AURACLE by Gina Rosati

Auracle
Gina Rosati

Rating: B+
Synopsis from goodreads.com:
Sixteen year old Anna Rogan has a secret she's only shared with her best friend, Rei; she can astrally project out of her body, allowing her spirit to explore the world and the far reaches of the universe.

When there's a fatal accident and her classmate Taylor takes over Anna's body, what was an exhilarating distraction from her repressive home life threatens to become a permanent state. Faced with a future trapped in another dimension, Anna turns to Rei for help. Now the two of them must find a way to get Anna back into her body and stop Taylor from accusing an innocent friend of murder. Together Anna and Rei form a plan but it doesn't take into account the deeper feelings that are beginning to grow between them.

My thoughts on the book:
Auracle is a unique offering in the overcrowded genre of YA paranormal literature. Anna can astrally project out of her body and travel around the world. Since I've never read a story with astral projection being the main supernatural gift, I was intrigued from the beginning. Rosati has created a richly detailed world with believable characters and a suspenseful plot. This is one book that YA paranormal fans will not want to miss. 

I really loved the characters in this book. Anna and Rei were both just good characters. They weren't angsty, bratty, or mean. They weren't tortured souls. They had their problems, like all people do, but they dealt with them. They were well-adjusted and compassionate. It was refreshing to read about characters who came across as individuals, but weren't tortured and depressed. There was no having to break through the other's defenses. It was a nice change. The secondary characters, like Taylor and Seth, had defenses up, and Taylor was a major brat. However, the world is filled with brats. I'm just glad that this book didn't try to paint brats in an appealing light. 

The story is told from Anna's first person POV, and she is a good narrator. You trust her right away because, while she's not a goody-goody, she is a good character. You just know she wouldn't lie to you. The dialogue, however, was a problem for me sometimes. The words were fine, and each character had his or her own unique voice, but Rosati went extremely overboard with the exclamation points. Every other sentences ended with one, even when it was an inappropriate punctuation for the context of the sentence. It would go like this... "Hi." "Hi." "How are you?" "Okay!" That wasn't actually said, but you get the idea. Since the copy I read was an ARC, though, the finished edition may not be filled with so many exclamation points. I hope an editor calmed the author down a bit because it was kind of ridiculous. 

The plot was intriguing and suspenseful. There really wasn't a mystery. Everything was laid out from the beginning, but I had to keep reading to find out if Anna got her body back or not. I figured out how to accomplish this long before they did, but in their defense, if they'd figured it out right away, then there wouldn't have been a story. That being said, the pacing lagged in a few places. Rosati did an excellent job of showing instead of telling, but she showed too much. She should have, in my opinion, cut down on the scenes of Taylor trashing Anna's reputation and body. I got the point after the first fifty times. More could have been tacked on about Anna and Rei, though. That would have been a lot more interesting. 

Anna and Rei's relationship was interesting, especially in the world of YA romance, because they were best friends since birth. This wasn't insta-love, and the relationship happened organically. However, at one point, I  am not sure how or when they went from "You don't like me." "Well you don't like me," to agreeing that they liked each other. That wasn't handled very well and could have been clarified some. It was awkward one minute and perfect the next. That just felt a bit choppy to me. 

The ending tied things up nicely, but I still hope for a sequel. One could be written. I would love to learn more about Anna's gifts as she discovers them. I'm sure she could get into more trouble with her astral projecting, so I hope that another book is written with these characters. If there is no sequel, this is also an awesome stand-alone book.

Overall, I'd recommend this book to any YA paranormal fans who are tired of the same three story lines. Auracle offers something different, and Rosati tells a good story. The characters will win you over, and the suspense will keep you reading until the very end. This is one book you don't want to miss. 

Order Auracle today!