Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz

Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz
Release Date: June 21, 2011
Publisher: Harlequin
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 352


Summary: What’s a girl to do when meeting The One means she’s cursed to die a horrible death?

Life hasn’t been easy on sixteen-year-old Emma Conner, so a new start in New York may be just the change she needs. But the posh Upper East Side prep school she has to attend? Not so much. Friendly faces are few and far between, except for one that she’s irresistibly drawn to—Brendan Salinger, the guy with the rock-star good looks and the richest kid in school, who might just be her very own white knight.

But even when Brendan inexplicably turns cold, Emma can’t stop staring. Ever since she laid eyes on him, strange things have been happening. Streetlamps go out wherever she walks, and Emma’s been having the oddest dreams. Visions of herself in past lives—visions that warn her to stay away from Brendan. Or else.

My Thoughts: As I started this book, I wanted to love it. I really did. It is a paranormal book and I tend to love those. We are introduced to Emma whose dad left when she was a child. Next, her brother died when she was a teenager. Than her mother passed away a few years later. She than lived with her stepfather until he almost killed her. Now she's living with her aunt Christine in New York. New York is a big change in scenery for her. She has to go to a new school that isn't very big. Everyone knows everyone and each other's business all the time. She wants to keep a low profile but that's hard to do in this school.She attracts the attention of both the right people and the wrong people. In other words, she meets a group of friends and in the process makes a group of enemies! The people who become her friends are Brendan, Jenn, Angelique and Cisco. Her cousin Ashley is also around a lot. 

She also notices Brendan from the start and feels an instant attraction to him. He feels the same way, even thought he is very hesitant at first. He recolonizes her necklace and is weary of her because of its history.  

Spellbound was hard to get into at first. I had a hard time following along and really feeling a connection the characters. I never really fell for Brendan either. Just something about him was missing. He never really made me fall in love with him or even root for him much. I did want to know what was up with Emma though and what she really was, or what was really going on between her and Brendan and the past. 

Honestly, I can't say much more about the plot or else I'll give the storyline away. I didn't know what this book was really about going into it, so if you don't want to know, don't read any other spoilers or many reviews. Once I started reading the reviews, I instantly understood. I didn't read them until AFTER I finished the novel though so it didn't effect me.


Overall: I wanted to love Spellbound but I just didn't connect to the story and once I figured out what it was about, I had started to get bored by it. It's an alright book but there are other books out there about this subject that I prefer. The writing was easy to follow along with, even when she jumps back to the past (while reading and dreaming) and they begin to learn what the necklace means, etc.  

Cover: The cover is interesting. I do like the black colors. I also like the girl walking away and the glass shattered.

What I'd Give It: