Official Review: Swoon by Nina Malkin

[Alexandra Bayer]

Life hasn't been easy on Candice - nicknamed Dice, since moving to Swoon - but she's determined to make the most of it. That's why, one day, she and her cousin Penelope - Pen - take it too far. Pen falls out of a tall tree and nearly dies. That's when things get a little strange for Dice. Pen's body has been possessed by a young man named Sinclair Youngblood Powers - Sin. And Dice begins to fall in love with him, even though he's making Pen wreak havoc all over the town of Swoon. So Dice decides to exorcise Sin. She manages it too - with just one problem. Sin was made into a golem. Dice has given him flesh, and now he can ruin Swoon himself. Dice has to try and stop the boy of her dreams - or is it nightmares?

From the summary of this book on its back cover, Swoon sounded really good. However, it didn't quite meet up to my expectations. It was very sex-and-drugs based. There was nothing too bad or vivid in it, getting down to technicalities, but the book is based on teenagers, and apparently, all teens do drugs and are sex-obsessed! That was one thing that irked me. The reason Pen fell out of the tree that led to her possession was because she'd just been smoking pot. I think I would have enjoyed the writing more if the characters had better things to do on a Friday night (or any night, really) than get stoned or high.

I found the town of Swoon to be quite funny, how everyone had to have monosyllable names or they didn't fit in. What I didn't find so funny was the older version of Swoon, which Dice experienced with her psychic powers. There was a lot of drinking and violence, which resulted in Sin's death: he was hanged for a murder he didn't commit.

Sin was one character I couldn't figure out. From the back of the book, it sounded as if he would be evil; but the whole reason he was trying to ruin the people of Swoon was because of their ancestors, who hanged him unjustly. That may not be fair to the people in the here-and-now, but it is a decent enough reason. I also couldn't figure out why Dice had feelings for Sin. Okay, he was "hot". But there were no real aspects to his personality that made him attractive, considering the whole revenge deal. And Sin not only confesses no feelings towards Dice, he also sleeps with her cousin. Nice guy.

Overall, I'd rate this book three stars. It was an interesting storyline, but I didn't particularly like the characters or their actions. I did like it enough to read book 2, though. I would recommend this story for anyone who likes golems or mythology, quirky towns, and love at first sight.

[Morgan_Malone]

It's been awhile since reading this book, and I actually did enjoy it a lot. But thinking back I do kind of get your point about the whole too much sex and drugs thing.

[CapriceM]

I really enjoyed this book. I still haven't read the second one, but Swoon is one of my favorites. I just like all the teenage drama and problems. I didn't get tired of reading it, and so o hardly ever put it down.