Elixir by Hilary Duff

Clea Raymond has felt the glare of the spotlight her entire life. The daughter of a renowned surgeon and a prominent Washington DC politician, she has grown to be a talented photojournalist who takes refuge in a career that allows her to travel to the most exotic parts of the world. But after Clea's father disappears while on a humanitarian mission, Clea's photos begin to feature eerie, shadowy images of a strange and beautiful man-a man she has never seen before.

When fate brings Clea and this man together, she is stunned by the immediate and powerful connection she feels with him. As they grow closer, they are drawn deep into the mystery behind her father's disappearance, and they discover the centuries old truth behind their intense bond. Torn by a dangerous love triangle and haunted by a powerful secret that holds their fates, together they race against time to unravel their pasts in order to save their lives-and their futures.

                                                                                                              -Chapters Canada


So I immediately wanted to buy this book when I saw it, just because of the gorgeous, artistic cover.  Unfortunately the cover can sometimes be the deciding factor for me when I choose a book to read.  And this one had all the right things going for it.  Loved the colour.  Loved the picture.  Loved the font and placement of everything!  Gorgy-gorge-gorge.

Another reason why I wanted to read it was because, let's be honest, we all know what we were thinking: Hilary Duff wrote a book?  I had to see if it was good.  And it was.  I actually love the concept, and am really looking forward to the sequel.  Probably the only bad thing I would have to say about it was that the words just seemed too big on the pages.  It went by too fast.  I guess this probably is a good idea if you are thinking of the target audience: teens.  But for me it kind of just cheapened it.  Made it too fluffy or something I can't quite put into words.

So the book is targeted to teens, but I feel that it does appeal to an older audience too.  I absolutely loved the concept (so much that I had to mention it twice-tehe), and I think it was interesting to see that someone like Hilary Duff, that I think a lot of us assume doesn't do any deep thinking, can come up with some pretty novel ideas.  I think she seriously has a future here.  The romance aspect was infectious, and kept me wanting more, and still now I'm craving Sage!  The sci-fi aspect was also perfection in my opinion, and I found it was really different from a lot of the books I've been reading lately that seem too obvious.  The synopsis didn't give away too much, and throughout the book there weren't those kinds of clues that are so obvious to the reader, but not to the character.  You know what I'm talking about!  Overall really good read.  I'll take Hilary the writer over Hilary the too-sugary actress any day!


Spoiler Alert: Don't read past this point if you don't want to know specific book details!


So let me just say that I have always loved the concept of Reincarnation.  I have yet to really read a book that has done it really well though.  I read one about a year ago, that I was anticipating for so long, and I was so disappointed.  That's why I'm glad that this book did not give away the concept right off the bat.  I always hate it when a book is too predictable.

Clea is the main character, and when we are introduced to her, her father has been missing for about a year.  Very sad, I know.  I think that Hilary conveyed this emotion beautifully, and I really felt it with Clea.  Of course there was a guy who is clearly in love with Clea, Ben, but I loved that they didn't end up together in the end.  (Knock on wood for the sequel).  It kept me guessing because the true love interest, Sage, wasn't introduced in person until much later on in the book.  I just really cannot say enough how perfect that aspect was.  I don't know if this was the desired effect, but I loved the way everything transpired.  And at the end, I nearly screamed with Clea as she very nearly broke when Sage revealed that he was going to kill himself.  The emotion evoked was so strong, and I love when I can really get into the book with the character.

Having said all these wonderful things, I didn't really enjoy the character of Rayna.  She just wasn't really developed enough for me.  Like we had the description of her in the beginning, but I think that over the course of the whole book I must have pictured her as four different people.  And she never seemed to act like she was previously described.  I actually found her annoying...  But I guess nothing can be perfect!


Until the next installment--Cheers & Enjoy♥