ARC Review: Betwixt by Melissa Pearl

 

Author: Melissa Pearl

Pages: 379

Genre: YA

Publisher: Self

Amazon: Betwixt
Release Date: 5th November 2012

For every copy of Betwixt sold, Melissa Pearl is going to donate $1 towards charity - Love146. The more copies sold the more money that can be passed onto this wonderful organization.

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

Beautiful, wild-child Nicole Tepper is hit by a car and left for dead. But when she wakes the next morning, Nicole finds herself in bed without a scratch. Perhaps she was more intoxicated than usual, as her mother is giving her the silent treatment and her friends are ignoring her as well.

Things take a turn for the weird when Nicole soon discovers she is actually hovering between life and death. Her body is lying in the forest while her spirit is searching for anyone who can hear her. Unfortunately the only person who can is Dale Finnigan, the guy she publicly humiliated with a sharp-tongued insult that has left him branded.

Desperate, Nicole has no choice but to haunt Dale and convince the freaked-out senior to help her. Will he find her body before it's too late? Or will the guy who tried to kill her with his car, beat him there and finish her off before anyone finds out?

Review: 4 out of 5 stars

Meaning of Betwixt (between), neither the one nor the other; in a middle or unresolved position

Betwixt by Melissa Pearl was kindly provided to me by the author in exchange for my honest review.

16 year-old Nicole Tepper seems to be on a downward spiral, partying too much, drinking and mixing with the wrong crowd until one fateful night she is hit by a car and left for dead. Upon waking the next morning she realizes she is lurking between life and death, her body is where it remains in a forest and her spirit able to wander but the only person able to hear her is Dale Finnigan, a boy who Nicole publicly humiliated for her own popularity purposes.

Nicole was a difficult character to like initially, she was self-absorbed, insensitive and unfeeling; she treated herself and those around her with no respect at all and her sharp-tongue was plain nasty. Ms. Pearl wrote her in such a way that you actually feel sorry rather than remain disengaged from her which I thought was well done. Her families loss was the reason behind her behavior but her new lifestyle was causing her self-destruction, I think her having Dale help her was the best thing for her, he was good to her and didn’t put up with her rubbish.

I think Dale and his wonderful personality actually made this book for me, he was an absolute sweetheart with a secret past of his own, he went through his own personal nightmare but came through it with a better outlook on life and really changed his ways; which as the story progressed seemed to rub off on Nicole.

I really enjoyed Ms Pearl’s writing and the engrossing story she has written, the plot was not only about Dale and Nicole trying to locate where her body was but also whether there was someone who had deliberately hit her, left her for dead and was out to finish the job; the mystery surrounding what had happened was really entertaining and kept me riveted.

What had me stumped though was the lack of punishment given to the person who had committed the crime, I was mortified and wanted more; it was too easy a resolution for them.

I enjoyed each of the characters interactions, and with Nicole being invisible she was able to find out what her friends (who were extremely superficial) and others really thought of her which would have devastated anyone; it also bought home how her actions & her families loss were affecting their lives together; I appreciated this aspect and the fact they realized things needed to change.

All in all, I really enjoyed Betwixt and the wonderful story Ms Pearl has written. I will definitely read more books written by this author.

Thank-you to Melissa Pearl for providing me with a copy of Betwixt.

For every copy of Betwixt sold, Melissa Pearl is going to donate $1 towards charity - Love146. The more copies sold the more money that can be passed onto this wonderful organization.