Review: Rua by Miranda Kavi

Rua
Miranda Kavi
Print Length: 248 pages
Publisher: Midnight Blackbird LLC
Release Date: August 27, 2012

A girl with an unknown destiny.

A boy from a hidden world.

When Celeste starts at a new school in a small, Kansas town, she hears whispering voices, has vivid nightmares, and swarms of blackbirds follow her every move. She is oddly drawn to aloof Rylan, the other new student who has his own secrets. The exact moment she turns seventeen, she wakes to a bedroom full of strange creatures, purple light emanating from her hands, and Rylan breaking in through her bedroom window. He knows what she is . . . Intriguing and deeply romantic, RUA is page-turning YA novel with a supernatural twist.

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Review

Before I start my review I want to say something about the cover. I’m not sure if the author had all the say in this, though this being an indie I would think so, but this cover is not just beautiful, it matches this story perfectly. I always love it when the cover of a book and what is inside actually go together.

All right y’all, I’m just going to go ahead and put this out there. I have been burned by a lot of books that start out with that Twilight feel. You know what I’m talking about right? New girl comes to live in this small town with an even smaller high school where everyone knows everyone, so she sticks out right away. Rua, had that same kind of feel and I will let you now that I almost stopped reading it. Then something happened and it deterred from the formula a bit, and I really started to enjoy myself. There is even a moment that it makes a bit of fun of itself.

They all walked into school together. To Celeste, it was like a scene from a cheesy teen movie. Most of the students milled around the lockers and classroom doors. When she and Rylan walked down the main hallway, hand in hand, everyone literally stopped what they were doing and watched them pass. Most of them smiled.

Celeste (our main character) was adopted as a baby and has a wonderful relationship with her parents. One of the things I really enjoyed about Rau, is that this is a YA book with strong parental figures. Celeste parents love and support her. They are actually a part of her life and know who her friends are. (Not that she has many friends.) I hate it when I’m reading a book filled with teenage characters and the parents are never around. For that reason I found Celeste interaction with her parents refreshing.

I also liked Celeste best friend, Tink. Though I felt like Celeste and Tink became BFF’s super fast, especially with the immediate loyalty they show to one another, I just loved Tink. He is one of those characters that if actually real you know they would be fun to be around. You know that person that can always make you a little more brave, That’s Tink.

One thing I want when reading any type of romance is that magnetic draw to the love interest… I have to say, I just didn’t have that in Rau. I think I may have needed a little more on Rylan’s character before all the insta-love started to occur. Yes, Rylan is good looking, mysterious, and shows up when Rau needs him. But in all honesty in the beginning of them getting to know each other he is kind of a dick, and that turned me off. Rylan does redeem himself many times by the end, I just wish they started out a bit different.

The plot of Rua was good. At one point I looked down to see how much of the story I had left to read only to find I was almost done. This is so fast paced, I got so caught up in the story I didn’t even realize how much I had read. Also the twist actually got me in the end. Miranda Kavi did an amazing job at weaving all the details of Rua together that by the end I was surprised by the ending. That rarely happens to me so I now want to read more.

This YA PNR is fast paced and fun to read. Though it starts off with a bit of that Twilight feel, (Not that there is anything wrong with that.) it detours from it quickly, and has its own surprising twist and turns. I plan on continuing this series soon.

Happy Reading,

     

3 Moons: I enjoyed Rua and hope to read more of the series soon.

Bonus: This is free on kindle right now!

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