Reborn by Ley Mesina

Publisher: CreateSpace
Publication Date: May 26, 2011
Pages: 160
Source: author, free of charge in exchange for an honest review
Buy It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Lily Westbrook knows she is anything but ordinary. When her powers fully mature on her eighteenth birthday, she realizes that being half witch and half vampire is more of a challenge then she was let on to believe.

After being accepted to Kensington University in Cedar Creek, Massachusetts, she sets out on a journey that pulls her deeper into the world of witches and vampires, uncovering the truth about her past and discovering who she is meant to be. --Goodreads

Lily is a half witch, half vampire. When she goes off to school, she discovers a part of her family’s secrets she didn’t even know existed.

I wanted to love this book; I really did. It sounds fantastic and holds such promise. Something, however, was not quite right with Reborn and I never could get into the story. The characters seemed a bit detached from the plot. There never seemed to be enough time to get to know each one. Even in some of the fantastic, heart-pumping scenes, I couldn’t make myself care for a character I had known nothing about.

The way it was written—that was beautiful. The voice spoke to me like I was part of the novel, part of the action. Ley Mesina used such diction that made me see it unfolding in my mind like a movie playing. Her writing was marvelous. However, with her writing came spelling and grammar mistakes, which took away a lot of my focus while reading. With this factor, I still thoroughly enjoyed the style and wish to read it again.

The structure of the plot seemed to be the most of what the novel seemed to be lacking. At times, it was confusing. Of what I could comprehend of the plot, it was a bit too predictable but I liked it that way. Sometimes, you need to read something that you know what’s going to happen. Being predictable is nice and it made me feel smart when I thought something was going to happen and then it actually did. For this novel, being predictable definitely worked, even though I don’t think it was intended to be so; it added an edge to the story that gave the readers something to look for. I couldn’t quite focus on the storyline: there were too many flashbacks, and then without warning, it would go back to normal speed again. There were too many loose ends that one can only hope that Mesina will tie up in the next novel (if there is a sequel).

In Reborn, there was a set-up for a sequel. With a killer ending like it had, I hope there is because I think I would definitely read it. I wasn’t truly focused and into the book until the last few chapters. That was when Mesina captured my full attention, took me for a ride and didn’t let me go until after the last page. The ending left an impression on me. As much as I hate cliff hangers, this one definitely left me wanting to know what will happen next.

Rating:

Writing Style: 3
Cover: 2
Characters: 3
Plot: 3
Ending: 4
Overall: 3