Review: Stunning YA Paranormal Sci Fi
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 19, 2012
Survival, a YA paranormal romance (Book 1 of The Guardians of Vesturon Series)5 StarsJust from Page 1 I fell in love with this awesome book, whose poetic imaging is priceless. I have lived near the area which is the initial setting, so I was poised to discern if the descriptions were accurate; my judgment is-more than accurate, perfect, poetic, lyrical, and oh! How I wish I were there inside the scene! It's not every author who can make the reader experience a story with her senses as well as mentally and emotionally, but A. M. Hargrove does! This author deserves a very wide audience.At first glance, the reader would think this novel is about a very likable young lady who suffers two tragedies in her life (the loss of her parents at eleven and at seventeen), but manages to stay strong, even though completely alone; to make good friends, and to succeed in college. But this is just the anteroom to the novel, as it were. Author Hargrove leads Maddie into some serious (potentially fatal) danger-and then into the experience of a lifetime-well, of anyone's lifetime! I won't spoil the progress of this novel for future readers; but I do want to add that surprisingly, the author even elicited empathy for the characters whose actions are negative and dangerous. That's not an easy accomplishment.This book is a "100 percenter" and deserves my highest recommendation!Over decades of reading I have discovered that accomplished writing does not come from the number of novels or short stories penned, and certainly not from the quantity of bestsellers! It occurs when a writer works at her craft, and then-even in a "debut" novel, it's apparent. Such is true of A. M. Hargrove. I don't know how many years she has been writing, but boy, can she write! In fact, I am now a convinced fan and plan to read everything she publishes, including the sequel, "Resurrection"!