Review - The Keeper by Natalie Star

The Keeper by Natalie Star
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

ebook, 224 pages

Published January 6th 2012 by Decadent Publishing
Source: BTS Tours for review

Synopsis:
'The morning of her sixteenth birthday, Billie feels blessed despite the reoccurring nightmare that wakes her. Loving parents, a caring boyfriend, and great friends surround her until an heirloom necklace throws her into a world she never imagined.

“Gifted” with supernatural powers and an unexpected destiny as the Keeper, Billie and a mysterious boy from her past must work together to find answers. But, as they begin to discover feelings for one another, he disappears leaving her to fight evil alone. Her life spirals out of control. She breaks up with her boyfriend, Tony, and alienates her best friends Arianna and Jocelyn to protect them from the truth.

As dark forces pursue her, Billie longs to run away from it all, yet a need to do what’s right compels her to face the future as the keeper of more than her own fortune.'

My Thoughts:
The Keeper was a very unique story and contained elements that I haven't come across in any other book before.

The main character, Billie, has a recurring nightmare every year on the night before her birthday. When she turns 16 and is given an antique necklace passed through her family for generations, a whole series of strange events start occurring and Billie has to learn to face a destiny she never knew she had.

At first I didn't really warm to Billie as a character as she seemed to be a typical snobby teenager who thinks too highly of herself and only cares about materialistic things.

As the story develops though, Billie definitely matures as a person while learning to embrace her destiny and accept the help of those around her and because of this she becomes a much more likeable character by the end.

The majority of the supporting characters are also very likeable and I enjoyed the fact that this was a paranormal book but the characters were all still fairly 'normal' people.

I did find that the plot moved quite fast and at times I found myself a little confused as to what had just happened because I didn't feel certain events were explained in enough detail. By the end of the book a lot of my questions were finally answered, but I still found myself a bit bewildered as to what role certain characters, mainly the bad guys, played in the whole scenario and why the conflict between everybody existed in the first place. Had the author taken just a little more time in developing the background of the story I think it would have come together a lot easier for the reader. Hopefully there will be a sequel which will clear up a lot of unanswered questions!

Overall, The Keeper was a very intriguing read with a unique and complex plot that definitely keeps you turning the pages to see what happens next. The ending is something you definitely would not predict but is still satisfying in how it plays out.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a young adult romance novel with an added twist of the paranormal thrown in to make it that extra bit interesting.

Links:
Amazon  
Natalie Star's website: 

http://www.authornataliestar.com