Rematch (Vortex #1) by Janine Caldwell

I would like to thank Janine Caldwell for providing me with a copy of her book Rematch (The Vortex Series #1) to read and review.

A bit about Janine:

Janine was raised in Northern California and has a B.A. in English from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. After 30 years as a California resident, she and her husband Mike, former wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, moved to Arizona and are currently raising their two sons in Anthem. Janine has always had a passionate love for literature. After many trips to Sedona, she was inspired to write her first YA series (The Vortex Series) based on the beauty and mystery of the Sedona red rock formations. When she is not writing or hiking around a Sedona vortex, she is practicing yoga, spending time with friends, and taking care of her family.

You can contact Janine at the following links:
www.janinecaldwell.com
www.twitter.com/J9fiction
www.facebook.co...more

And now for my review!

Rematch by Janine Caldwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I want to thank the author, Janine Caldwell, for providing me with a copy of this book to read and give an honest review.

Blurb from Goodreads:
In REMATCH, Cassie and Trent’s worlds are about to collide, but not in the way you might normally expect. After a rocky start to their senior year, Trent is determined to hide from Cassie how their lives are supernaturally linked. But when Cassie’s past continues to torment her, she’s soon looking to Trent for answers. Trent must choose between admitting what he is and his role in her past, or running away from her forever.

I actually did not read the blurb before reading this book, so I had no idea what to expect when I went into it. I actually prefer to not read about books that I've been asked to review prior to reviewing them. I especially stayed away from reviews because I wanted to form my own opinion. I am glad I went into this one blind because I was pleasantly surprised with what I found!

The first thing that struck me was the cover of this book. It's so unusual. There is such a variety of elements show, I really wasn't sure what to expect. After having finished the book, I now understand all the elements and how they tie into the story that is told. Very clever of the author to choose a cover that would encompass all these things. You rarely see covers that actually tell the story of the book before you even open it to read it!

Unfortunately, reading the ecopy, I had a hard time grasping the fact that the author was alternating POVs in the first part and then telling the second and third part from each of the main characters POV. I think this was one of the downfalls of having this book on my Kindle. I actually got annoyed and when I was taking notes, noted to myself that I didn't understand what the author was doing. It wasn't until I put up a status update and Janine answered it that I understood what was going on. This wasn't until about 75% through the book, tho! Perhaps labeling the chapters as such may have thwarted some of my confusion.

Despite being annoyed by the alternating POVs, I was really engrossed in this book from the beginning. It starts of mysterious and draws you right in. Janine's writing is really quite good and flows very well. It's natural and doesn't seem like she was searching for words to put on the page as she wrote. The story has a great pace that keeps you riveted. Every time I put the book down, I was anticipating picking it back up so I could see what was going to happen next. The author has a knack for description. I could see the scenes as they were described, which was a great way to fall into the story. I did note that there were some descriptions were a bit repetitive, and this got to be a bit overwhelming. It almost felt like there were times when the story was being filled in to make the chapters longer. This made me feel like the story wasn't moving.

And I am a total lover of time travel books, so this one hit the nail right on the head when I found out that was an underlying theme! It's really the only kind of science fiction that I like to read. I read Julie Cross' Tempest not too long ago and this boo is definitely along those lines, and written just as well. And of course the star crossed lover theme is a huge draw, because you can't possibly have a good YA book without there being some kind of love tension happening!!!

I really liked how the characters were developed in this book. I do have to say that Cassie did annoy me a bit, a typical teen girl with angst that will drive you nuts. She's self depreciating and is constantly doubting herself. She allows herself to be treated poorly by her boyfriend and does not take the advice of her friends when they give it. This type of character drives me nuts. I felt like it was excessive and could have been handled a bit better. But I know they are many times essential to set the pace and current of the book. Without this, we would not have been able to see Cassie grow as a person. And I love how Cassie feels an immediate connection to Jeremy (aka Trent) when she meets him, but has no idea why. Trent was just such a great character. He is warm and caring, you can feel his anger at the things that are happening to Cassie. I was a bit confused as to why we don't have a name for him until about 20% into the book, tho. He's never referred to anywhere before that by name and I was a little annoyed by it. It made it harder to picture him, to be honest.

My favorite character is Trent's sister, Lorelai. I just love her and her reactions. I love the way she is so concerned with Trent and how she doesn't worry about giving up her life to make sure he's safe. I would love to see a novella written from her POV. I think seeing how she views her life with her brother would be a great way to get to know her better.

All in all I truly enjoyed this book. I I see a lot of potential in the author's writing and while there were some flaws noted, the book kept my interest from beginning to end. I loved how Calwell incorporated the elements of fear, humor, and romance and look forward to reading the second book in this series.

3 out of 5 stars.

This review can also be seen at the following sites:
http://thecovercontessa.blogspot.com
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007...
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/remat...
http://www.librarything.com/work/1299...