I did not see that plot twist coming. I loved this though. I can't wait a whole year for the next one! ( )

A bit slow to pick up but genuinely intriguing, Earthbound introduces the reader to a world in need of help from our main character Tavia. While it took a bit to pick up, the book concludes with many questions answered but many more new answers to be found in the second and third book of this trilogy. An easy read that keeps you begging for more when you turn that last page. ( )

(From www.pingwings.ca)

Goodreads summary:

Tavia Michaels is the sole survivor of the plane crash that killed her parents. When she starts to see strange visions of a boy she’s never spoken with in real life, she begins to suspect that there’s much about her past that she isn’t being told.

Tavia immediately searches for answers, desperate to determine why she feels so drawn to a boy she hardly knows. But when Tavia discovers that the aunt and uncle who took her in after her parents’ death may have actually been responsible for the plane crash that killed them–and that she may have been the true intended victim–she flees for the safety of Camden, Maine, where the boy she sees in her visions instructs her to go.

Now, Tavia is on the run with no one to trust. No one, that is, except for her best friend and longtime crush, Benson.

Tavia feels torn between the boy who mysteriously comes to her at night and the boy who has been by her side every step of the way. But what Tavia doesn’t know is that the world is literally falling apart and that to save it she will have to unite with the boy in her visions. Only problem? To do so would mean rejecting Benson’s love. And that’s the one thing Tavia Michaels swore she’d never do.

At first I really liked this book. I was drawn into Tavia’s story and her life in the aftermath of a terrible plane crash that killed everyone else on board, including her parents, leaving her the only survivor. When strange things began to happen to her, I was immediately intrigued, wanting to read on and learn more. I also liked her friend and crush, Benson. They had a nice rapport and I was happy to let the story take its time unfolding, even though I felt like I had no idea what was happening to Tavia.

However, as things went on, I began to feel that the story dragged on, and I was losing interest. Once the idea behind the Earthbound was explained, and the identity of the mysterious boy that Tavia kept seeing was revealed, I was kind of confused. I had to go back and reread the explanation a couple of times before it sunk in.

I also didn’t feel like I ever really connected with any of the characters or that I was very emotionally invested in the story.

Tavia was an interesting character but I never felt like I got to know her. The same goes for Reese and Jay, the distant relatives who have taken her in following the death of her parents, and Quinn, the mystery boy. I did like Benson, what with his cute library-nerdiness, but again, I kept feeling that I was missing something about these characters, which held me back from getting into the story and really caring about them and their well-being. And when some characters died later in the book, I didn’t feel anything. I don’t like that – I like to feel invested in a story, connected to characters, and to have some sort of reaction to the death of a character other than, “Huh”.

I liked the way the book ended though, and where it looks like the story will go in the sequel. That has me interested enough to check that out when the book is released, because I do want to see what happens next.

In the end, I thought this book was good but not great. Even though I didn’t love it, I liked it enough that I will be checking out the sequel whenever it’s released. ( )

FROM AMAZON: Tavia Michaels is the sole survivor of the plane crash that killed her parents. When she starts to see strange visions of a boy she's never spoken with in real life, she begins to suspect that there's much about her past that she isn't being told. Tavia will soon to discover that she's an Earthbound - someone with the ability to create matter out of nothing - and that she alone holds the key to stopping the Reduciata, an evil society that manipulates global events for its own shadowy purposes. Tavia will ultimately have to make a choice: to come into her powers and save the world from the evil Reduciata or to choose free will and a love of her own. ( )

Much of this book called to mind Kat Kennedy’s review of Evermore—which is never a good thing.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/116045170?book_show_action=false&page=...

This book first came to my attention when I entered a goodreads giveaway for it over a year ago. (I didn’t win). Since then, this book has been sitting on my tbr shelf. I checked it out (along with, say, fifty other books) from the library last week. This one migrated to the top of my list due to it’s non-renewable status.

I had no idea what it was about until I read the flap on the cover of the book, and I was intrigued. Unlike every other person in the universe, the idea of a love triangle doesn’t immediately send me running. They can be done well.

But this one… not so much. Now, the one leg of the triangle, Benson, I LOVED. I just think Benson is a really cool character and I’d like to see him and Tavia together in the next book, because, damning secret identites aside, I do think that he is ON HER SIDE and that they are better together than apart.

But I understand Tavia’s reluctance. I mean, since the beginning of this book, it’s been nothing but ripping betrayal followed by horrible lies and secrets and, lets admit it, that secret identity of his is pretty damning.

But Quinn/Logan? My predisposition to liking boys named logan aside, I haven’t even met Logan yet. And I barely know Quinn, because we only saw him, what, five times, and I still don’t entirely understand what he was trying to do. I mean, I get logically, but why?

Also, I know I’ve said this before, BUT SO MUCH OF THIS BOOK COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED BY SIMPLY COMMUNICATING!!!!!!!!!!

I love YA books, but if there’s one thing I hate about them, its that they always insinuate that teens simply DO NOT COMMUNICATE. Which I am willing to agree is exetremely immature and NOT ALL TEENS ARE LIKE that. Now, I’m not going to claim that I’m great at communicating, because I’m not. But I try. I try to communicate with those around me when something is going wrong.

I’m waiting for my library to get book 2 so I can hopefully read it quickly, because although I want to know what happens I don’t think I have it in me to reread this one.

Also, here’s hoping it just a duology, cuz if there’s a third one, I still don’t think I’ll have it in me to reread this one.
( )