Inevitable

By Tamara Hart Heiner

3.5 Stars

Action/Adventure/Suspense

Young Adult

I've had this book in my Kindle library for quite some time. Just didn't get to it because when I'm on my computer I'm usually doing things other than using it as an e-reader. Recently I added a tablet to my list of possessions and I can now read ebooks during those bits of time that in the past I used to read hard copy books. This book has the distinction of being the first I've read on my tablet.

I “met” the author on www.writing.com. She was running the novel review group I participated in there. She did provide valuable input that I took into consideration when editing my own first novel. This book was up for review there and I did give my two cents on the beginning of it. I don't recall how many chapter reviews I did and I honestly can' tell if anything I said was incorporated into the final product.

Somehow or other I was made aware that it was being offered for free on Amazon for a short promotional period of time. That's when I downloaded my copy. It has been quite awhile.

This book is clearly aimed at the female young adult audience. That might make my review a little harsher than it should be but as an older male these are my impressions and thought.

Our heroine is Jayne Lockwood. She is in highschool and has a special gift or curse depending on how you look at it. When someone is going to experience an untimely death, she is able to “see” that happen. For her this causes a great deal frustration and confusion. She tries to prevent these deaths to no avail and does not understand it all. Without giving away the storyline, I will just say the book is about her figuring it all out.

What I like about the story is that it does portray the story from the perspective of the heroine in a way that makes sense according to her age. I think it realistically shows highschool life, part-time work life and interaction between young friends. There is a lot of dialogue in the book and I would identify that as one of the author's strengths. Overall I think the book is well written.

What I didn't like. I found by mid book the teenage angst thing started to weary me. I found that her female friends did not have distinctive enough personalities. For me they started to blend together. If the tags and situations were removed I would have had trouble at times telling Dana, Meredith, Beth and Gabby apart. The male friends were much easier to distinguish. Finally I'm not sure that she fully capitalized on the scenario. The book reads a bit like a romance instead of a suspense thriller.

I don't think the target audience for this book would be particularly bothered by the things I didn't like and since I still liked the book in the end I recommend it.