Review: Darwin's Children by Natasha Larry

Title: Darwin's Children

Series: Darwin's Children #1

Author: Natasha Larry

Genre: YA, paranormal

Publication date: May 2011

Published by: Penumbra Publishing

Source: Review copy received from author (Thanks!)

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Synopsis:

Life can get pretty complicated for any seventeen-year-old girl, but for a home-schooled telepathic black girl trying to survive in a prestigious private school in small-town Jonesborough, Tennessee, it can be maddening especially when her telepathic father keeps eavesdropping on her thoughts!

Jaycie Lerner's family isn't the usual mom-dad-kid setup. Jaycie's mom is MIA, but Allison, her personal live-in trainer, is more than a mom, with her own special abilities, like being able to lift cars and run incredibly fast. And Jaycie's godfather John is more than persuasive, he can literally convince anyone to do anything.

As far as the rest of the world's concerned, Jaycie's on the outside looking in. The townsfolk love Jaycie's pediatrician father, but she doesn't fit in with normal kids, and she doesn't really want to. Most of her free time is spent training to keep her telekinetic and telepathic powers under control. But there's one thing she can't control, and that's her feelings, especially when her best friend Matt is nearby. If only he knew what she was truly capable of...

Everything seems to be status quo for Jaycie until she receives a cryptic message from a stranger and meets a very unusual girl new to Jonesborough. Then all hell breaks loose!

My rating: ★★★★☆
Jacie and her quite unusual family are special in the sense that they each have a supernatural ability. Jacie and her father are both telepaths and have telekinesis; Jacie’ mother figure and live-in personal trainer, Allison, is super strong and fast; and her godfather John has the power of persuasion. Jacie may seem like a unique girl, and she is, but she is also just like any other teenager…especially when it comes to her BFF Matt, who she has developed deep feelings for. Jacie not only worries about her evolving relationship with Matt, but also what he’ll think when he finds out about the things she can do. However, these are the least of her worries. After a stranger gives Jacie a very obscure message, she befriends a girl (Haylee) who may be more than she appears to be. With the help of Jacie and her family, Haylee learns things about herself that are frightening.

This book was very intriguing, suspenseful, and even funny at times…it was great! The plot was rather interesting and the character development was insane…especially in the case of Haylee.

I really liked all of the characters, well, except for the ones that weren’t meant to be liked (the monsters Haylee ran into, for example). The descriptions were fantastic, especially when referring to the supernatural abilities each member of the families possessed, which by the way I thought were all awesome! Also, much to my surprise, I actually enjoyed the various POV’s.

There wasn’t really anything I didn’t like…the story held my attention all the way through and I found it very interesting. Plus, the title of the book is very clever! I am really looking forward to reading book two!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a comment! :)