PARAFANTASY: REVIEW + GIVEAWAY: Auracle by Gina Rosati

Jul 9, 2012

REVIEW + GIVEAWAY: Auracle by Gina Rosati

Title: AURACLE

Author: Gina Rosati

Pages: 304

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Release Date: August 7^th 2012

ISBN: 1596437103

Rating: *4 stars*

16 year old Anna Rogan has a secret she's only shared with her best friend, Rei; she can astrally project out of her body, allowing her spirit to explore the world and the far reaches of the universe. When there's a fatal accident and her classmate Taylor takes over Anna's body, what was an exhilarating distraction from her repressive home life threatens to become a permanent state...

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AMAZON | THE BOOK DEPOSITORY

Not Just A Pretty Cover...

In the past year I have been beyond frustrated with the Bad-Book-Amazing-Cover trend. A lot of these books have made it into my Did Not Finish (DNF) pile because I could not get through them at all. In spite of my initial feelings that Auracle might turn out to be another BBAC, Auracle manages to do its beautiful cover more than enough justice and more.

Why this is NOT a BBAC...

What I loved most about Auracle wasn’t the world-building or the romance-plot, but the main character Anna. She was funny, quirky and a protagonist I could easily connect with. Anna can astrally project herself at will, leaving her body for hours at a time while she goes around the world. This is basically the only supernatural part about this novel. It’s not explained why or how Anna is able to do this. When Anna was young her father had an accident that took away his ability to walk and since then he’s become a wreck using alcohol as a medium to cope. I felt sympathy for Anna who lost her father (mentally) to alcoholism. I also felt bad for Rei for somehow thinking that he could please everyone at the same time and never himself. He was sort of the thread that held his family and friends (Seth and Anna) together. Then there’s Taylor, the Antagonist who wants someone to understand her and like her for her. She takes possession of Anna’s body to continue her desire to keep on living. Taylor is almost sure that there’s no heaven for her and avoids going to the afterlife. Although I usually flat out hate the antagonists of books I read I felt really bad for Taylor.

What didn’t work for me...

This probably isn’t really a reason for me to be dissatisfied about in a book but I really wish the book was a longer. I was just getting used to the new developments happening in the story and then just like that it ended. I literally stared at the last page for a full minute willing more words to appear on the paper. I wanted to find out what between happened to Anna and Rei and figure out why exactly Anna has “Auracle” abilities. Another thing that didn’t work out for me was the “I suddenly realized my best guy friend since diapers was hot” cliché. I look forward to the day when that and love triangle cliché stop appearing so constantly in YA. There are some books that suit the clichés so well that I thoroughly enjoy reading the love triangles stories. They have been in literature for ages and I don’t ever expect them to completely disappear. But otherwise—I’m tired of them. I want something new and riveting.