Review: Euphoria - Part 1
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 28, 2011
** Contains Possible Spoilers**Thank-you kindly to Jourdan Alexandra for giving me the opportunity to read and review Part 1 of Euphoria.I was quite intrigued by the blurb of Euphoria; Jourdan shows a lot of potential and I would love to read more by her in the Paranormal genre.I have a few criticisms, not at all in the writing style which I thought was wonderful but more in the lack of resolve in Part 1, there was a tad too much detail and world building, I found myself skipping over detailed descriptions as it was information overload.Euphoria is the story of Riley, who has made the move from San Diego, California to study and board with her cousin, Hailey in Lyndonville, Vermont.It is here she meets and is intrigued by good-looking, dark and mysterious student, Remaunt. He is quite elusive and an outcast amongst the other students; we find out fairly early on in the story he is a vampire who is also able to shapeshift.We don't learn alot about Remaunt, he appears to have a complete lack of willingness to disclose information which is why I couldn't quite connect with him as a character, I was keen to learn more about him, especially why he had such an interest in Riley, he was still as much a mystery to me at the end of the book as what he was at the beginning.There seemed to be a lot of negativity from Riley whenever she was in Remaunt's presence, and I didn't feel the connection at all. I wanted more time and dialogue between them but found it lacking.Riley at times angered me with her blasé and ignorance towards not only the knowledge of supernatural beings existing but her lack of care and self-preservation; she continued to put herself in harms way. I hope she grows as a character in Part 2.Most of the action really happens towards the end, and I found myself more intrigued by the excerpt of part 2 which I am hoping contains more dialogue and interaction between the characters.I found the secondary characters fascinating, the evil vampires Amelia and Charlotte as well as cousin Hailey who had a wonderful relationship with Riley but seemed to also have a few secrets of her own. Nick, who I feel is the perfect love interest for Riley and also Carter who bought a bit of humor to the story.There are a few things I would have liked more information on, the Runes which I found fascinating and were an interesting and unique addition to this novel and also the mystery of the disappearing students.I am keen to see how the story progresses in Part 2 and to see if the prediction of the runes comes true.Thanks again to Alexandra for giving me the chance to review Euphoria.