I’m not supposed to be here.
Death has come for me more than once, and each time it’s been a boy who’s stood between me and my final breath.
I called him Christopher when he saved me as a child. When he came into my life again, only months ago, I knew him as Wes. Just as he did the time before, he disappeared the moment he made sure I was out of harm’s way; as if I didn’t need any more saving.
This time, though, death left me with a reminder of how powerful it is. I know it meant to strip me of my spirit again, but it failed.
Even so, I know I need Wes to survive. Our souls are woven together somehow, our every breath in sync. I feel it, even though everyone says I shouldn’t.
The world thinks he’s missing.
His loved ones don’t want to believe he’s dead.
Only I know just how special he is.
I’m going to find him and bring him home, where he belongs. Together, we’ll face impossible—we’ll rewrite our ending.
And when the bad guys come calling, we will always win.
In A Girl Like Me, Josselyn has finally had enough of the mysteries, the unanswered questions, the strange phenomena surrounding her and Wes' entwined history. He saved her life yet again then immediately disappeared. Now that she's has worked hard to regain her strength, she's bound and determined to find him and bring him home. All she has are clues that she firmly believes he has left for her. She has no idea what she'll find but all she wants is him.
Action can be suspenseful but what gave me the chills was the eventuality of Joss uncovering the truth. Even when she started to get snippets of information here and there, or after she found Wes, the questions did not abate. There's this air of urgency that fuels their every move. In addition to figuring out the mystery that is Wes, Joss has to deal with the trouble that her dad has gotten himself in. It's so much to handle for one person yet Joss does it. I admit that Joss was not necessarily my favourite character in the first book, A Boy Like Me because I found her too abrasive with too much attitude. But I came around in this book where I admire her tenacity. Tell her she can't do something, she'll do and it'll be better and faster. She pushes herself to the limits and she doesn't need anyone's encouragement. There's no smoothing out the edges or making things pretty, especially where Joss and her family are concerned. The only thing that can break her a little is Wes. And even then she won't allow him to mess her up.
Paranormal is not a word I would typically associate with Scott's books but here she explores something so intriguing. I think this is one of the grittiest and most provocative things she has written. The entire time I kept wondering how the idea of this guy with seemingly mysterious powers would fit into this world, in Joss' life. My problem was I kept dreaming up a DC/Marvel kind of scenario which is how we're all conditioned to think of superheroes. Once I let go of that idea I was truly able to wrap myself up in this story about how these unique individuals shape their immediate surroundings and affect their innermost circle.
Ginger Scott is one of my "autobuy" authors. She's an amazing writer and A Girl Like Me shows that she's unafraid of taking chances with a story, offering up something so clever and new.
~ Bel
