Review: Good debut novel...looking forward to more!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 23, 2014
This review contains spoilers.Ava Fuller is an ordinary girl whose life seems to take a rather extraordinary turn.Ava lives at home with her father, step mother and baby sister. She finished high school and took the year off to decide what she wants to do college-wise and spends time with her pre-med best friend, Jason.Ava has a fear of something lurking in the dark. She thinks she is going to get attacked and one night, she does get attacked in the alley way near her work.  This is the beginning of Ava's journey to discover that she is involved with a secret society of magic.As part of this society, she is what is called a Keeper.  Her role is to work with her fellow Keepers to intervene when there are magic forces at work within a particular society.  As she is introduced to this society, there are many obstacles that Ava must face both with her new friends and her old.The fact that she cannot reveal the existence of this society tears Ava's regular life up. She feels like her relationships with her father and Jason are becoming irreparably damaged.  Where does Ava fit now?This is J. L. Block's debut novel and I think she is off to a great start. There were twists and turns that I wasn't expecting.  I thought this book was rather creative in the way the author created this society, magical races and an intriguing plot. I think there could have been a bit more character development with some of the characters. For example, I think André was rather dry. I get that his character was very standoffish and went by the book, but I think he could have loosened up a bit.Some of the questions I was left with were as follows:- Is there more to Ava and Jason's best friend status?- Why doesn't Jason try to find out more about what is really going on? I would love to know more backstory about his reaction to André.- What is André's story? Will we find out why he is so stiff?- Will there be a love triangle between Jason, Ava and André?- It seems like every other Keeper has strength. I realize she is just beginning her training, but what are Ava's strengths as a Keeper? She still seems rather mediocre in her skills but yet seems to be at the center of a major battle. Why?- Where is the fallen angel part of the story taking us?With all of that said, I rated this book 4 stars and very much looking forward to seeing how the rest of the story goes.  Great job and thanks for sharing your story!