Prophecy

by Julie Anne Lindsey

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

I really liked the premise of Prophecy, and the plot was pretty good once it got going. However, it is way too much like Twilight in the set up. I'm not saying that's a terrible thing, but it killed a lot of the uniqueness that it had going for it. Callie is just your normal, teenage girl until she meets the Hales. Liam, Oliver, and their parents have just moved into the haunted mansion next door, and there's a nonstop stream of rumors about why the family moved all the way from Iceland to Ohio. Of course, Callie catches the eye of Liam, and from there her life changes. She's not who she thought she was, and the world is not the world she thought she knew. Gods and Vikings are real, and there's a battle brewing in her very own backyard.

Let me just get all of the Twilight comparisons out of the way, since I ended up liking Prophecy, once it started to diverge. Callie is obviously Bella, and yes, she is clumsy, but there's nothing else remarkable about her until she discovers her connection to the supernatural. She has a best friend name Justin, who desperately wants to be more than friends, and he is also unknowingly connected to all of the Viking activity in their small town. Once Callie gets a glimpse that something is different about Liam and his family, she jumps into an internet search, and then confronts him, and he tries the whole stay away from me, I'm dangerous thing, but they fall into deep insta-love and he has to protect her from the baddies of his kind. Oh, and his family lies about their familial ties and ages since they're ancient, and they have to move a lot. I'm sure there was more, but this is enough.

Once you get past all of that, Prophecy is actually quite interesting. I found the Norse and Greek mythology refreshing from the usual paranormal plots, even if it still comes down to good versus evil and unlocking some prophecy that no one really understands. There's lots of danger with the warring clans, and some uncertainty about whether Justin is the one they're searching for or not. Callie's connection wasn't all that surprising, until that twist at the end, which I did not see coming at all. I just wasn't completely sold on that romance, especially since it's contrasted a lot with Callie's previous relationship. Her ex, Kirk, is the worst! I wanted to punch him in the balls every time he was on the page, but then again, I would be scared my hand would catch something.

In the end, I enjoyed Prophecy. It wasn't too original or special, but I think it has some great stuff going for it. I'm confident that the following books will improve, since we're past all of the set up and it can really get into the mythology.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.