Review ~ Runes (Book One) by Ednah Walters (ARC)

ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Expected Release Date: 20th May 2013

Publisher: Firetrail Publishing

Description
Seventeen-year-old Raine Cooper has enough on her plate dealing with her father’s disappearance, her mother’s erratic behavior and the possibility of her boyfriend relocating. The last thing she needs is Torin St. James—a mysterious new neighbor with a wicked smile and uncanny way of reading her.

Raine is drawn to Torin’s dark sexiness against her better judgment, until he saves her life with weird marks and she realizes he is different. But by healing her, Torin changes something inside Raine. Now she can’t stop thinking about him. Half the time, she’s not sure whether to fall into his arms or run.

Scared, she sets out to find out what Torin is. But the closer she gets to the truth the more she uncovers something sinister about Torin. What Torin is goes back to an ancient mythology and Raine is somehow part of it. Not only are she and her friends in danger, she must choose a side, but the wrong choice will cost Raine her life.

My Opinion

This book was an enjoyable read and definitely had the unpredictable element. I'm not really a fan of the cover but it was the romance in the description that sold the book to me so I requested it even though the cover doesn't sell the book for me, looks more like an adult novel than YA and after seeing the other option on Goodreads I really prefer that one.

Runes kept me guessing all the way to the end what Torin and the others were. Bits of information were revealed at times but it still wasn't enough for me to figure out the truth. When the main character started mentioning vampires/werewovles I must admit I did groan slightly and hoped that it would not turn out to be true as I'm pretty fed up of those by now. Thankfully though the ending delivered a different paranormal character that was a nice surprise when revealed.

The characters in the book do allow you to fall in love/hate them which was good. I found myself vouching for Erick most of the time as he was sweet. I also liked that the author managed to avoid most of the stereotypical teen drama that is found in a lot of novels set in high school and using the swim team was a nice change from the usual sports American sports that I read about. 

There were a few things that I disliked though. This book, although it makes want to turn the pages, seemed a bit rushed in certain places (especially the ending). At points when I was reading it the writing did seem to fluctuate slightly and the closer I got to the ending the more it seemed to happen. I'm not sure if this was because not everything had been revealed and used to show Raine's jumpy state of mind but sometimes I felt it lacked consistency. 

As well as this, besides Torin and others being a different paranormal creatures, parts of the the book  lacked originality for me and it felt like something I had read over and over; high school, mysterious boy, home coming, guy not interested in anyone but the leading female, secrets about what he is, hospitals etc. For me parts sounded slightly like Twilight re-written with a different paranormal element so at times I did find myself a little bored. Saying that though, there were also scenes unique scenes that did sustain my interest.

The main thing I had a problem with was the ending. Not only did that seem the part that was most rushed but what the author did to Torin? I mean really? I read it and it just didn't seem to make any sense or fit in. For me it seemed like it neutralised the rest of the story and made it slightly pointless. It does make me question how the next book is going to play out though.

Overall, Runes was an enjoyable book. The main thing that keeps you reading is the romances which were developed nicely and the desire to find out what Torin is. There were a few issues I had but I would however recommend this to magic/paranormal lovers and it was a short, easy read that's nice to relax with. I definitely be interested to see how the author develops the series.

Rating 3.5