Book Review: The Athena Effect by Derrolyn Anderson

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This is the first book in the 4 part series named The Athena Effect.

Goodreads Blurb:

"Caledonia has been kept a secret her entire life, raised in isolation by two very troubled people. Despite her parents' disturbing fits, Cal is perfectly content to live as one with the nature that surrounds her, finding adventure inside the pages of her beloved books. When an awful tragedy tears her away from her remote cabin in the woods, nothing she’s ever read has prepared her for a world that she knows very little about.

Girls and motorcycles are what bad-boy Cal’s life is all about. Brought up in a raucous party house by his biker brother, he’s free to do as he pleases, going through the motions on his final days of high school. Aimless, Cal stopped thinking about his future a long time ago.

Attacked by a gang of thugs while running an errand for his brother, Cal is in serious trouble until a fierce girl appears out of nowhere to intervene. She chases off three grown men, sparing Cal a brutal beating before disappearing into the night like a spirit. He can’t stop thinking about his mysterious rescuer, and when she turns out to be the weird new girl at school who goes out of her way to avoid him, he can’t contain his curiosity. 

He’s never met anyone like her before, and the more he learns about the unusual girl with an unusual talent, the more he wants to know. Cal can’t help falling for Cal, but can he keep her from falling victim to a dangerous enemy from her parents' tragic past?"

Review:

Thank you so much to Derroly Anderson (the author) for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review!

I was pleasantly surprised by this book.    It kept me engaged from the first page and it only took me 2 hours to read!  The idea of the larger problem presented in this book (around the halfway point) is similar to other ideas I've come across but the way the different characters interacted with it made it original.  That being said, I think the whole genetics thing could have been introduced sooner because the way it was going, I was expecting an Eleanor and Park kind of deal.

In the beginning, it's all about how Caledonia is dealing with her parent's death and the secrets they took with them just don't seem to matter much to her.  Then, when men come to her house and try to kidnap her, I think it could have been capitalized more.  That was the main problem I had with this book.  Everything just seemed to pass without consequence and was just brushed off by Calvin and Caledonia.  Like when Caledonia told Calvin about her powers.  That part wasn't really explained in detail.  Even when Caledonia told Calvin that her powers worked on people, it was as if it didn't matter at all.  I would have thought that Calvin would question if she ever used it on him but it didn't cause any waves at all.

I really loved how both Caledonia and Calvin's nicknames are Cal.  That was so adorable!  Their relationship was just adorable in general.  And it wasn't so much as insta-love but Calvin being intrigued by Caledonia.  I loved how that developed into love.

The one other thing I want to mention is the POV.  I am definitely NOT a POV expert so bear with me!  The POV in this book was the kind where you can see into a select few character's heads.  Mostly it switched between Caledonia and Calvin with no real indication.  However, I didn't really have a problem with that mostly because it switched where it logically would.  Read it and you'll know what I'm talking about!  That's just me though.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and it truly was engaging however it seemed to glide right over important issues (beside's Caledonia and Calvin's relationship).  3.5 stars - I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

“Because with a really good book you get something new every time you read it. Because…Well…Because you're a different person each time.”