A mighty flame follows a tiny spark.
Cora Sandoval’s mother disappeared when she was five and
they were living in Ireland. Since then, her dad has been more than
overprotective, and Cora is beginning to chafe under his confines. But even
more troubling is the colorful light she suddenly sees around people. Everyone,
that is, except herself—instead, she glows a brilliant, sparkling silver.
As she realizes the danger associated with these strange
auras, Cora is inexplicably drawn to Finn, a gorgeous Irish exchange student
who makes her feel safe. Their attraction is instant, magnetic, and primal—but
her father disapproves, and Finn’s mother orders him home to Ireland upon hearing
he’s fallen in love. After a fight with her father, Cora flees to Ireland, both
to follow Finn and to look for her missing mother.
There she meets another silver-haloed person and discovers
the meaning of her newfound powers and their role in a conspiracy spanning
centuries—one that could change mankind forever…and end her life.
Scintillate is the first book in this lush and exciting new
trilogy, full of romance, adventure and metaphysical mystery.
The premise for Scintillate is definitely fascinating as the
story begins with Cora undergoing a drastic transformation in the aftermath
of being violently ill. Her scientist father suspects that it’s because of a mysterious
virus going around. While that’s keeping him preoccupied, she’s discovering her
newfound ability which is complex and scary, only made worse because she has no
one she can confide in. Things progress quickly when she stumbles upon the
first clue that gives her some vague idea about what her ability could
mean. It’s just enough to kickstart her own research that inevitably leads
to more than she can handle.
In the midst of it all, there’s Finn, the gorgeous Irish
bloke who has recently entered her life. They’d seen each other around at
school but there had been no contact until she became ill. Finn is the entire
package if you go for the gorgeous foreign guy with the cute accent, poetic soul
and a profound singer-songwriter guitar playing genius. (I dreamed up Jonathan
Rhys-Meyers in this scenario.) In a matter of days, he has rooted himself into
her life and he becomes a source of contention between her and her
overprotective dad. As a reader, I was both beguiled by him and suspicious of
him. Cora on the other hand is completely smitten.
When her dad decides to send her to Costa Rica to visit her grandmother
just to get her away from danger, Cora seizes the opportunity to escape Ireland
instead to search for clues about her mother. When she arrives, she meets
someone who is similar to her and it’s the first real break she receives on the
path to discovering the truth. However, that also comes with a calamitous welcome to the country. Her sudden bright idea to take matters
into her own hands and wander off to the other side of the world doesn’t seem so
smart anymore.
I liked Scintillate as a whole but I have mixed feelings
about Cora at this point. I can understand her desperation to find answers,
however, in her haste, she puts herself and her family in danger. She is so hell
bent on defying her father that she just plows ahead without giving her
actions any serious thought. Her annoyance with him blinds her from seeing
some vital clues in front of her. That being said, I'll cut her some slack for being young,
sheltered and frightened.
I’m still very much interested in knowing the outcome of her
story. I think that the events that transpired toward the end of book one have
opened Cora's eyes which hopefully means that she’ll tighten up her game plan
moving forward. She'll have to be cautious as the stakes are higher and I imagine we'll see a more grown-up Cora through the rest of this exciting series!
Hey folks, check out the book trailer below and enter for your chance to win a prize pack of your own beautiful key necklace and a signed copy of Scintillate!
~ Bel
 |
| Author Tracy Clark modeling the lovely key necklace you soooo want to win! |
Trailer Link:
http://youtu.be/HVCOK3fWLx8
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