Glimpse by Stacey Wallace Benefiel Review

Title: Glimpse

Author: Stacey Wallace Benefiel

Published: May 9th, 2010

Book rating: 4 stars

Cover rating: 4 stars

Zellie Wells has a devastating crush on Avery Adams, the son of her mom’s high school sweetheart. At her sixteenth birthday party, held in the basement of her dad’s church, she finally finds the courage to talk to him. Turns out, the devastating crush is mutual.

As Avery takes her hand and leads her out onto the makeshift dance floor, Zellie is overwhelmed by her first vision of his death; shocking because not only are they both covered in his blood, but they’re old, like 35, and she is pregnant.

Afraid to tell anyone about the vision, (she’d just be labeled a freaky black magic witch, right?) Zellie keeps the knowledge of Avery’s future to herself and tries to act like any other teenager in love. When they get caught on their way to a secret rendezvous by her mom and his dad, they are forbidden to see each other.

Convinced that their parents are freaking out unnecessarily, Avery and Zellie vow to be together no matter what. They continue their relationship in secret until Zellie learns that their parents are just trying to prevent her and Avery from suffering like they did. The visions are hereditary, they’re dangerous, and if they stay together the visions will come true.

Now Zellie must choose between severing all ties with Avery, like her mom did to prevent his father’s death, and finding a way to change Avery’s future.

What can I say? Glimpse was so much better than I thought it would be. I read a lot of mixed reviews about this book so it took me awhile to actually read it but I'm so glad I did! For one this book was free on amazon so that's always a plus but the biggest plus was it was actually worth the read. So many times I have downloaded a book that was free and sounded like it had so much potential and they always fall short. Which I guess I can't complain because they were free right? But still, this was refreshing. 

Zellie is such an interesting character and so is Avery. I think Stacey did a good job creating her characters and making each one of them their own. It kind of bugged me how instant Zellie and Avery were attracted to each other and loved each other but once the background of Zellie and her powers are explained it made sense.  I absolutely love Claire, she is hilarious. She's so sure of herself and her loyalty to Zellie is so wonderful. Even though Zellie turns out to be not so normal and has a ton of crazy things happening Claire still sticks by her and is a true bestfriend. I love Avery, how can you not? Zellie and Avery grew up with each other and they're just bound to be together. I love how he's 16, is starting to get grey hair, and Zellie still finds him as one of the most beautiful boys in the world. That's really rare in my opinion and it's super cute. He takes on the world of Zellie's new life without hesitation because he knows he loves her and would do anything for her, even if it means dying. That's true love and loyalty.  Zellie also has a younger sister who is hilarious, yes I cheated and read the second book before I did my review for this one so I get to know the characters a bit more. Anyways, Melody comes off as a snarky snobby girl at first but once you get to know her you'll find that she really does care for her family and their safety. I love the role she plays in this book and how she falls into place within the supernatural aspect of Zellie's world. 

Over all I gave this book four stars because it has very interesting characters who you can relate to in situations even though this is a paranormal read. The plot is full of action, romance, and suspense and it's a really good read. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys contemporary novels, paranormal novels, or young adult novels.

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