Lorena Angell
Description from goodreads.com:
When Calli Courtnae breaks the World Record for the 100m, she is invited to Montana to prepare for National tryouts. However, upon arrival using her lip reading ability she realizes she’s been lied to, or at least not told the whole truth. She's a superhuman, a Runner, and her new world includes transporting packages for other supernatural groups.
She’s paired up with an overly anxious Gothic roommate, is continuously glared down by the gorgeous top-dog, Chris, who feels she doesn’t belong, and is placed on a delivery team to transport a valuable magical diamond to a clan of terrorists who can kill with their thoughts.
Chris, the team leader, is given the diamond, but Calli secretly receives the real stone along with a vision of the future and an explanation of why she was hand selected to carry out the mission. Almost immediately the hidden diamond oozes unprecedented additional powers and abilities in Calli making her more sought after than the diamond itself.
My thoughts on the book:
This book is a quick read and packed with adventure. However, the main character isn't that believable as a teenager, which really hurts with the whole willing suspension of disbelief philosophy. I noticed that many of the characters didn't react within the bell curve of normal in this novel, and the overreactions took me out of the story quite a bit. I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if the characters' reactions had been believable. Instead, they all seemed bipolar half of the time.
Calli, the main character and narrator of the book, is not believable as a teenager. Even the geekiest teenager wouldn't use the words that Calli uses to describe things. Her wording is that of a 30+ year old woman with a college degree, not that of a teenager. Also, her outlooks, both on her life, and on herself are very logical. That's also not normal as a teenager. Considering teenagers have new chemicals firing off in their bodies all the time, it's nearly impossible for them to remain level-headed. That being said, Calli is a nice and likable character, and at least she's comfortable with herself. She doesn't attach herself to and pine after random boys, and she takes the steps necessary to improve her life and herself.
The other characters didn't stand out to me very much. They were all kind of fillers and cookie-cutter stereotypes. The idea, on the other hand, was very interesting. A magical diamond which brings out more abilities for the person who carries it? That's cool within itself. Then when you pair that with the fact that Calli is already a supernatural, then you have the recipe for a terrific plot. There is plenty of action, including bullying, suicide, and attempted kidnapping. Mix that with people who run at superhuman paces, mind-reading, and psychic visions, and you won't be bored for a second with this novel.
The pacing of the book is pretty spot on, and the action starts pretty quickly. It's a shorter book, under 200 pages, and you'll fly through it in no time. This novel did a terrific job of building the world that Calli lives in, and I can't wait to see what happens in the sequel, A Diamond in My Heart, which comes out on January 31, 2012. You'll definitely want to check this book out!
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I like the fact that it involves sports and tryouts etc. but if you say the characters aren't believable, then...
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