Review: Hooked
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 23, 2014
I came to read this book as a part of a YA paranormal boxed set. As one of the reviews recommends readers not to start Elle Casey's books with this one, I felt compelled to officially disagree: Having read "Duality", I will definitely look out for more of her books.The author came up with a brand new angle of paranormal abilities. Only the main characters don't have a choice in whether they want to use their abilities - they can't stop exerting their influence on people around them even though they can see it will make them very unhappy (or worse) in the long run. Malcolm is doomed to make everyone around him sad or aggressive and in the end miserable enough to even take their own life. Rae's gift of making people around her deliriously happy seems to doesn't seem too bad at start but it soon becomes clear that their addiction to her person will hurt them and make herself very lonely in spite of everyone seeking her company.I liked the idea of Yin and Yang, the dark and the light finding each other and the hope of being able to balance each other out. I also loved big-mouthed Jasmine.There are 2 reasons I didn't give 5 stars: I couldn't relate to Kooch's behaviour at all, I didn't find him very likeable. Also, I thought the fact that Jasmine had some insight into secret governmental researches a bit far-fetched.Still, I immensely enjoyed the story and will look at buying the sequel(s) and will definitely check on Elle Casey's other books.