The Seven Rays

20 Dec, 2009 by in seven rays, young adult fiction 2 comments

You are more than you think you are.

THAT IS THE ANONYMOUS MESSAGE that Beth Michaels receives right before she starts seeing things. Not just a slept-through my-alarm-clock, late-for-homeroom, haven’t had-my-caffeine-fix kind of seeing things. It all starts with some dots, annoying pink dots that pop up on and over her mom and her best friend’s face. But then things get out of control and Beth is seeing people’s pasts, their fears, their secrets, their desires. The images are coming at Beth in hi-def streaming video and she can’t stop it. Everyone thinks she’s crazy and she’s pretty sure she agrees with them. But crazy doesn’t explain the gold envelopes that have started arriving, containing seeing keys and mysterious tarot cards. To Beth, it all seems too weird to be true. You are more than you think you are? But here’s the thing: What if she is?

The creator of Bring it On, Jessica Bendiner, brings her teen savvy writing to this paranormal romance, The Seven Rays.

I was drawn to this book by its cover and book trailer and I was excited to read it. About ten pages in I got skeptical. The jacket said it is written for 14 years or older. Already within the first chapter we were talking about things that are not at all okay for 14 year olds. I kept reading because the plot was interesting, but it just got worse. By page 200 I had to put the book down and stop reading. It made me, a 34 year old married woman with children feel dirty. In my opinion the book has soft porn designed to stimulate young minds to desire music that pushes sex. The main characters went for 0 to 60 in a couple of minutes. Why?

It is sad to me that some Young Adult fiction can be wrapped up in great appealing characters and push trashy values. The author here threw in a semi-feel good ultimate message. Her premise that jealousy and lies be combated by love was lost for me amongst all of the sexual, alternative undertones. I gave it 2 out of 5 stars.

2 Responses to “The Seven Rays”

  1. fallfromskies21

    I loved the book. I would have to disagree with you. Although the context of the books were not really for the age is suggest, I think the author sort of got in to the mind of a young teen. There’s suppose to be a sequel so maybe that will explain more.

    Reply
  2. FireandIce

    I am glad you liked it. It was pretty well written. The story was interesting as were the characters. The main issue I have with it is that it is labeled Young Adult. I certainly hope average every day teens are not doing the things she glorifies in the book.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to FireandIce

CommentLuv badge