Betwixt
(Betwixt, #1)
By: Melissa Pearl
Publisher: Self-Published
Published: Nov. 5, 2012
Genre: Paranormal YA
Rating:
Beautiful, wild-child Nicole Tepper is hit by a car and left for dead. But when she wakes the next morning, Nicole finds herself in bed without a scratch. Perhaps she was more intoxicated than usual, as her mother is giving her the silent treatment and her friends are ignoring her as well.
Things take a turn for the weird when Nicole soon discovers she is actually hovering between life and death. Her body is lying in the forest while her spirit is searching for anyone who can hear her. Unfortunately the only person who can is Dale Finnigan, the guy she publicly humiliated with a sharp-tongued insult that has left him branded.
Desperate, Nicole has no choice but to haunt Dale and convince the freaked-out senior to help her. Will he find her body before it’s too late? Or will the guy who tried to kill her with his car, beat him there and finish her off before anyone finds out?
When walking home from a party one night, Nicole is hit by a car and left for dead in the middle of nowhere. She finds herself having out of body experiences where no one can hear her except for Dale, the guy who she humiliated 4 months ago. He’s the last guy that would want to help her but he’s her only chance at getting help before it’s too late.
This was definitely an interesting story that balanced between paranormal, romance and thriller. You have Nicole who’s essentially a ghost, the awkward attraction between Dale and Nicole and the fact that when Nicole wakes up in her body, there are people looking to kill her so that she can’t tell the authorities what happened. It was a nice combination of the three.
However, I couldn’t really connect with Nicole. She was so ridiculously bitchy. She was mean to everyone, even Dale who was trying to help her. She was very insensitive and stuck her nose up at everything, even if it meant saving herself. I understand that something bad happened to her to make her lose control but her personality was not one that I enjoyed reading. I sort of felt bad for Dale who was being haunted by her. I’d have totally understood if this were a short story ending with him just ignoring her.
Dale however was the saving grace for me. Even though Nicole humiliated him and started his new nickname “Scarface”, he still decides to help her. Since call him Scarface, everyone in the school calls him that, which leaves him with very few friends in the school. So again, I wouldn’t have faulted him if he’d just pretended like he couldn’t hear Nicole when she came calling for help. But he was the bigger person and did everything he could to try to save her, even if she continued to insult him while he was doing so.
This was definitely a fun read. I liked that even though I didn’t like the main character at the beginning, or even through the majority of it, she starts to come down from her pedestal and starts to see what her actions have been causing. She realizes she has a lot going for her and that she was throwing it away. After a while she starts to come around full circle and isn’t such an annoyance to read.
I wouldn’t say that I was surprised by who the driver was but I was a little surprised by the ending. I felt like it was a tiny bit rushed. I mean we build up to this one moment and then when everything is all said and done, they are walking around acting like they’ve nothing to worry about because nothing happened. I don’t know, I just felt like it needed a little more oomph at the end.
“I hope no one can see him. What kind of moron randomly opens their front door, shirtless, and waves to the air?”
Melissa Pearl was born in Auckland, New Zealand, but has spent much of her life abroad, living in countries such as Jordan, Cyprus and Pakistan… not to mention a nine month road trip around North America with her husband. “Best. Year. Ever!!” She now lives in China with her husband and two sons. She is a trained elementary teacher, but writing is her passion. Since becoming a full time mother she has had the opportunity to pursue this dream and her debut novel hit the internet in November 2011. Since then she has produced four more books and has a YA fantasy trilogy coming out this year. Unknown and Unseen (The Elements Trilogy) out now!
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Betwixt
Beautiful, wild-child, Nicole Tepper, is hit by a car and left for dead. But when she wakes the next morning, Nicole finds herself in bed without a scratch. Perhaps she was more intoxicated than usual, as her mother is giving her the silent treatment and her friends are ignoring her as well.Things take a turn for the weird when Nicole soon discovers she is actually hovering between life and death. Her body is lying in the forest while her spirit is searching for anyone who can hear her. Unfortunately the only person who can is Dale Finnigan, the guy she publicly humiliated with a sharp-tongued insult that has left him branded.
Desperate, Nicole has no choice but to haunt Dale and convince the freaked-out senior to help her. Will he find her body before it’s too late? Or will the guy who tried to kill her with his car, beat him there and finish her off before anyone finds out?
Before
In this prequel to Betwixt, find out who Dale Finnigan was before he became known as“scar-face”—the unassuming hero everyone underestimates.Beyond
In this sequel to Betwixt, find out how Nicole Tepper proves to Dale that she loves him beyond all common sense.
Great review! I love how unique this one sounds with the mix of genres. I’m glad you liked it! I always find it hard when I can’t connect to one or several characters. I’m a big character reader though. I do want to give this one a try though it sounds right up my alley!
Thank you so much for your review 🙂 I loved your thoughts on the book. Nicole can be a hard character to come to like, I’m glad she won you over in the end 🙂
thanks for the giveaway!
This sounds like a very interesting book. I’m not a huge fan that the main character is so bitchy, but besides that it sounds really good. Great post and thanks for the giveaway!