Review: One hell of a start to a series. Book 2 can't get here fast enough.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 22, 2013
Empath is a story that follows a young woman named Jade. Jade is just starting college and it is her first time out in the world. Jade is an empath, she has the ability to feel other people's emotions. Her ability is so strong, she can take on someone else's emotions and has a hard time figuring out her own. Her world has opened up due to a chance encounter with a man named Logan. Logan's feeling are so heavily guarded, Jade can feel like herself around him. But she is also close to her clasmmate, Cam, who is slowly crushing on her. But she doesn't know if the feelings she has are hers or all his. On top of trying to figure herself out, she is not aware of a looming presence that has had its eyes on her. A man who has every intention of taking Jade and keeping her as his prized possession.Another read that will look nice in my favorites list. Campbell really knows how to create a very captivating story and very captivating characters. Jade was a great lead. She has been isolated for most of her life due to her empathy. Now she is in college and in the real world. Things are overwhelming and new, she wishes her parents taught her more about the world before letting her go. I liked her connection to Cam. He had such a great personality. He is so happy and adventurous. He had me smiling a lot in this book, along with his siblings. Chloe and Josh were amazing. Chloe is feisty and tough and can keep up with her older brothers. Josh was a bit timid, but I liked seeing him slowly break out of his shell in throughout the book. I would have loved more from Josh. I think there is something about him we don't know about him yet. I found him quite as amazing as his siblings.Like Jade, Cam also has a special ability, but I really don't know how to describe it. It is like astral projection, but different. It was pretty cool and very helpful (very very helpful). We also have Logan. Logan is a professor who teaches at Jade college. She accidentally stumbles on his campsite when she got lost. They have quite the connection in the book, but we don;t see much of them together in the book as I would have liked. But this is for good reason though. Logan has an interesting characteristic which I won't spoil, but was quite surprising. I knew there was a reason behind his lifestyle, but I didn't expect that.I loved that Campbell gave us story from everyone's POV even our villain, Ethan. Goodness, he was insanely creepy. Every we got to his part in the book, my skin started to crawl. Being in his head was scary. His thoughts were so twisted. He is blind, well technically. He can only see when it is dark. He uses his lack of sight to his advantage to gain the trust of women to reel them in and kill them. He loves the fear and the pain and does all he can to make sure people feel it when they are around him. His sights are on Jade, but he can't seem to find the right time to catch her and she has no idea there is someone after her. She doesn't know that he thinks that she would be the perfect trophy.But the story really focuses on Jade and her actually making connections with people besides the two friends she has. She avoided people because of the emotions and I loved seeing her break out of that box she was in. She was struggling with how to find her own emotions amongst the chaos around her. It was a great journey.This was a great read for me. I loved the pacing. I loved how grounded the book felt. For a book that is paranormal, it felt quite real because I could relate to the characters so well. They were a blast. I am so glad this is a series because I would love more from these characters. They were just so enjoyable. The story kept me on the edge of my seat. There was always something going on or something to learn. There was never a dull moment. If you are looking for a great New Adult read with some incredible characters, look no further. Add Campbell to your must watch list.