Review: Good start to the series and an original concept for the YA paranormal genre
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 10, 2014
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.To start off, I'll say this book is very solidly YA (the most "romance" you'll see for the main character of Calloway is a kiss on the cheek) and a very clean read.  You can feel comfortable with teens 13 and up reading this story, and most teenagers will be able to identify with one or more of the characters (hopefully not with Hawk, the book's bully character though!).When the story begins, I did feel a bit lost as you feel like you come into it as its already started.  It's not until later in the book that you get more of the backstory so you can fully understand what is going on...but most of what you read in the beginning does get explained eventually.  One of the things that doesn't is how Calloway and Breccan know Easton can help them, so I'm hoping we find out more about this in the next book.Most of the characters seem well-rounded, however there seems to be untold details about Easton and I really didn't get a good sense of her character.  Calloway is a classic underdog, being picked on and having a somewhat naive view of others, but you find yourself rooting for him and wanting him to become a stronger character, which he does start to do.  As for Mr. Avey, I think there's more to him than what we've discovered so far as I don't know of any teacher who would do for a student what he does for Calloway.The book flowed well and though it did have its share of grammar/basic editing issues including some incorrect, missing or extra words, it really doesn't take away from the reading.  The concept of the Hara-Kirs, Life and Anti-Life are original (at least to me) in the YA paranormal genre, which is nice to see for a change.My overall star rating is 3.75, rounded to 4 stars.  I'm looking forward to continuing the series, and would recommend this to any YA readers who enjoy the paranormal category.