Series: Someone Wicked This Way Comes Series, Book One
Author: DelSheree Gladden
Published: April 1st, 2014
Publisher: Clean Teen Publishing
Page Count: 358
Genre: YA Mature Paranormal Romance
Content Warning: Violence, minor language, romance
Recommended Age: 17+
Synopsis:
“Save him and hurt him, don’t save him and hurt him. Pain, either way. Delicious pain. Hunger will be the only one that wins. Hunger always wins.”
Vanessa and Zander Roth are good at lying. Their whole life is a giant web of deceit made in an effort to conceal the deadly secrets that plague their family.
Zander will do anything to forget his mistakes, including pushing everyone away. He was barely surviving in his self-forced solitude before Ivy Guerra entered his life. The new girl in school, with her pink-striped hair and unyielding curiosity, incites something wicked inside Zander that can only be blamed on his family genes. Now Zander is forced to fight an internal war and make a choice between loving Ivy Guerra and killing her.
Vanessa wants nothing more than to shed the strange powers she wields and be normal. Because if Van were normal, she’d be able to have normal things… Like a relationship with the boy she’s been secretly in love with for years. Unfortunately, her life is anything but ordinary. That boy who owns her heart just happens to be her brother’s kryptonite and a
potential liability for her entire family. When choices between love and family loyalty have to be made, Van finds herself faced with an impossible decision.
As if the Roth family needs anything more to worry about, a vicious plot to expose Van and Zander for what they are is uncovered. When it becomes apparent that someone close to them is at the center of this devious plan, the fight to maintain control and keep their cover ensues. It’s a seemingly impossible battle because something is causing their powers to stir stronger than ever before… and it won’t stop until Van and Zander give in to their wicked hunger.
Excerpt
“Van, I didn’t mean …”
“Yes you did, because it’s true.” I take a deep breath. My ragtag group of friends all owe me. Every one of them is my honest to goodness friend now, but they never would have had anything to do with me if I hadn’t saved their lives. I give up and slide to the ground so I can wallow.
“I didn’t mean to sound like such a jerk,” Ketchup says. He sits down next to me. “I thought you were lying, that you didn’t want to admit you had to rescue someone else, that he was only there because he felt like he had to be.”
That familiar stab of rejection buries itself in my chest. “I wasn’t lying,” I manage to whisper.
“You didn’t save him?”
I shake my head. “He saved me, actually,” I say without thinking.
“What?” Ketchup demands.
I try to backtrack, but Ketchup will not let this one go. Finally, I give in and tell him about what happened in the alley. Well, I tell him as much as I can. Ketchup is stunned at the tale of me getting mixed up with a trio of chollos. He doesn’t bat an eye about me fighting, and he doesn’t look for evidence of bruises or cuts. He doesn’t seem to know whether to be angry or grateful when I mentioned Noah breaking up the fight. In the end, the only emotion that sticks around in Ketchup’s eyes is sadness.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Shame makes me look away. “It was stupid to walk home. I was embarrassed, and I was fine anyway.”
“But …”
I hold up a hand, not willing to discuss it anymore. Ketchup grunts in annoyance, but doesn’t press the issue. Instead, he goes back to the original topic. The skepticism is clear in his voice when he says, “And now he’s your English partner? Isn’t that kind of weird?”
“I know. I was worried at first, too, but he hasn’t pulled anything. I even offered to let him off the hook and do it alone, but he said no.”
“Van, I don’t know Noah very well, but he’s been here a few years. He’s heard the rumors and stories. He knows about your…interesting past. How can you be sure of his motivations?”
I shrug. Admitting Noah’s biggest motivator for ignoring the vicious stories constantly circulating about me is because he likes me is not something I want to discuss with Ketchup.
“Are you sure he isn’t after something?” Ketchup asks. “Van, I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Is it really so hard to believe someone might just like me?”
“By someone, you mean a guy,” Ketchup says, jealousy sneaking back into his voice. When I don’t answer, Ketchup knows the answer is yes. He sighs and leans his head against the wall. “Noah likes you?”
“I think so. Is it that surprising?” I ask.
Ketchup is quiet. His hand moves slowly to take mine, and for once I let him. “Is it surprising that a guy thinks you’re beautiful and amazing?” he asks softly. His hand tightens around mine. “No, it’s not surprising. Everyone should be able to see that about you. Everyone should see you like I do.”
Review by J. Hooligan
I found this story to be fascinating. A family needing to feed off the pain of others, it wasn't something I had read before.
The story started out as if the main character, Van, was a normal enough person... but you quickly find out she's definitely not. There's a lot about her I was curious about, and that helped fuel my desire to continue the story.
The relationship between Van and Zander, her brother, was quite possibly my favorite part. Too often siblings are written in a negative light of each other. It was nice to see something different.
The biggest drawback I found in this story was some of the characters. They seemed to really serve no purpose other than a momentary sense of amusement. It was hinted multiple times that there was a connection between Van and them, but it wasn't explained very well and those characters didn't show back up for the rest of the story.
There was one person in specific that really annoyed me. Not the character himself, I liked him. It was the reason for him being in the book. He didn't seem to have any point other than a temporary distraction that takes away from the main part of the story. Maybe he'll be more important in the rest of the series. Otherwise his entire part in this book was a waste of time and made Van really annoying.
Aside from that, I did really enjoy reading it. I liked how it ended, and I look forward to being able to reading more from this series.
4/5 Platypires