Welcome to my stop on the Stepping Stones Blog Tour hosted by YA Bound Book Tours! Click here to follow along with the full schedule.
Stepping Stones
(The Stone Series #1)
Release date: 8/25/15
Urban Fey Press
Synopsis
Onnaleigh Moore is part of a plan - and it isn't hers. When her brother dies in a car accident, Onna is desperate to preserve the tatters of her family. Any hope of finding normalcy vanishes when her mother runs off and her dad turns to booze to numb his pain. Onna's grief is crippling, but the boy who showed up just when she needed him is helping her cope.
Everett's presence is comforting, though he knows things - Onna's name just before they met, where she lives, and sometimes he comments on thoughts she doesn't say aloud. She pegs him for a stalker, or maybe psychich, but the truth is deadlier than she imagines. As their feelings for one another deepen, Everett confesses a horrifying secret: Onna's brother is only the beginning of the plan, and some fates are worse than death.
I know I'm going to sound like a broken record, but characters who deal with crippling grief draw me in like a moth to a flame. And good lord, that synopsis! What fate could be worse than death?? What's the plan? STEPPING STONES sounds like a contemporary with possibly a supernatural element in there somewhere. I knew I NEEDED to read this book!
I like that Onna was weirded out by Everett knowing her name before they officially met. That was so realistic to me, and I'd wonder how some guy knew my name, too. Sure, I'd think he was cute, but I'd still think, okay, that's weird. So there's no instalove, but there's an attraction that Onna denies and kind of fights because so many other things are going on in her life right now.
Onna just doesn't have time for it. Her parents are divorcing and her brother just died, so these two major life changes are what she has to focus on working through. I loved it when Onna brought her friend Hunter back to the topic of her parents divorcing when Hunter veered off course to discussing Everett. Hunter is a great friend, though. She's a lot of fun and there for Onna through thick and thin. You need a friend who's fun to be around whether you're going through a lot of crap or not.
I liked Everett quite a bit, too. He honestly didn't strike me as creepy as you might think since he somehow knew Onna's name before they met. It's almost like he can read her mind and knew what she needed when she needed it. Wouldn't that be a great to have someone like him around? Not a mind reader, but someone who senses what you need the most, especially your emotional needs, I mean, wow.
The car accident that took the life of Onna's brother about killed me. So. Many. Feels. I couldn't believe the way it happened, and wait until you read that scene! It was even sadder than I thought it could possibly be. As a mother of two young children, I already think about how fragile life is, and you never know when it's your time to go. STEPPING STONES explores this truth in depth, and you'll want to hug your friends and family and tell them how much you love them after reading this. Five stars all the way!
About the Author
Kacey Vanderkarr is a young adult author. She dabbles in fantasy, romance, and sci-fi, complete with faeries, alternate realities, and the occasional plasma gun. She's known to be annoyingly optimistic and listen to music at the highest decibel.
When she's not writing, she coaches winterguard and works as a sonographer. Kacey lives in Michigan, with her husband, son, and crazy cats. Along with her novels, Reflection Pond and Antithesis, Kacey's short fiction can be found in Sucker Literary Vol 3, and the upcoming Spark Vol 7, Ember: A Journal of Luminous Things, and Out of the Green: Tales from Fairyland.
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