Review: The Seven Rays - Jessica Bendinger

Where I got it: My collection
Rating: 2.5 stars
Cover Rating: 4 stars (Shiny.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: November 24, 2009
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Page Count: 328 p.

"You are more than you think you are" is in the first gold envelope that Beth Michaels actually receives. This happens around the time she starts seeing things, pink dots at first and then much more. Beth can see peoples pasts, just by touching them. She thinks she's going crazy but she can't really explain the envelopes away with her being crazy or the mysterious things that keep attacking her. Beth just really wants to figure out what is going on.

This book was very odd. Not in a bad way though just in an odd way. I really enjoyed the tarot card chapters. Overall I feel like a lot more needed to be included in this book. I enjoyed and hated how many words in this novel were made up ones. I hated it because there were so many but I loved it because I know a lot of teenagers do make up words when they can't find just the right one to convey what they are feeling. The characters were a bit flat. I never got to know Beth enough to understand the decisions she was making. I didn't get the relationship in this either. It happened too suddenly and it was never really explained why he all of a sudden wasn't a player anymore. The story was a really great concept, however I only enjoyed bits and pieces of it. The whole book didn't work together though, and it just felt like their were things I was missing. I also wonder if this is supposed to be the first in a series, because the ending wasn't very satisfactory. The whole book leads up to finding out what Beth is destined to do and then it doesn't even get on to her fulfilling her destiny. I do have to say, best sex scene ever (no actual sex!). It was a fun read, however it just could have been better.

First Line:
"There are some things you can't unsee."

Favorite Line:
"He was smiling, and as I stretched like a cat to wake up, I realized that I was mush, my body flooded with dopamine and oxytocin from our adventures in mutual autoeroticism."