THE KEEPER
NATALIE STAR
ISBN# 978-1-61333-000-5
January 2012
Decadent Publishing
http://www.decadentpublishing.com/
E-Book
$4.99
230 pages
YA, Paranormal Romance
Rating: 1 cup

For her sixteenth birthday, Billie is given a necklace by her mother, a family heirloom. Unbeknownst to her, this is one in a series of events that changes her young life upside down. Billie finds out that she is the Keeper, and that she possesses extraordinary gifts or powers. Thankfully, she is not alone in this, as a boy from school has been sent to look over her, protect her, and be her Watchman.

As Billie becomes more and more entrenched in her new powers, she also becomes more vulnerable. Creatures are sent from the Dark, which is the governing body of evil. Billie must learn to defend herself from these attacks, as her Watchman will not always be near.

Caught in a love triangle and pushing away her friends, Billie must find out the meaning of all these gifts, and just whom she can trust, before someone really gets hurt.

Although having a great premise and really fascinating paranormal elements, The Keeper unfortunately has several content and structural weaknesses, which regrettably mar the storyline. The vast majority of the book is told, not shown to the reader, which makes it exceedingly difficult to lose oneself in the story. The dialogue at times does not seem to fit the characters, or can sound unrealistic. Character motives are unclear or questionable at times as well. The story is also told over several years, which leaves contextual gaps. It might have perhaps helped if this story was broken up into a trilogy due to the length of time that passes and number of characters.

Margo
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance and More