Monday 11 February 2013

The Repossession by Sam Hawksmoor


Series: Repossession, Book One
Publisher: Hodder Children's Book
Format: Paperback
Published: 1st March 2012
Number of Pages: 512
Book: Present
Genre: Science-Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Paranormal, Romance, Mystery, Fantasy, Action-Adventure, YA
Recommended Age: 12+
Contains: Swearing, Violence
No Alcohol, Drug References
Author's Blog: Sam Hawksmoor

34 kids are missing.
Vanished without trace.
They never write, they never call.
Parents are frantic.

Six weeks, four days, sixteen hours and twenty minutes since the bedroom door locked on Genie Magee.  She’s possessed, says her mother.  The Devil wants her for his bride.
All Genie’s hopes, all her life and her soul, are pinned on beautiful Rian.  Rian loves her.  He’s rescue her from this madness.  Won’t he?  ‘You’re next,’ the face on the wall tells her.  By morning, Genie realizes, she’ll be missing too.
The Repossession Is Just The Beginning.

                                                                   Review:
'Thirty-four children are now missing from the Spurlake/Cedarville area over a two-year period.  Are you being vigilabt?  Are you able to recognise the signs of a teen in trouble?  Do you know where your child is after school?"
34 children just vanished from the small town of Spurlake, gone without a shred of evidence...
Genie Magee knows there's more to it all than just teen runaways.  How?  Well, she has visions.  Like the time she just knew her Grandma died and made the mistake of telling her fanatically religious mother.  Genie got not support or love.
Nothing. 
Instead, her mum and the even-more fanatical Reverend Schneider lock her in her room, claiming she's possessed, that the devil is waiting to take Genie as his bride. 
Just as she's decided if her one hope and love Rian Tulane doesn't rescue her, she'll end all of it, a face appears on her wall.  It's the face of one if the missing kids, and he tells her that she's next.  And then she knows.  She'll disappear too really, really soon.  
It's then that Rian comes, her knight in shining armour come to free her from her prison, to set her free…
Until they get tangled in the web of lies surrounding Spurlake and the teen disappearances…
Until the danger catches up with them, threatening their lives forever...
I got The Repossession for my birthday and decided to read a little to see what it was like.  Well, I was instantly hooked.  From the very first sentence, I decided I simply had to carry on reading, had to just forget all my other books 'til I'd finished this one.  It has also convinced me that I must look into more Canadian fiction, 'cause this one just knocked my socks right off.  I really did gobble this up, devouring all the awesomeness that was The Repossession.  It was so much more than I ever thought it could be – and I loved every second. 
Somehow Hawksmoor managed to create characters I just fell in love with instantly: I've no idea how, but he did.  Genie was so caring and strong and I loved how right-to-the-point she was, how caring.  As for Rian – he was just such a cutie pie!  He was sweet and strong and protective, the kinda guy you could just snatch from the book, wrap up and take home!  Yes, the two main characters were amazing and oh-so loveable, but the minor characters were just as real too.  For example, Marshall, the man who helped them, was really kind and helpful.  And I loved his son, RCMP Officer Maxwell Miller, who was really kind and caring and a really good cop, son and person.  I also really loved Marshall's dog, Moucher – he was so cute! – and the pig Genie rescued too.  Mad.  But Reverend Schneider... ohh, how I hated him.  I could have killed him.  When people who supposedly work for the lord do bad things, it makes me curious.  How can you get help when the one who's hurting you is a man of God?  Plus, he was just an all-round awful, horrible, evil person – grrr to him. 
And I loved the relationship between Genie and Rian!  Somehow, it was both really, really deep and devoted and also really naive and sweet.  They were just, like, the perfect couple and so cute it's untrue!
I do love Sci-fi, but so much of it is just so far-fetched.  And some sorta believable stuff can be presented in a way that means you can't buy it.  Somehow, Hawksmoor made all his Sci-fi stuff 100% buyable and believable.  He made beam-me-up-Scotty real.  Amazing.  And then there's Genie's gift, which was amazing too.  But I seriously loved how all the science was described – scientific enough but not going over our head or talking down to us.  And I loved the real moral tone to the book: I love it when books you think won’t make you think have your brain tick, tick, ticking over! 
I really loved Hawksmoor's writing.  It was really unique – some of it was almost in note form and all was really teen-like and very addictive.  And I loved how we got to see into everyone's heads – the good and the bad, the minor characters and the major ones.  Even though it was all third person, I felt like I really got to know Genie and Ri – and to love them too.  And the plot just intrigued me.  There were so many secrets, so much mystery and suspense.  I found myself zooming through the book, desperate to uncover the truth, desperate to make sure Genie and Rian were ok.  And toward the end-ish, man, did the action kick off!  I couldn't stop ready reading.  It was a real page-turner and so full of twists it was impossible to guess what would come next!  As for the ending – argh!!  I feel cheated, like it ended in the middle of a chapter, like I expected to turn the page for more, only there wasn't more.  It had finished.  Damn the cliffhangers!  Damn all the cliffhangers!
With two insanely loveable teen leads, Sci-fi, paranormal and bundles of action, romance and mystery, murders and disappearances, The Repossession literally had something for everyone.  I'll admit, I was just expecting a far-fetched Sci-fi book, but it was so, so much more.  It was deep and had more layers than an onion.  Man. I loved this book.  I NEED The Hunting!
And guys, even if you don't like Sci-fi or hate mushy stuff, read this because it's so much more than you think.  Give it a shot – I bet you won't regret it!

Star Rating:
4½ Out of 5




Read this book if you liked:
Starters by Lissa Price
Slated by Teri Terry
Girl, Missing/Blood Ties/Medusa Project by Sophie McKenzie
TimeRiders by Alex Scarrow


Challenges It's Taking Part In:

Happy Reading
Megan

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