Elixir by Hilary Duff

Blurb:

Clea Raymond is a talented photojournalist and the daughter of high-profile parents. Usually she’s in total control of her camera, but after Clea’s father disappears while on a humanitarian mission, eerie, shadowy images of a strange and handsome young man begin to appear in Clea’s photos—a man she has never seen in her life.
 
When Clea suddenly encounters this man in person she is stunned—and feels an immediate and powerful connection. As they grow closer, they are drawn deep into the mystery behind her father’s disappearance and discover the centuries-old truth behind their intense bond. Torn by a dangerous love triangle and haunted by a powerful secret that holds their fate, together they race against time to unravel their past in order to save their future—and their lives.

 

My Thoughts:

Look at the corner of my bedroom and you'll see this book in timeout.

Why?

Well, there are multiple reasons. The ending is the number one reason why it is sitting over there looking all kinds of pathetic.

The cover pulled me in, and at first the book was going great. We meet the main character, the dilemma, and all of the stuff, but then some problems started to pop up.

First off, what really ticks me off, is all of the typos. It wasn't excessive but there were enough there to make me want to circle them, give the notes off to the author and have it corrected. Yes, I know, it's the editor inside of me. But dang.

You know what's really funny? I finished the book with the whole WTF moment still screaming in my ear then I flipped to the acknowledgement page and see that not only did the lovely Hilary Duff didn't have just one editor. She had TWO editors, and yes, I'm about to put their names out there. Hold on . . .

*gets book from corner and flips to the acknowledgement page*

Emily Meehan and her assistant Julia Maguire.

Not only did she have those two editors but she also had a writer named Elise Allen who I suspect either helped her out alot by writing it or became her mentor. And probably edited it too.

I feel sorta bad for Elise Allen to have her name on this book too, but oh well.

So let's gets down to the basics.

Characters: The characters were believable. I could identify with Clea, and I loved Rayna, her best friend. But the whole push of Ben on Clea, I didn't like that at all. It's realistic, don't get wrong but I just don't like that everybody is speaking about soul mates and they are what? In their teen years, I think. And Rayna is constantly saying she meets "the one". Why is it so important to meet a soulmate?

Why should a girl care about the man of her life?

Don't get me wrong. Soulmates are important. If I ever find my soulmate, I will count myself lucky but it's not the center of my life to find a man. I can live without one.

Maybe it's the genre which Twilight started that love is now becoming a thing to search for instead of a career. It just seems so silly. I mean, why search for the one in high school? The chances are slim at best. So yeah, Idk.

I certainly wouldn't want my daughter searching for the one instead of finding herself. Seeking love and verification of yourself is just a path that leads to dependence and I don't want my daughter letting her self-esteem to be determined by men or society standards for that matter.

Sorry to get all preachy, but that's just my thoughts about that.

Um, other then that, I really didn't have a problem with the characters.

Dialogue: Realistic. No corny laughter from me. But I am laughing at Shiver again. *giggle* I saw it in the store at BAM. Gosh, I think I'm starting to get a reputation there since I visit there so much. Anyway, anyway . . . Getting away from the topic at hand.

Setting: I really liked how we practically travelled all around the world. Not really all over the world, but still I liked seeing the different places and its impact on her life. I don't want to give too much away, so I'll leave it at that. She did a really good job though at describing the vibe of the places too, btw.

Plot: Now here's where things get a bit hazy.

Like I said, the beginning and middle were fine. And the plot points were hit. Until we start with the falling action and the resolution.

To put it bluntly: There is no resolution. It ends on a cliffhanger.

I understand that this book is going to be a series. Obviously but there are plenty of examples of better ways to do it. I'll just take into account the easiest: Meg Cabot's The Princess Diaries.

That particular series is ten books long but in every book there was obviously a problem and it was solved but she also left a lot of deeper issues unsolved until the end of the book. Not that you didn't feel like it wasn't resolved but there was like the romance parts that weren't always resolved.

But the main point: Meg Cabot finished every book with a resolution to the main problem.

Hilary Duff did not.

She left the story in the middle of the climax. She didn't resolve any of the problems in the book. She did answer a lot of questions about Sage and the Elixir, but she didn't tackle the problem.

And I'm not saying I want a happily ever after ending. But I do want an ending not a, "Tune in next week to see what happens!" corny end line. I wanted some more answers and some more . . . Something.

The main three problems of the book that were presented were not solved.

And I'm not surprised, but it still disappointed me. The reviewers were right. It's a definite wtf ending.

I read some reviews way before I even saw the book on discount and I remember some reviewer saying that the ending wasn't good. But I thought, hey maybe they were wrong.

Uh, no, they weren't. They were spot on.

Not because it was written weird, or because it wasn't carried out right, it just didn't finish the problem. It's just leaving a puzzle still half done.

So let's get straight to the point: Would I recommend this book?

I wouldn't. I will tell you why: You'll be disappointed in it. Even if you ignore the typos, you will still be disappointed with the ending. You'll want it to be done, and get the ending it deserves. The only way to find this out is by getting the second book and I'm not sure when it'll be released. I think it's this year, so maybe you'll get it and get the ending. But I wouldn't waste your time. Really.

Read Hush, Hush. That's a good book and guess what?

Crescendo was on sale today!!

*clicks heels together!*

Anyway, yeah. Read Hush, Hush instead. You'll thank me later.