Review: Earthbound by Aprilynne Pike

Tavia Michaels is the sole survivor of the plane crash that killed her parents. When she starts to see strange visions of a boy she’s never spoken with in real life, she begins to suspect that there’s much about her past that she isn’t being told. 

Tavia immediately searches for answers, desperate to determine why she feels so drawn to a boy she hardly knows. But when Tavia discovers that the aunt and uncle who took her in after her parents’ death may have actually been responsible for the plane crash that killed them–and that she may have been the true intended victim–she flees for the safety of Camden, Maine, where the boy she sees in her visions instructs her to go.

Now, Tavia is on the run with no one to trust. No one, that is, except for her best friend and longtime crush, Benson.

Tavia feels torn between the boy who mysteriously comes to her at night and the boy who has been by her side every step of the way. But what Tavia doesn’t know is that the world is literally falling apart and that to save it she will have to unite with the boy in her visions. Only problem? To do so would mean rejecting Benson’s love. And that’s the one thing Tavia Michaels swore she’d never do.

Thank you Razorbill for letting me on the tour!

Review

It is quite hard for me to write this review. I feel like Idon’t really have much to say. To be honest I was skeptical about this book. I was immediately repulsed by the romance. Sure, I love century old conspiracy, but I don’t like love triangles. But to mysurprise, the love triangle in this book wasn’t bad. Tavia didn’t spend half of the book debating Quinn or Benson; she was pretty loyal to one guy. She did consider the other guy but not to the point of hair-pulling amount.

As for the plot, it soundedboring and typical from the book flap. I was like “oh no the aunt and uncle mystery is going to be destroyed by her running away with her longtime crush.” But I was wrong. The adventure Tavia and Benson had was quite awesome. It was fast, suspenseful, and exhilarating. It did however took about half of the book to set up everything and for the pace to increase.

One big reason why I didn’t felt this book was not the best was because of the world building and the story set up. It was lacking. It didn’t felt anything about it. Aprilynne mentioned that Tavia was from a small, old, characteristic town but I didn’t sense that. I didn’t know what to picture because the story didnn’t provide me with anything to help me imagine it. I kept on having to remind myself “oh right, this is an old town, I better picture it that way.” I guess what I am asking is more descriptions so the book could “drag” me inside.

Now for Tavia. I didn’t care for her in the begginning because she didn’t have much of a personality. But when she ran away with Benson, I felt like “yeah! There’s my tough cookie!” I started to like her. She definitely was not your BAMF though. She cried a lot, paniced lot, and (not really whine) but kind of reminded me of a whimpering puppy – this is mainly due to the hotel scene where she was cold. Oh yeah, she and Benson like to make out. I kind of just skimmed through those part. They were cheesy.

Benson was cute (supposedly in a nerdy, library boy way). Personally I think Aprilynne kind of missed the mark. I didn’t feel that Benson was a cute, nerdy boy – nothing he did or said made me felt that way. Aprilynne did tried, Benson found stuff in the library but really??? Was that suppose to make me feel a strong emotion toward it? That all said, Benson was a great guy. He was protective, supportive, and effective. If you can choose one guy to help you run away, Benson is a pretty safe bet. I also enjoyed his food nicknames for Tavia: Maple Bar, Baklava etc. It kind of reminded me of Morgan and Garcia’s relationship on Criminal Minds.

Now for Quinn. Quinn was *sigh* hard to say. (Incoming spoiler)…to be honest, he wasn’t in this book much. What I got out of him was the he was very mechanic and odd (which was exactly what he supposed to be, so good job Aprilynne). He was attractive though.
“He’s beautiful in the moonlight, a dark, snow-spotted coat wrapping him from his neck to his ankles, his face soft and almost expressionless.” (pg 170 – from ARC)

Overall I feel pretty neutral about this book. There weren’t any “OMG THIS BOOK IS LIKE HOLY GOD OFJAOFJAEFIJR” but also there weren’t “THIS BOOK SUCCKKKSS!!” It was like “oh, that’s cool. I didn’t thought of that.” If you are looking for a supernatural with secret organizations book, give it a try. It kind of gave me the same feelings I had while reading the Darkest Powers trilogy by Kelley Armstrong. But I do have to say the Darkest Powers trilogy was a bit more intense.

To sum it all up in two sentences? This book didn’t provoke strong emotions from me but the mystery and the adventure propelled me to the end. I will likely read the next installment.