Review: Ethereal
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 21, 2013
This book has a mysterious and delicate plot, as its title implies.  It is written from the heroine's point of view, and the tone is immediately gloomy, enigmatic and filled with uncertainty, much the way a teenager, anywhere, would feel.  But this teenager, apparently, is special.Skyla Messinger is a high school junior who is relocated from Los Angeles along with her new blended family by her mother and stepfather.  Skylar resents her mother for marrying her new stepfather.  In a mysterious new place surrounded by clouds and mists, Skyla seems at peace in this place so unlike California, where the sun does not seem to shine.  Her room in their new house seems to have a "presence."  Through her neighbor, Brielle, she learns that the girl whose room she occupies was murdered.  Through Brielle, she meets cousins Logan Oliver and Gage Oliver.  Skyla is immediately drawn to Logan, and discovers she can read his thoughts, and he hers, through simple touch.  Their mutual interest and preoccupation is to be together, but their togetherness, itself, creates dangerous scenarios for them both.  Can their tender love survive the mounting army of presences born and sworn to tear them apart and destroy them?I was unable to fully immerse myself in the fantasy created by Addison Moore, and this is not because of her writing, which is done well.  I had the same problem with "Twilight:"  I simply could not willingly suspend disbelief.  It is many years since I was a teenager, and I am sure this distance prevented me from easily transitioning into Skyla's world.This book was an interesting read, but I'm afraid I was not really able to immerse myself thoroughly into the storyline to enjoy the outcome, and subsequently, I will not be purchasing the sequels to this story.