Arcadia's Gift by Jesi Lea Ryan - Review

By Jesi Lea Ryan

Most people who experience death don't live to tell about it. When sixteen year old Arcadia "Cady" Day wakes in a hospital after experiencing what can only be called a psychic episode, she finds her family in tatters. With her twin sister gone, her dad moved out, her mom's spiraling depression and her sister's boyfriend, Cane, barely able to look at her, the only bright spot in her life is Bryan Sullivan, the new guy in school. When Bryan's around, Cady can almost pretend she's a regular girl, living a regular life; when he's not, she's wracked with wild, inexplicable mood swings. As her home life crumbles and her emotional control slips away, Cady begins to suspect that her first psychic episode was just the beginning...  

My Thoughts: It's so great to get back into YA reading with such an amazing book. Arcadia's Gift is both emotional and exciting. I thought the explanations of the development of psychic power were really great. I have twins, so the part with the twins was incredibly sad to me. I thought the emotional response, and the dynamics between the family were very believable.

Cady is a typical teen. She has her dramatic moments where she compares herself to others, but she seems to have things figured out. When her world turns to chaos she works very hard to keep herself together. I loved her moments of selflessness in the book. I also really loved any moment her new gift could be used to help someone else.

The other characters were great, too. I loved the differences between Cady and her twin. I chuckled a bit as I realized I have done something similar with my babies to help people tell them apart. I liked Shawn because he seemed to always try to fix troubles. I thought Bryan was a sweet guy. He steps in to help Cady find her way and he is understanding through it all. The nerdy glasses intrigued me, too. I expect to see much more of Cane. He adds in some serious drama to the story. I was pretty sure I knew his feelings from the start, and now it will be interesting to see where it goes. I love Aaron. I hope his role expands in the next book. He is a normal big brother having fun with his friends, but he had moments of amazing emotion that made me want to read more about him.

I think Arcadia's Gift is a great start to a new series. The plot pulled me along and made me wonder what would happen next for Cady. The characters are appealing and I like the small town feel of the setting. I ended the book ready to find out more, and I started Arcadia's Curse immediately. I am partially done with it, and I am loving it just as much. I think readers of YA paranormal will love this book.

Reading:

Think high school sucks? Try being an empath who has to experience everyone else’s suckage on top of your own. (Literally.) In the months since her family life imploded and her psychic gifts began to arise, Cady has struggled to figure out how she can fit into her normal life without going crazy from the constant presence of emotional energy. Her grades have tanked. Her best friend is afraid of her. And she begins to have doubts about why her boyfriend, Bryan, is really keeping her around. But a chance meeting with another gifted girl online opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Unfortunately, this new world comes at an awful price.   Find The Arcadia Novels here: Amazon (Arcadia's Gift)/Amazon (Arcadia's Curse) AUDIBLE Audio Book of Arcadia's Gift

Author Bio:

Jesi Lea Ryan grew up in the Mississippi River town of Dubuque, IA. She holds bachelor degrees in creative writing and literature and a masters degree in business. She considers herself a well-rounded nerd who can spend hours on the internet researching things like British history, anthropology of ancient people, geography of random parts of the world, bad tattoos and the paranormal. She currently lives in Madison, WI with her husband and two exceptionally naughty kitties. Stalk Jesi Lea here: Facebook/Twitter/Website/Blog


I received an e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.