Book Title: Salt (Salt #1)
Author: Danielle Ellison
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
ISBN/ASIN : B00GVRVESS
Publication Date: January 7th 2014
by Entangled Teen
Edition Language: English
[Review Copy]
Blurb:
Penelope is a witch, part of a secret society protecting humans from demon attacks. But when she was a child, a demon killed her parents—and stole her magic. Since then, she’s been pretending to be something she’s not, using her sister’s magic to hide her own loss, to prevent being sent away.
When she’s finally given the chance to join the elite demon-hunting force, Penelope thinks that will finally change. With her sister’s help, she can squeeze through the tests and get access to the information she needs to find "her" demon. To take back what was stolen.Then she meets Carter. He’s cute, smart, and she can borrow his magic, too. He knows her secret—but he also has one of his own.Suddenly, Penelope’s impossible quest becomes far more complicated. Because Carter’s not telling her everything, and it’s starting to seem like the demons have their own agenda…and they’re far too interested in her.
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My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
My Review:
First of all, I had liked the book cover that made me choose the book. But compared to the cover, the storyline and narration do not meet my expectations to that level. I mean, I can clearly see the talent of the author and the potentials in the book to mark it as a 4 or 5 star read, but sometimes the story lacked the amount of convincibility (did I coin that or such a word really exists?) and finesse required for deserving such a rating.
The plot is not bad, really. As I said, it has potentials. The main theme is witch and witchcraft, talking about the witches' powers and their world where they fight against the demons to protect them as well as the human kind. Penelope, the female lead, is also a witch. Here the storyline takes quite a similar turn as Harry Potter in the sense that Penelope's parents are also murdered by a demon in her childhood and she is left with no witch powers of her own. She is a 'Static' witch, having lost her witch powers like that.That must be kept a secret because otherwise, pretty obviously, she'll be banished from their world for being one. Interestingly, she is able to to use her magical powers even if she is a Static whenever she is near her family. Now, I feel as a lead, Penelope lacks the weight at times and there are moments when all I wanted to do is smack her in the head or at least give a mild punch to her face. I'm not being a misogynist, but I don't know why it's so hard for me to like the heroines of a book in general. Well, I definitely have a list of heroins I can fangirl all day about, but seriously, that list is like, one-fifth compared to the one I have for my favorite kickass heroes:( She's really enthusiastic to be an Enforcer (the witches who fight the demons) but her over-enthusiasm often leaves her prone to situations, and sometimes she clearly lacks the providence needed for a heroine. Also, I could have liked her a little bit more if she hadn't shown her sense of humor at all, because I understand, some people are not good at some things :p
Then there was Carter, who could have been a swoon-worthy hero if he wasn't shown as being predictable at times. I have a thing for fictional heroes you see:D So no matter how cool or hot, how good guy or badass or rockstar-ish or geeky they are, I seem to love them anyway. For Carter, I really wish I could connect to him on that level. He was not a bad character after all, but needed a little more development.
The thing I liked about these two main characters is there chemistry. I mean, though it was really very predictable and not very unique, I did enjoy their banter most often (excluding Penelope's attempts at humor). Another thing that makes the two interesting together is Penelope's ability to use her powers when Carter's around, similar to her family. Overall, they are a nice couple together, but there were rooms for making them even nicer I believe.
Another thing that disappointed me was the supporting characters. I always believe that a good story is made of good characters, meaning successful character portrayals. So when reading a book, I look forward to knowing the supporting characters with the same amount of interest. For this book, the supporting characters are vague, not having developed properly. Even Penelope's best friend Ric, a character I might have liked, looks less like a best friend and more like a neighbor or some friendly classmate of Penelope. Best friends are supposed to have more limelight right? They should be in your ups and downs, and most, if not all, chapters should have some references to them (without making in repetitive and boring) And apart from that, all other characters seem to have no standing ground of their own. It's like they were introduced, they appeared and soon forgotten.
The one part I really liked though was the action. The action element of the book is what kept me going. Then there is the ending, which actually made me wait for the second book. So even though it's not on my must-read list, I may still wait and give the second book a try, hoping for further developments and changes in the storyline.
