available now in paperback & ebook.
Ebook is a steal at $3.99 from Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Reviewed by:  AmyG (big sis)
Sister's Say:  Amazing, Arresting, and Utterly Addictive


Anew (The Archers of Avalon, #1)
Two years ago, Scarlet awoke in the forest alone, afraid, and unable to remember anything. Lost and confused, her life was a mystery...until she met a boy with a familiar voice. 
Gabriel Archer has a voice from her past, and Scarlet's determined to remember why. She immerses herself in his life only to discover he has a brother he's kept hidden from her: Tristan Archer. 
Upon meeting Tristan, Scarlet's world becomes even more muddled. While she's instinctively drawn to Gabriel, she's impossibly drawn to Tristan--and confused out of her mind. As she tries to piece together her history Scarlet realizes her past...might just be the death of her. 

I was so excited when I saw Chelsea Fine was coming out with a YA paranormal romance because I really enjoyed her debut novel Sophie & Carter.  I prefer to read paranormal, so when I see an author that I already like, writing paranormal, I tend to get a little giddy!  Then, I saw the cover and Holy Gorgeousness Batman, I was completely swept away!  Let me just say, that after reading the book, the cover has so much more meaning!

Anew is a large book, topping out at almost 400 pages of awesomeness!  I love big books, and I cannot lie!  Especially books that contain wonderful stories!  Anew is exactly the type of book I like to read, dark mysterious guys (twins to be exact), ancient curses, deadly midieval weapons, immortality, the fountain of youth, amnesia, a strong heroine, and the name ARCHER!  Archer is the twin's last name, but Baby Sister Britt and I both have a thing for fictional boys named Archer regardless of it it comes first or last.

The fun of the book is solving the mysteries along with the characters, so I don't want to give too much away, but I'll say a little to wet your appetite!  Scarlet wakes up at the age of 15 in the woods in Avalon, Georgia with no memory.  Then 2 years later, 2 mysterious, very good looking young men step into her life out of the blue! She is drawn to the familiar voice of one, and the all encompassing presence of the other .  Yep, how about a love triangle with brothers?  Hmmm, is blood really thicker than water?  I have a feeling we are going to be seeing some pretty crazy fireworks in this series! Something pretty heavy is on the horizon that the brothers know all about; however, because of Scarlet's mysterious amnesia, she is completely in the dark.  Scarlet can remember nothing from her past except that she has strong feelings for both Gabriel and Tristan.  And, that's all I'm going to say!  Between the tall dark and handsome brothers, a ancient curse, and dangerous enemies everything is delivered to you in a perfect little package with a drop dead gorgeous cover!

The plot and the story drive the book, but a really complete book can't be successful without the little things.  In the opening chapter of the book, Scarlet and her best friend, Heather, are attending the annual Kissing Festival!  The scene was straight up out of a sci-fi novel where there is happy juice in the water supply or everyone's brains have been slightly altered....or so you think!  I draw your attention to the setting, yes, Georgia, in the heart of the deep south!  Being from the South, I can laugh at this and say, many times visiting the South can seem like a completely different country!  We are stinkin' proud of it too!  I grew up with all kinds of little festivals and traditions around our tiny town, sadly none as interesting as a kissing festival!  I did love that Chelsea threw in that little bit, and how revealing it was of each character with their reaction to the Kissing Festival.  It gave me a good feel of each person right from the start.  Right along these same lines of character development was the unique POVs that Chelsea chose.  It's 3rd person, but a pretty close 3rd person, and she switches between the POV's of Scarlet, Gabriel, and Tristan in alternating chapters!  Yes, you actually get to have a tiny peak into the mind of all the angles in this love triangle!

All in all, I higly recommend this book!  I've seen a development in Chelsea Fine's writing style from Sophie & Carter to Anew, and think we are going to see her books keep getting better and better!  She is one of those Indie author's that you are going to want to keep watching!  She's brilliant, and I am counting down the days until I have Awry in my hands!

OH, OH, OH YEAH, one more thing!!!  This has a HUGE cliffhanger of an ending that has me still screaming, "It can't end there!"  (It's exactly where I would have ended it too though!)  So yeah, go buy the book and come join us tortured readers over here anxiously awaiting book 2!

Those parents or others looking for content maturity level,  it's pretty safe for any YA to read.  There is one kissing scene that gets a little heated with very few detail.  No harsh language, and there is some  violence.

**Stay tuned in the near future for a special giveaway of this book!**