Review: Elixir

Clea has always had a charmed life: daughter of two world-famous politicians, talented photojournalist, independant young adult.  She has two best friends, Rayna and Ben, and a happy life.

Until she starts seeing him in her photos.  In the background, in the sky, in buildings, always watching her.  She's never seen him before in her life, but he feels instantly familiar.  And then the dreams start: dreams of her with him.  But she's not Clea; she's Olivia, a Roman, or Anneline or Catherine or Delia, living out a series of past lives with the mysterious man.

And then on a trip to Brazil, she comes face-to-face with Sage, the man of her dreams.  But is he her dream guy?  Or is he her worst nightmare?

Entertainment: ★★★★

This was a pretty cool book.  I liked Clea, who was an excellent narrator, and couldn't wait to figure out what would happen to her.

Plot: ★★

I've said it before, I don't love charmed-life setups, with infinite money and no apparent obligations to follow the law or behave like a normal person.  I also didn't love the ambiguity of the plot - half the time I wasn't quite sure what the plot was - and I felt like there was not nearly enough closure in the ending.

Characters: ★★★★

I loved Clea and Rayna and adored many of the side characters.  That said, Ben was whiny and obnoxious and I didn't like him at all (never a good thing for a love triangle member.)  Sage was absolutely ADD, bouncing around from one personality to another.  At times he was shy, naive, even cute, and I loved him.  At others he was all-knowing, or dark, or self-sacrificing, or childish, or a whole host of other personality traits that were just confusing.  Neither of them felt like great love interests, although I liked Sage marginally better.

Writing: ★★★★★

The description is perfect, not too much and not too little.  Clea's voice is loud, clear, and realistic.  Everything is balanced perfectly: not too mushy, not too scary, not too dark, not too anything.  Duff's done an excellent job here.

End Result: four stars.  A good book, definitely worth your time.