Shock Me (Special Edition)

I received a copy of this book from Ashley C. Harris via Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Yikes! That was a crazy ride! I'm still feeling a bit breathless with all that just happened right now!

Hello wonderful readers! How about we kick this review off with my little rendition of the plot!

" Donna is as normal a girl as you can get. Alone, slightly transparent in a crowd, shy and nervous when she gains attention. Donna likes the fact that she's at the bottom of the social food chain.
She has two best friends and that's enough for her...well, for the most part. The thing she desires above all else, is the return of her former best friend and her biggest crush.
Ryan Applegate.
(Ryan Applegate)...has the most gorgeous face that should be on every girl's bedroom poster."
However, apart from the occasional head nod, he appears as though he couldn't care less.
One day Donna and her friends walk home when a car swerves and nearly crushes Donna, except that it doesn't...it goes right through her.
How? She has no idea, but all she knows is that one second she was human and the next, she's like a transparent bolt of lightning.

This story for all intent and purposes was good. However, I will admit that the first...hmm, probably 50 or so percent was really slow.
I wasn't a huge fan of those because i kept wondering if something would happen and when it did, the characters' reactions, well...i didn't find them as engaging as it could have been.

That being said, the next 50% picks up and suddenly so much is going on that you can scarcely breathe!

The character Donna, I kept hoping she'd find her courage at some point. Mostly in the story she cowers and cries, or is described as vulnerable looking. However, her attitude doesn't really change, I'm thinking probably in the next book that'll happen.

What i got annoyed at was that the author kept describing Donna's facial expression the same freaking way. We are humans, we don't always have one mode of smiles! for example- we can smile mischievously, kindly, coldly, etc... Donna it would seem, had only one smile...and that was shyly. Every time it was said that Donna smiled the word shyly would be right there! Maybe that's just me, but it annoyed me somehow...maybe that's just a personal problem :P

There were moments that i wanted to throw my hands in the air and scream at Donna to get some backbone, but like i said...maybe in the next books.

This isn't so much a romance, there is a 'like' between characters, but there's no romance in here. As for Ryan Applegate, honestly, I wasn't his biggest fan. Harris, you made me like Randy much more than Ryan...I kind of wish he was the love interest to be honest.

There were a few confusing moments, but as an overall it was an enjoyable read. I definitely want to read the following books

Found another great series for you to read Shock Me by Ashley C. Harris is the first in 3 already published books I know she list 2 other books in the series that are not yet released. I could not stop once I started, the twist in it keep me guessing until the end of the book then I bought the next 2 in the series Spark Me and Collide and read them one after another, now have to wait until the next ones

I'm definitely reading the sequel.

So, so, SO good!!! "Shock Me" by Ashley C. Harris is the first in the Shock Me series about a group of teens with super powers. This particular story revolves around seventeen year old Donna Young and begins with her freaking out and running home after someone told her that they would kill her if they saw her. The story is then flashes back two months and it takes almost the entire book to get back to what happened in the first few pages.

I have to say I loved this story! It took me a little while to follow it as the POV is told in third person and switches between the multiple characters, even though the main focus of the plot is Donna. Our main character Donna Young is your average teenage girl. She just wants to make it through high school then she can essentially escape her small town and never go back. However, after a near brush with death, something strange happens and it happens in front of her two best friends, Rebecca and Spencer. Rebecca is a straight-laced, all A’s student, never gets in trouble and always does what she is supposed to do. Spencer is the nerd, the class-clown, who as a town transplant (meaning he didn’t grow-up in the small town) is an outcast. I have to say that I was severely disappointed that Donna’s two best friends ditched her because they were scared, did they not think Donna was? At first I really didn’t like either of them for this, but they grew on me and redeemed themselves in the end.

The antagonists/love interest in this story are intriguing. Ryan Applegate is the youngest son of the town’s namesake and was Donna’s closest friend growing up. Then one day he just started ignoring her. Donna assumed it was because she was heavy and not popular, however there is more to Ryan than meets the eye. When I read his first POV, I knew there was something different about him, his brother Randy, and his girlfriend Lynn. The three are always together and little comments they make towards each other let you know that there is something amiss. Even in the first chapter, Randy lights a cigarette without a lighter and when Ryan scolds him he simply says I am a lighter. LITTLE brother, Chill.

Then there’s Paul. He is the penultimate nerd and a conspiracy theorist. Living in Applegate his whole life, he researches the town’s power plant which before he was born exploded. Now he believes it’s a cover for the government, but what do they want him for? He also happens to be head over heels for Rebecca who is oblivious.

So impressive set of characters, and this is only the one’s who we get a sampling of their POVs. What I liked is that these characters are intertwined and the author seamlessly moves from one POV to the next. It did take a little getting used to with such a big list of characters but I really enjoyed seeing things from everyone’s perspective.

The world-building is awesome and simple. Applegate is just a normal town with impressive secrets. Think Smallville for the setting and X-men/Roswell for the plot. Though I was able to predict with little accuracy what was going on in this small town, I was still shocked (no pun intended) at what all happened at its climax. I won’t spoil it because it needs to be read to be fully appreciated!

If you enjoy YA lit, suspense, action, a little sci-fi mixed with fantasy, then go pick up a copy of this book. As far as first in series go, it hooked me right away and I can’t wait to see just where the author takes it from here. Not to mention the awesome semi-cliffhanger!!!! Thank God book two is now available!