Jessie Lucente, a Light Tamer, has started her junior year at Parca Academy in New Bern, NC. She has a new boyfriend, Caleb Baldwin. He is beyond good looking, he is her mate for life. They’ve been bound by the light and will rule and heal with it too. Her new classes aren’t what she expected. Finding out the school is filled with ‘gifted’ kids is almost too much to comprehend. She finds out what it really means to be a Light Tamer. Some of the assumptions she had are debunked and now everything is crystal clear…well, clear as mud. Now that she is enlightened with the facts, she struggles with the truth.
Thorne Woodson has all of the girls swooning. His Doc Martens and hoodie stand out against his school uniform. He might be the guy to heal Amber’s broken, grieving heart. What’s his story, and why does he appear everywhere Jessie is? He has a secret that will change the game for everyone. Who is he in cahoots with?
The secrets that have been revealed by Fate will leave Jessie in a new role. It will all come down to bloodline versus logic. She must step up and embrace her new title, and life on the other side of the shimmer. With her small army together, they promise to vanquish Nyx back to the Underworld and seal the portal she came through.
The second book in The Light Tamer trilogy will answer the questions that are burning in your head. A beautiful tale of first love and friendship. Be prepared to be amazed at the twist in this story. You didn’t see it coming, but you’ll be glad it did!
Blurb and cover from Goodreads
3 out of 5 stars
I didn’t look forward to reviewing this. I really didn’t. As you’ll recall, the first book didn’t make my all-time favorites, but I still wanted to read this one. It turns out, I didn’t get into this one either and it’s hard to write this review because I don’t have many strong feelings on this book and the ones I do have are bad and I feel terrible because I hate writing nasty reviews and it makes me feel like a nasty person.
The plot:
It was alright. It didn’t drag or anything, but I still had to force myself to read through it because I really, really wasn’t enjoying the story. There was way to little going on for my tastes and I was mostly bored. I liked the part about Jessie’s dad coming back and the relationship between her parents was cute, but aside from Thorn and Amber’s sarcastic humor, I didn’t find a whole lot of redeeming qualities in this book. The whole thing with the faeries just wasn’t believable for me and it felt like a cop-out or a cheat because I don’t remember any hints that faeries existed in the first book. In the first book, the story takes on more of Egyptian mythology and then at the end of this one—viola! Faeries are real and Jessie is :SPOILER: supposed to be some sort of pre-destined queen. :SPOILER OVER: There is a lot less kissing in this one, though there’s still plenty of that, if that’s a plus for you. However, the romance really didn’t get a reaction out of me. I thought it felt cardboard.
The characters:
Jessie was alright in this one and still going strong with Caleb. I don’t have a lot to say about her because I just didn’t have a lot of feelings on her. She sort of fell flat for me. I think the only place where I had any strong emotion about this book was the part where Jessie’s mom spontaneously says they’re going to have to talk about what kind of birth control to get her and for me that was just—YUCK! The girl’s sixteen, for crying out loud! Then Jessie goes on and assures her mom that when she and her boyfriend decide to go “all the way,” her mom will be the first to know. Okay, it might just be me, but I think that whole conversation was—how should I put this?—pushing beyond the spectrum of weird and bordering on the realm of unsettling.
I said that Jessie fell flat for me and the other characters really did, too. Even Amber, who was my favorite in the first book, got a bit annoying. She tells people she doesn’t care what they think of her, yet if you look at the lengths she goes through to preserve her reputation, she clearly does and that kind of defies the point.
I’m so, so sorry to Ms. Dawson because I know there are oodles of people who have gushed over this series and who absolutely adore it, I just wasn’t able to figure out why. I probably won’t read the last book and unfortunately I don’t know anyone I’d recommend it to. But if you’re into paranormal love stories that are heavy on the kissing and light on the adventure, please give this one a shot and like it and then I won’t feel like the Grinch for writing this review.
Inkspelled Faery 
I know how you feel when it comes to writing reviews that aren’t good. It is very hard, but remember that honesty is always the best policy and an author can’t please everyone with their books. But at the same time they can’t learn how others feel if they don’t post honest reviews good and bad. A good author takes both good and bad reviews and betters themselves from both. 🙂
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I suppose so. But I still feel mean. 😦
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Awe well you’re not being mean (((HUGS)))
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