KEEPER by Kim Chance
My Rating: 5/5
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy
Category: YA
Publisher: Not yet published
Okay so technically KEEPER isn't an actual book yet, but holy crap kittens I had to write this review! I was chosen to be a Beta reader for the amazing and talented Kim Chance back in May and I was blown away! Kim's writing is beautiful and hypnotising! Her characters are magnificent and so unbelievably intriguing.
KEEPER is the story of a teenage girl, Lainey, who starts noticing weird things happening to her and around her, time stopping, a ghost of a past relative trying to talk to her and a hunky guy magically disappearing seconds after speaking to her. What could be going on?
Kim's writing is so amazingly beautiful and mesmerising. I got sucked into the world of KEEPER from the first sentence and even as I read the last word I was grasping at the the world and it's character's. I wanted nothing more than to stay in it for a little longer.
Not only is the world building absolutely fabulous, Kim's characters are mind blowingly interesting! Lainey is incredibly intriguing. The way Kim managed to put across her completely raw emotions had me connecting with her in a way I never have before. I hardly ever connect with a main character in such a way but Lainey was so interesting that I could help but want to be her friend and go on the adventure with her.
Maggie! The hilariously quirky, comic-book obsessed best friend! Oh how I wish she was my best friend! She's the best! Maggie always had something funny to say even when the rest of the characters didn't want to hear it. I just loved her so much!
Then we have Gareth and Serena. Lainey's for no better word, Uncle and Aunt. They are always there for her. Gareth is a deeply interesting character, there is so much to him. He has such an intriguing nature that you just want to learn everything about him that you can. He's not only so unbelievably caring and loving towards Lainey, he is super badass too! Then there's Serena, the overly enthusiastic, slightly over dramatic psychic. She is funny and truly a very very interesting character. Her love and care for Lainey is raw and emotional that it actually bought tears to my eyes.
Finally we have Ty... the sexy and extremely alluring, yet slightly creepy love interest of the story. Oh how he walked onto the page and made me squirm! He's so kind and loving towards Lainey that it actually hurt. He is extremely kickass and amazingly intriguing, I just wanted more Ty, to learn more about him and his back story.
The plot kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. There were so many twists and turn that I did not expect. I was gasping, laughing and crying in the space of a few paragraphs. Kim's writing had me hypnotised from the get go and I felt like I was standing there with Lainey and Maggie and Ty on there adventure.
I'm not going to spoil any of the plot but I just wanted to reminisce on my favourite part of the book. Yes, I loved the whole thing and the ending was mind blowing but one scene has stood out to me since I read it and I truly can't forget about it. There is one scene where Lainey is feeling completely overwhelmed with everything that is going on and she needs to get away. She runs off into the out skirts of the town she lives in and finds a group of teenagers playing, what I would call, a game of chicken on the train tracks. (Basically the person who stays on the tracks the longest before the train hits them, wins.) In this scene you see Lainey so raw and emotional that I sat sobbing, tears and snot covering my face. I wanted to reach through the screen and give her a hug, just tell her everything was going to be okay. My heart ached for her, my eyes streamed for her. The way Kim wrote Lainey's emotion into this scene was so amazing it hasn't left me since I read it and I don't think it will ever leave me!
Overall KEEPER did not disappoint one little bit! The writing, the plot. Everything was AMAZING! I loved every second! Honestly I need this to be a physical book! I will publish it myself if I have to!
Favourite Quotes
'I knew I'd never forget that sound. It was tattooed upon my soul.'
'Do you have any idea how many times I've dreamt of being bitten by some radioactive spider or finding a magical thunder hammer? I've spent my whole life wishing to be more than just ordinary. But I'm just me, just Maggie, and that's probably all I'm ever going to be. But you, Lainey, you get to be exceptional. You get to be anything but ordinary, and maybe that's not such a bad thing.'
'Sleep came for me like an executioner, torturing me with sights, smells, and sounds that plagued me until I finally woke screaming.'
I LOVED THIS SO MUCH!