Title: Amulet of Elusion (The Lost Amulet Chronicles #1)
Author: Katie Lynn Johnson
Publishing Company: Amazon Publishing
Genre: YA—Fantasy/Adventure/Romance
Pages: 362
Released: June 12th 2013
Alexa Costa has a life-altering secret…only she doesn’t know it yet.
Confined by law to the kingdom of Alvair until the age of eighteen, Alexa Costa has lived a sheltered existence under the watchful eye of her sword-wielding guardian, Ivy. Her love interest, Caleb Whitman, is exactly the opposite. A merchant sailor and seeker of rare artifacts, Caleb has lived a life of adventure in nearby San Lucero, the long-time rival of Alvair.
After her eighteenth birthday, Alexa’s quiet existence becomes tumultuous, and she realizes she does not need to seek to find adventure. Myths become real, legend becomes fact, and Alexa discovers that she possesses rare abilities which make her a target for both sides in a centuries-old struggle for power. She must use every resource available to her—including her talents with the supernatural Amulets— to help her friends, rekindle her romance with Caleb, and save her island home from destruction.
What an adventure! In less than a week I managed to read a book up for review that I hadn’t really known what to expect from and in the end I ended up loving it! Thank you Katie Lynn Johnson for writing such a magical and adventurous story that I could not stop thinking about until I had finished the book!
The Amulet of Elusion, part of The Lost Amulet Chronicles is exactly what the title refers to—lost amulets. But first let me back pedal a little to the beginning. After finally facing my nerves I finally decided to open up this book and see what it was all about. Unlike other times, I couldn’t go to Goodreads to get some insight and backstory on this book so I went in practically blindfolded. Which can be torturous sometimes, but in this case it was a nice surprise.
After reading the prologue I had no idea what it would entail to for the rest of the pages. That is, not until you start getting to know the characters and their secrets. Once I learned more about almost to be eighteen-year-old Alexa Costa I knew something about her would make her the heroine of the story. And well not to be spoiler-y or anything, but it was true. Caleb Whitman on the other hand was a total charmer and the surprises he managed to pull off without me knowing made me want to scream at him in frustration and applaud him at his intelligence and wit. I totally agree that both of these characters made a perfect combo.
I also loved that the whole book was based in third person from Alexa and occasionally from Caleb because you got to see what both characters were doing when they weren’t in contact with the other. The focus of the story was split but not in a way that would instantly make you lose sight of what was happening at the present moment. Instead it helped broaden the world of The Southern Islands in the story. One of the things I couldn’t help but like about the style of writing was that I couldn’t decipher whether the world we were in was from the past or present, but either way it gave me something new and something to ponder on (though it felt like the past mixed with the present).
The plot in the Amulet of Elusion first started out vaguely (I had no idea what the plot was about in the beginning. I had yet to learn about the amulets), but by the time you start learning more once the characters opened up, it couldn’t have been more broader than daylight. I thought the antagonists of the story were right on par with evil and the reason for them being corrupted made perfect sense. The ending was definitely what got to me the most though.
Amulet of Elusion by Katie Lynn Johnson is exactly what it seems once you’ve read the whole book: YA, fantasy, adventure, and romance. I think Katie did an amazing job building up the plot to the increased climax by the middle of the story and I can say without a doubt that I am totally waiting to read the sequel (hopefully soon). I think once you give the story a chance you’ll grow to love all the protagonists of the story and automatically hate the antagonists, always cheering for the good guys to make it out in the end (unless you’re a fan of bad guys than you’ll root the other way). I absolutely found myself speechless by the end of the story and even more so with the sneak peek prologue for the sequel, Amulet of Power. I hope more people read Amulet of Elusion and get to see what an awesome and adventurous read this book truly is.
Totally Awesome! I loved it, would read again.
Review written by Hillary
Special Guest: Book Reviewer:Hillary
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Hillary currently lives in Fontana, California and sometimes wishes she lived in a rainier place. When out of her world of fiction and music, college homework becomes part of her focus and so does worrying about exams. She still manages to find plenty of time to read YA books and hopes to have a room full of books like some authors are fortunate to have. Hillary is currently working toward earning a degree in English, but in the meantime she is content to help a very kind book blogger known as Beckie from Bittersweet Enchantment. Hillary hopes to become a well-known author one day, but currently writes small stories whenever she has time.
I most definitely will be checking out this book soon. It sounds like a excellent read. Thanks for your review, Hillary!
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Just wanted to say thank you for creating a banner with my name on it :) Forgot to tell you that before.
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