Monday, April 8, 2013

Review: Levitating Las Vegas by Jennifer Echols

Levitating Las Vegas
Levitating Las Vegas by Jennifer Echols 
Publisher-Pocket Star
Release-May 6th 2013
Pre-Order-Amazon / B & N

Nothing up her sleeves...or so she’s been led to believe.Showgirl Holly Starr is sick and tired of assisting her dad, a celebrity magician, in his Las Vegas casino magic show. As soon as he keeps his promise to her and shares the secrets to his tricks, she can break out on her own. But can she really make it? For years Holly has taken medication to stave off crazy hallucinations that she can levitate objects. Just when she thinks she’s ready to make a career and a life for herself, her medicine—and her luck—run out.Elijah Brown suffers from a similar delusion—that he can read minds—and he’s out of medicine too. Determined to save himself and his old flame Holly, he kidnaps her and takes her straight to the source, a town high in the Rockies where their medicine is made. What they discover there leads them to suspect their powers are not imaginary after all...and neither is the intense attraction they feel for each other.They make a pact to stick together as they return to Vegas to confront the people who kept them in the dark so long. But soon they’re pitting their powers against each other in a dangerous world where the nightlife is seductive, domination is addictive, the sex is beyond belief...and falling in love is murder.
My Thoughts:
I've been a fan of Jennifer Echols since I read her book, Going To Far and have been following her work ever since. I notice that she usually writes two kinds of escapes. One I refer to as her fluff-n-stuff books. Light, sweet, romantic contemporary and then we have her more edgy stuff that's a little more intense, raw and, for me, favored. But this book would be the first paranormal we got from Echols as well as her first New Adult. Before reading this, I heard it was a bit odd, but after reading it, I think it's not so much as odd then just something totally unexpected and out of the box for fans who already know what to expect when reaching for Echols latest release. In a nut shell? This is very different then anything I've read from her before and if I'm being honest, I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it. On one hand, I liked that it was unpredictable and that the characters kept me on my toes the entire read. But on the other hand, I think it was a tad overly bizarre and even frustrating at times.

Holly and Elijah have liked each other since they were in ninth grade, but the night that they agreed to go to prom together, their parents put a sudden end to it. That moment triggered such a strong emotion in both of them that they started to do things that weren't normal, but magical. That's when they were told that they had an illness called MAD (mental adolescent dysfunction) and were put on medication to cure their illusions, but was it really a cure? Or was it to curve their very real natural magical talents? 

The general story line is pretty cool when I think about it. Magic has always been one of my favorite genres and Echols tackles it like a weapon and with gritty seduction. But I think it's these characters I feel mostly conflicted by.
I liked Holly and I liked Elijah...and that's about it. Okay, I also liked Shane, but as for everyone else? It felt like they were all just a bunch of controlling liars who play people like puppets. I was really upset with Holly's parents the most. I don't know why, but overbearingly protective parents in books is kind of a pet peeve of mine to begin with, but in this book they were trying to tell their grown daughter what to do and who to date and it was very frustrating. It bothered me what Kaylee was doing to Shane throughout the entire book and Rob was just the biggest jerk ever and I was mad at what he got away with in the end. But I really enjoyed what Holly and Elijah brought into this book. They had some really sweet moments and a couple odd heated ones as well.
I really enjoyed the magical aspect in this book and liked the twist in the story line. Holly and Elijah's magical talents tended to get in the way of their emotions, but once they figured out what was real it became it's very own...sensation. But we also see a more addicting, dangerous and manipulative side to magic. Something that Echols explores in this book with a much darker force then I expected. 

This one definitely had it's moments and even though it wasn't a favorite and may not be for everyone, overall I thought Levitating Las Vegas was fresh and wonderfully weird and it turned out to be a an entertaining and fun experience. New Adult is the new boom these days and I'm glad that Jennifer Echols decided to try her hand in this genre. I can only imagine what's in store for us in the future from this very talented author and I look forward to seeing her explore this new flavor.

Find the author:

                                                                   3.5 Snowflakes 

8 comments:

  1. I enjoyed this one. I haven't read many Jennifer Echols books, so I wasn't one that thought it different. I thought the writing was a bit choppy at time, but I really liked the Vegas and magic bit.

    Jennifer
    YA Sisterhood

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    1. Glad you enjoyed this! If you get the chance, try her Going To Far or Such a Rush book. They were my fav's:)

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  2. Sounds like the Magic version of A SHIMMER OF ANGELS.

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  3. I have read all of Jennifer's books, but I didn't like this one at all. It is honestly nothing like she has written before. I really didn't enjoy the writing at all - it seemed amateurish to me and not like an established author.

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    1. I agree!:) It was definitely different from her usual books.

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  4. I haven't read anything by her, but I like odd books! I have a feeling that this one might be one of those odd books that I would like. Great review!

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    1. Thankies and I hope you do enjoy this when you get the chance to read it.

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  5. The parents killed me in this book. I probably would have liked it more without them interfering all the time. It does have it's moments though. Happy reading!

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