From V.C. Andrews, bestselling author of Flowers in the Attic (the first in a series of Lifetime movie events about the Dollanganger family), comes the tale of a young girl kept under the watchful eye of her adoptive parents, as if they fear who—or what—she’ll become…

Sixteen-year-old Sage is a lonely child. Her adoptive parents watch her obsessively, as if studying her for warning signs of…something. And maybe they’re right to—even she can’t make sense of the strange things she sees and hears. She possesses knowledge that other teenagers don’t, that her parents and teachers—no adult—could possibly have. So when Sage finally makes a friend who understands her alarming gift, he becomes her confidant, a precarious link to the truth about who she really is. For Sage and the alluring new boy at school share many things in common. Perhaps, they’ll learn, far too many things.

I’ll admit, I was actually quite intrigued with Sage’s recollection of herself as a child. I suppose it could be because I suspected she was recalling past lives. It reminded me of those shows they have about little children that recall being in the Trade Towers on 9/11, but they are only six years old and what not. And I think it was a fascinating aspect of the story. But all of a sudden, they disappear when Sage comes into the present and that was a shame. Throughout the entire book, I pretty much figured out several aspects as to who Sage was and why her parents were the way she was. I won’t say it glaringly obvious, but there were some pretty obvious moments. However, I think they did a good job adding in some nontraditional aspects to what she is.

For me, I felt as if the pacing of the book became extremely slow as Sage’s story moves into the present. The parts of the book that discuss her childhood were fast paced and intriguing. While Sage as a teenager was quite dull. It felt as if I was observing the high school experience from the eyes of an old woman. She’s constantly perplexed by the fact everyone finds her so odd and that her “friends” are so trivial about boys and other things. It was interesting when she had those moments where she could see what was truly happening to those around her or what would/could happen. And while I did think it was appropriate that she couldn’t see her own future, she could basically read minds and I found it hard to believe she couldn’t pick up on anything her friends were planning. It just seems like she would have picked up something more than a dark feeling. Even if it was from one of the boys involved.

Would I recommend this book? Yeah, I would have to say this was a pretty interesting start to what could be an interesting series. Even though the pacing gets a little slower in the middle, I had no problems wanting to continue on and figure out exactly what Sage was and why her parents were the way they were. All in all, this was a solid book and I’m guessing it’s been set up to have at least a sequel. My advice would be to stop having Sage be such a perfect Mary Sue. There is nothing more annoying than a character (especially a teen one) who is beyond beautiful, beyond perfect, beyond intelligent AND super powerful in her own way. She has to have faults, or else the reader is going to begin to despise her or become bored.

Reviewer’s note: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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