Review: I enjoy her other works better...
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 1, 2012
I've followed V.J. Chambers for a long time, starting my love for her with the Jason and Azazel books.  I was sucked into those books because V.J. Chambers wasn't scared to pull the blanket off the typical YA books.  She wrote what teenagers felt and did.  With hormones raging and cursing galore, she caused such controversy in that trilogy.  There was also a lot of action and the female lead wasn't a Bella Swan.  She was strong and fought for her life through each book.  I admired her and I admire Chambers to be able to bring such a character to life.With all of this being said, I thought Brighter was okay..  Not something I expected to see from Chambers at all.  I still like how she delivers the characters and keeps the suspense locked down at all the appropriate times. I still thought the main character was likable.Ramona is stuck in the her town...wondering where to go with her life now.  But then, things start happening.  Things that make her question what is really going on in this town and if the others who claim that the town sucks you in were lying or if what they were saying should be taken in a literal sense.  As things start unfolding Ramona is stuck wondering who she should and shouldn't trust...not knowing who is the good guy and who is the bad guy.  She soon learns she must trust no one.I don't want to give away spoilers and while I thought this book was decent, I hated the ending.  It was the bad beginning to a promise of a series.  I don't think Chambers has plans to continue with a series which is why the ending fell short for me.The writing was good and from what I remember there weren't very many errors if any at all.  The characters that matter are developed and you find yourself rooting for them.  Chambers creates a world all her own and brings eeriness to the book and you are left wondering exactly what is going on.  Suspecting anything from Aliens to Supernatural beings....the list goes crazy when you try to figure it out with Ramona.  I do remember my heart racing at some points hoping that a certain this or that wouldn't happen and that Ramona would make it out.This book, thankfully, did not detour me from wanting to read other works by Chambers simply because I love the taboo of the books and how she isn't afraid to be the one to cause controversy.  I admire her boldness and I admire the way she develops her characters and thinks outside the norm and isn't afraid to go dark in a YA novel.I bought this book back when the price was much lower.  I noticed that Amazon was recommending me to review this book since I had just finished a book review for someone else so I thought I would go ahead and jump on over to do so and was appalled by the Kindle price of this.  $7.99 for a Kindle edition?  I just don't understand the logic behind this spike in pricing.  I've spoke with a ton of Indie Authors who agree that $2.99 for a normal-sized book is more than fair on Kindle edition.  Those writers are also saying that $7.99 -$9.99 is what they typically charge for their paperbacks.I'm no one to judge what Chambers thinks the value of her work is...but that's rather pricey for an indie authors ebook edition and as an avid reader you will never see me throw down that much for an ebook.  Never.  I'd rather browse Hastings' used section for paperbacks and get a book I can actually hold and sit on my bookshelf.  For the record, I wouldn't even purchase a kindle edition that cost this much by a traditionally published author.  The price, does not convey my actual review and isn't the reason I gave the book a 3-star by any means.  I prefer not to rate a book based on price.  I am glad I got to review this book and paid a reasonable price for it because had I just been getting around to purchasing it...well, lets just say this review would not exist because I would not have bought it.