The Athena Effect (The Athena Effect 1) by Derrolyn Anderson

Hello to all,

                 Before i go back to bed since i seem only to get worse at the moment ( nothing to worry about , but a dotor's appointment is scheduled since i can't fight this virus alone), i wanted to share another book with you. ... i try to be really careful and professional with the books i receive for request... it's the reason why i try to be in perfect conditions when i'm reading them ( so that my opinion isn't  influenced because i'm sick, dead tired or depressed etc), i try also not to be too long.

I received this book last year and i was really happy to have been contacted to review it... i put it on top of my pile ready to jump on it...when life got it the way... during december and january all the family got sick and not all together so i was really busy tending to everyone before i caught something too. ..those kind of strong virus that takes weeks ( 7!!!) to be defeated... Finally this month i got a window...a few days when i was feeling well, happy and i jumped on The Athena Effect and some other books i couldn't resist any longer..; i'm happy i did since i 'm back to being sick already and this book really deserved to be read in good conditions

Anyway  i didn't want to make you wait so here is my opinion of the Athena Effect by Derrolyn Anderson.

Happy reading

Publisher: Derrolyn Anderson

Publication: 2012

ISBN:  9781476059273

Genre: YA, Fantasy, paranormal romance
Violence: mild
Language: normal
sex: mild
Public: 16+

Source: ecopy in exchange for an honest review

Short description from goodreads :

 Country girl Cali has been kept a secret her entire life, raised in isolation by two very troubled people. Despite her parent’s disturbing fits, Cal is perfectly content, living at one with the nature that surrounds her, and finding adventure inside the pages of her beloved books. When an awful tragedy tears her away from her remote cabin in the woods, nothing she’s ever read has prepared her for a world that she knows very little about.

Girls and motorcycles are what bad-boy Cal’s life is all about. Brought up in a raucous party house by his biker brother, he’s free to do as he pleases, going through the motions on his final days of high school. Aimless, Cal stopped thinking about his future a long time ago.

Attacked by a gang of thugs while running an errand for his brother, Cal is in serious trouble until a fierce girl appears out of nowhere to intervene. She chases off three grown men, sparing Cal a brutal beating before disappearing into the night like a spirit. He can’t stop thinking about his mysterious rescuer, and when she turns out to be the weird new girl at school who goes out of her way to avoid him, he can’t contain his curiosity.

He’s never met anyone like her before, and the more he learns about the unusual girl who shares his nickname, the more he wants to know. Cal can’t help falling for Cal, but can he keep her from falling victim to a dangerous enemy from her parent’s tragic past?

My opinion:

          I was really happy to receive a copy of this book for review because it caught my eyes on goodreads before so this opportunity to discover this series was fantastic and if I hadn’t be unwell I would have read and reviewed it before now. The great thing is that I wasn’t disappointed at all despites my high expectations of this book!

 The story starts with 2 teenagers on the run, they seems really scared and not healthy but deeply in love. Then we go forward 17 years, nearly 18 in the future and we discover they become the parents of a very special young girl called Cal as a diminutive for Caledonia. Cal is a little savage, she loves being is the wild surrounded by animals and nature however she is also educated, loving to read anything she comes by in a scheduled house. She knows she is special, that not every one has the same power as her being able to see the emotions of living creatures and to influence them. The fact that her parents are hiding didn’t escape her, but the nature of their nightmares eludes her. They protected her, taught her lots of things but also warned her to be cautious, that there were dangers lurking around without telling her which danger or to tell her how to avoid them though.

So when they die in a tragic accident, Cal is left alone without knowing how to act in the big city where she is sent to live with her aunt she never knew.  She has a vast knowledge literally but in practise she didn’t use electricity before so everything seems new.

Cal don’t like living with her aunt who didn’t really want to take her in even only for the few month until she turns eighteen, worse she always sticks to her boyfriend  whose intentions are a little too clear. To avoid troubles, Cal prefers to stay as little as possible at home when her aunt is working but that means spending the night out wandering.  When one night she sees a boy being bitten she jumps at his rescue without hesitation. Calvin thought the girl who saved him wasn’t real, used to having a different girl on his arm each day; he is playing the playboy to hide his pain and suffering. However, when he discovers that the new weir girl at school, avoiding everyone is the girl who came to his rescue he gets curious. Even more, she is the girl how managed to calm his brother‘s pit-bull. He starts to follow her, trying to get to know her but slowly feelings grow for this girl so different so intelligent, stronger that she looks and kind but also so innocent. He is drawn to her.

For Cali, Cal is a boy to avoid. She doesn’t like his attitude with girls however when he ask for her help, she can’t refuse; she even starts to confide in him what even her parents never knew.  In this new world she is facing, Cal becomes a friend and a support for her. He is kind and takes time to show her things, take her to the fair and museum, soon Cali accept her growing feelings.

Unfortunately for them, the past is coming back full force and what Cali’s parents feared has come. Someone discovered her existence and knowing Cali’s power and will do anything to get his hand on her. Cali is confronted to what she wasn’t prepared for; she learnt the reason for her parents’ crisis, the reason for her power but can’t fight alone. She finds allies she didn’t hope for and Cal is determined to protect her even if it means leaving for the unknown.

One thing that bothered me a little is the fact that Rufus didn’t react during the abducting, even if he was in a closed room or anything he should have barked madly when strangers entered and thus Cal would have been awaken, even more knowing how much he cares for her. Another detail bothered me, the fact that Cal and Cali  get involved a little too quickly to my taste, I mean he says he will wait etc and at the same time they jump on it the same night. Yes it’s wasn’t they first day together etc but it seemed to fast for me  with Cali Background., but the story as a whole stay really good of course^^

The plot is sometimes predictable but Derrolyn Anderson’s writing style is clear and fresh so once you start the story you don’t want to put it down even when you guess what could happen you just want to be sure and to read more. I enjoyed the parallelism between the prologue and the epilogue, like the life is a cycle the characters find themselves repeating some schema and I can only hope it will be for the better. It’s really enjoyable, it’s a very good YA fantasy book and I’m curious about the rest of the series because while there isn’t really a cliffhanger , the tension is still there and you want to know what will happen to the different protagonists.

To recommend!

Score:  4/5

Disclaimer: Source: a copy in exchange for an honest review, no other compensation was received. All opinions are my own.

 You can buy this book on  amazon or  in other formats on  smashwords

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