Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst

Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst 2 STARS

Synopsis: Eve has a new home, a new face, and a new name—but no memories of her past. She’s been told that she's in a witness protection program. That she escaped a dangerous magic-wielding serial killer who still hunts her. The only thing she knows for sure is that there is something horrifying in her memories the people hiding her want to access—and there is nothing they won’t say—or do—to her to get her to remember.
At night she dreams of a tattered carnival tent and buttons being sewn into her skin. But during the day, she shelves books at the local library, trying to not let anyone know that she can do things—things like change the color of her eyes or walk through walls. When she does use her strange powers, she blacks out and is drawn into terrifying visions, returning to find that days or weeks have passed—and she’s lost all short-term memories. Eve must find out who and what she really is before the killer finds her—but the truth may be more dangerous than anyone could have ever imagined.

*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review from netgalley.


Overview - Honestly. I dont even know what to think right now. Im struggling to figure out how I feel about this book. First, it is VERY confusing. The plot is really interesting, I think the authors idea is quite different, and appealing. Unfortunately, the style of writing is really confusing and sometimes convoluted. This book reminded me of Unremembered, except in third person wth a switch over to first person. The voice in this book, felt off to me, somewhat indecisive and distant, making it difficult to relate to any of the characters or feel like Im getting to know any of them. And as much as I want to like Eve, I find myself frequently annoyed with her, and far more interested in Aiden and Zach. Though Im not sure if thats the point. I honestly think I could have done without all the visions, which felt choppy and extremely creepy (especially for a young adult book). Overall, Im extremely confused for most of the book, and while about 20 percent into the book, I did become more interested, I felt the same way at 50%, which was, I could put the book down and be okay with never finishing it, because I have yet to learn anything of use by that point that truly makes sense. By 70% I admit I was page turning, very interested in figuring out what happened. Problem was...by 85% I just wanted the book to be over. I liked the the ending and what led up to that but generally speaking, I just didnt care for this book.


Cover: Pretty 
Rating: PG13
Overall: Eh 
Characters: Aiden, Eve, Malcom, Zach
Page Turner: Sometimes
Series Cont.? No
Recommend: No
Book Boyfriend: Zach
Genre: Science Fiction? Young Adult 
Sex Scenes: Ha no. 
Setting: US somewhere 

--So since I dont normally do a full review for a book that I rate less than a 3 I will make this review brief. 

Plot--The book synopsis really caught my attention, and based on some other reviews I read before starting it, I was super excited to read this book. Unfortunately, I was really let down. This book had great potential, but I just dont think it quite met my expectations. While I was surprised by the twist, I ACTUALLY was surprised. (which rarely happens) I also felt like the book carried on for far too long. The visions/dreams were a bit gruesome at times, and felt choppy. Which I suppose was suppose to be how she remembered things, in pieces, but as the reader, I felt confused. I was very confused by a number of things, first of all the tense changed a couple of times, I couldnt tell if it was on purpose, or not, but I do know I enjoyed the book MUCH more when it was in first person. I felt like I didnt get to know any of the characters except for Zach, whom I am confused by as well. I didnt feel connected to anyone and I wasnt sure who I was supposed to be routing for throughout the book, or where even what was going on. I will say that I liked some of the twists that occurred throughout the novel, at least it added some entertainment...

Characters- 

Zach-- Oh Gosh. He was confusing. Mostly because I dont understand how in essentially one second he fell in love, and was willing to do anything for the girl he didnt know, however, the gaps of time could contribute to that. (ie the reader doesnt know what happened during those times. He was sweet and caring, and of all the characters I liked him the most. I felt like I had gotten to know him and he was the most relatable. 

Eve--Hm...Im not sure how I feel about her. I know that I find her very annoying. (though part of her persona is going to be annoying because she doesnt have memories.) I must say though, I feel the same way about her as I did  about the girl from Unremembered. Which, lets be honest, wasnt good. I found it annoying that she didnt know anything, and never seemed concerned about not knowing. Now granted. I finally understand based on the ending twist. However, that did not change my feelings about her. throughout the book, I just kept thinking, who are you, what are you and why does this keep happening. Yet I felt like her visions werent teaching me the reader anything useful! I was very frustrated. 

Malcom and Aunt Nicki--I liked them, at least Nicki was snarky which I appreciated. Malcom, I wasnt sure about him. I liked him and then I didnt and then I liked him and then I didnt. As you can tell I went back and forth on him...in the end I liked them. I appreciated these characters because they helped shape Eve and the story. 

Aiden, Victoria, and Topher--I liked Aiden, hehe, I found him entertaining with his false charm and fake smile, and hidden agenda. The other two, eh, you dont get to know them much. They are such small roles. And what value did they add? Eh Im not so sure.