CLP Blog Tour: Review of Vivid by Andrea Murray

When Vivian Cartwright was five years old, she witnessed her mother’s death. Now, sixteen-year-old Vivian only wants a normal life—hard to accomplish when you possess the power to control energy. Her entire life she has feared her power and its connection to her mother’s murder. She has kept her ability a secret from everyone except her guardian, Charlotte, who has hidden Vivian from the man responsible for her mother’s murder. Her secret is safe until Vivian subconsciously defends herself at school using her power. After this first use of her gift in many years, Vivian’s power seems to take on a mind of its own, increasing in strength and demanding to be used. This increase in power also brings dreams of her mother’s death and the mysterious man connected with it. When she is assigned to tutor the would-be boyfriend of Trista Parmer (a.k.a. the biggest diva in school), Vivian cannot deny the electrifying connection that she feels for the boy, Easton Garrett. In her desire to get Easton away from Vivian, Trista doubles her efforts to humiliate Vivian, forcing Vivian to use her supernatural gift over and over. With each use, Vivian fears she is losing control and discovers her powers are growing—maybe too much—bringing her unknowingly closer to the man who murdered her mother.~Goodreads

Vivid by Andrea Murray
Published: December 2011
Source: I received this book from the author via CLP Blog Tour in exchange for an honest and thoughful review.
Purchase: Amazon, Barnes and Noble




MY THOUGHTS:

First, I have to say don’t let the cover fool you; if you’re like me I tend to judge reading a book by the cover which is totally ridiculous but true. I would have completely missed out on a great story if I didn’t stop to read the synopsis. I really wasn’t sure what I was expecting when I started reading this book, this book was definitely one of those books that you pick up to read and it totally surprises you. I was definitely hooked within the first few chapters.

Vivian has always known she was different and has had to hide all of the things she could do, she lives with her Aunt Charlotte since he witnessed her mother’s murder at the age of five.  She’s a good student, good niece and tries to stay out of trouble. But, she finds that she is the prime target of bullying by the “queen of the popular kids” Trista and over the years it has made it hard to control her powers since certain emotions tend to trigger her power.  Her only comfort at school is her best friend
Abby who is ridiculed as much as Vivian is.

Vivian has to deal with the popular group who seriously go out of their way to bully Vivian and Abby. I really felt bad for her; I mean I seriously don’t ever remember school being that divided and if so I don’t remember popular kids tormenting anyone. The characters in this book took bullying to a
whole other level.

I really enjoyed Vivian as the protagonist; does she get bullied around a lot? Yes, but at the end of the day Vivian always tries to stand up for herself when every else just deals with what’s dished out at them.So for that I love her. I think her best friend has an interesting personality,she’s not afraid to stand up for herself but at the same time she’s insecure and sometimes I had no clue what she would do. She was totally random in her actions.  Easton was a character that started growing on me by the end of the book, but I’m not sure I bought the romance;it was just way too fast for me.

I think what grabbed me most in the story was the fact that your taking this journey with Vivian, she’s not sure about all of her abilities and she’s learning what her strengths and weaknesses are along with the reader.I liked the mystery factor of the story surrounding the murder of her mother.

This story definitely left me wanting more, I still have so many unanswered questions, and I just realized book two has been released so I will definitely be grabbing a copy of it. Overall this story definitely was good it was slightly slow starting up for me but then out of nowhere things start happening and it really picked up towards the end, definitely had me wanting more. I would definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for a change from the typical paranormal books out there.

4 out of 5 stars

About The Author:

Andrea Murray has been teaching English for longer than most of her students have been alive. She has taught everything from junior high language arts to concurrent credit freshman composition. She lives in a very small town in Arkansas with her precocious daughter, energetic son, and racecar-driving husband. When she isn't writing or reading novels for her students, she's probably watching reality television or cheesy science fiction movies. In addition to Vivid, Andrea has also written Vicious, the sequel to her first novel.