Review Sevenster by Alexandra Penrhyn Lowe

Title: Sevenster
Author: Alexandra Penrhyn Lowe

Language: Dutch 

Published: April, 2012 (A.W. Bruna)
Pages: 335

Source: for review
Series: De Laatste Wachter #1

Rating: 4 / 5 

Synopsis from Goodreads: Because this is a Dutch book, the synopsis is also in Dutch. In short the story is about Eveline. When she tries to summon a ghost, she begins to see them everywhere. and not only ghosts, but worse. She learns she has a gift, which was shielded before, but now she has to learn to live with it. 

Eveline heeft maar één zorg deze zomer: een echt leuke jongen vinden met wie ze voor het eerst kan zoenen. Maar dan roept ze geesten op tijdens een feestje – tegen de waarschuwing van haar pleegmoeder in – en nu ziet ze plotseling dingen die andere mensen niet zien.
Doodsbang dat ze bezeten is door een kwade geest, probeert ze een manier te vinden om alles terug te draaien. Maar dan hoort ze van een waarzegster dat ze de eeuwenoude gave van De Wachters heeft – een gave die was afgeschermd, maar nu is wakker gemaakt. Een gave waardoor ze geesten en demonen kan zien.
En zij zien haar ook.
Eveline heeft maar één zorg deze zomer: in leven blijven.

It’s hard to believe but Alexandra Penrhyn Lowe is the very first Dutch YA author. So normally I review books that are (also) published in English, but for this one I’m going to make an exception.

So it’s not only the very first Dutch YA title, it’s also pretty good. The reason I read most books in English is because I just like those books better than the books published here. But that could also have something to do with the fact that until now there weren’t any YA books published here.

Finally, that’s changed. So that brings us to Sevenster, the first book in a trilogy.

Before I started this book, I was afraid it would be disappointing since I expected so much from it. But it didn’t. I thought it was really good. The story had just one tiny downside: the age of Eveline, the main character. She turns fourteen somewhere halfway through the book. And that made her a bit childish at times. For example: she’s really preoccupied with never been having kissed before. I now it was a big deal for me too at that age, but now it feels a bit far away.  

But the story made up for that big time. Once I started it was hard to put the book down. The story gets scarier with every page, so it kept me on the edge of my seat.

After summoning ghosts on a party she starts seeing ghosts for real. She can communicate with some of them. When she tries to save one, she nearly dies herself. She sees her grandfather in the between world and  he tells her she needs to guard the family secret and where she can find it. During her research she discovers she’s not the only one after the secret

The writing style is good and that made me flip the pages even faster.

If you can read Dutch, I definitely recommend this one. You don’t want to miss out on the first Dutch YA!

Upcoming (2)

In Upcoming I talk about the books that I will read and review. So you know what you can expect on the blog in the upcoming days / weeks. I hope you enjoy it!

This week

 

Review of Vanish by Sophie Jordan

An impossible romance.
Bitter rivalries.
Deadly choices.

To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.

Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?

Synopsis from Goodreads

Review of Sevenster by Alexandra Penrhyn Lowe

Because this is a Dutch book, the synopsis is also in Dutch. In short the story is about Eveline. When she tries to summon ghosts, she begins to see them everywhere. And not only ghosts, but worse. She learns she has a gift, which was shielded before, but know she have to learn to live it.  

Eveline heeft maar één zorg deze zomer: een echt leuke jongen vinden met wie ze voor het eerst kan zoenen. Maar dan roept ze geesten op tijdens een feestje – tegen de waarschuwing van haar pleegmoeder in – en nu ziet ze plotseling dingen die andere mensen niet zien.

Doodsbang dat ze bezeten is door een kwade geest, probeert ze een manier te vinden om alles terug te draaien. Maar dan hoort ze van een waarzegster dat ze de eeuwenoude gave van De Wachters heeft – een gave die was afgeschermd, maar nu is wakker gemaakt. Een gave waardoor ze geesten en demonen kan zien.
En zij zien haar ook.

Eveline heeft maar één zorg deze zomer: in leven blijven. 

Synsopsis from Goodreads

Next week

Review of Slated by Teri Terry

In a world where young people who turn bad are being slated, Kyla has to find out why she’s different than all the other slated kids.

Review of Hush, hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

I love books about fallen angels. I’m currently reading it and I really like it so far.

Hope to see you soon!

Upcoming (1)

In Upcoming I talk about the books that I will read and review. So you know what you can expect on the blog in the upcoming days / weeks. I hope you enjoy it!

This week

 
Review of Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

What if you were bound for a new world, about to pledge your life to someone you'd been promised to since birth, and one unexpected violent attack made survival—not love—the issue?

Out in the murky nebula lurks an unseen enemy: the New Horizon. On its way to populate a distant planet in the wake of Earth's collapse, the ship's crew has been unable to conceive a generation to continue its mission. They need young girls desperately, or their zealous leader's efforts will fail. Onboard their sister ship, the Empyrean, the unsuspecting families don't know an attack is being mounted that could claim the most important among them...

Fifteen-year-old Waverly is part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space; she was born on the Empyrean, and the large farming vessel is all she knows. Her concerns are those of any teenager—until Kieran Alden proposes to her. The handsome captain-to-be has everything Waverly could ever want in a husband, and with the pressure to start having children, everyone is sure he's the best choice. Except for Waverly, who wants more from life than marriage—and is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth.

But when the Empyrean faces sudden attack by their assumed allies, they quickly find out that the enemies aren't all from the outside.

Synopsis from Goodreads

Review of Vrees (original title:  Fever) by Lauren DeStefano

Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but danger is never far behind.

Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.

The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous - and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary.

In the sequel to Lauren DeStefano’s harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price - now that she has more to lose than ever. 

Synsopsis from Goodreads

Next week

Review of Sevenster by Alexandra Penrhyn Lowe

Alexandra Penrhyn Lowe is the first real Dutch Young Adult-author. So I'm really looking forward reading this book.

Review of Vanish by Sophie Jordan

I've been looking forward to reading the sequel of Firelight. I'm reading this book at the moment and I'm really enjoying it.

It's possible that there are some changes in my plans, but there will be some reviews on the blogs in the upcoming weeks.

Hope to see you soon!