Gifted (A Valens Series #1) by Andy Lewter

Book Description

Expected Publication Date: Spring 2021

Genre: YA Fantasy/ Urban Fantasy

The last thing Abigail Everett thought would happen over spring break was having her
world shift into an entirely new perspective. Unfortunately for her, that’s exactly what happened.

Between struggling to master her newly-formed abilities, coming face-to-face with dark, deceiving mind tricks by those that seek her leadership, and learning of a mythical world that she never deemed possible, Abigail risks everything with the future of mankind and the safety of its people in her hands.

Coming Soon!

My Review

Today is my stop on the blog tour for Gifted by Andy Lewter, organised by R & R Book Tours.

I was given a kindle version of Gifted in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Shannon from R & R Book Tours and the author, Andy Lewter.

This YA fantasy re-release is set in contemporary America, with a teenage girl, Abigail Everett, as the main character.

Written in first person, from the perspective of high schooler Abby, a twin whose father is no longer alive, Gifted tells the story of how Abby gets supernatural powers over Spring Break and has to become accustomed to her new abilities. Her twin sister is vacationing in Texas and her lifelong best friend, gorgeous Miles, is also away, leaving Abby to come to terms with having to spend a lot of time with her mother and get used to a lot of weird changes happening to herself both mentally and physically. Her muscles pump up and her skin becomes glowing with health, she is suddenly able to feel the emotions of others and sometimes the intensity of other people’s feelings overwhelm her.

On a spa outing with her mother, she meets Nicholas by chance. He had previously appeared in a dream she had. Abby feels an incredibly strong attraction towards Nicholas and falls deeply in love with him immediately. She is surprised to discover that he feels the same way about her as well. However, when he meets her mother and realizes who she is, he gets very angry and has to leave, but he promises to return for her.

I felt like the whole insta-love part of this story took up too much of the book – I would have preferred more action and less ‘staring lovingly into each other’s eyes’’, but I am not generally a big fan of a lot of romance in books, so it probably wouldn’t bother everyone.

When Miles’ family returns home and Abby visits their house, Miles’ grandma, Navi explains everything. Abby, Miles, Nicholas and all of Miles’ family apart from his younger brother Damian are part of a race called the Valens. Abby is an elite Valens and due to her bloodline, one day she will be queen of the Valens. Her aura is very strong, which denotes a leader and her great grandfather had been their king. Miles “turned” several years ago, in other words he got his powers, and he has been keeping an eye on Abby waiting to see if she would also turn. The Valens mostly live on an island called Salvus Island, and Nicholas and his family, the Ludovics, kidnap Abby during the night, injuring her in the process and take her by plane to the island. Here she meets all the Valens, who are eager to have a leader once more, and she is shown to her mansion. Everyone refers to her as Lady Everett which she feels uncomfortable with.

It seems there are two sides in a conflict between the Valens, Miles and his family are on one side and Nicholas and his family are on the other. Abby feels torn between the two, but even though her love for Nicholas is very strong, she realises that he makes her feel vulnerable and that she is not prepared to give up her normal life with her Mom and her twin sister Olivia. Miles and his family fight the Ludovics and eventually Miles takes Abby back home.

Apart from Abby, the characters in this novel were all fairly stereotypical. Abby’s sister, Olivia with her obsessions with the colour pink, her clothing and appearance. The girls’ mother was a typical single Mom character who had to work hard and was having problems relating to her teenage daughter Abby. Miles was the hunky best friend who all the girls wanted to date, but who only had eyes for Abby. Nicholas was the gorgeous love interest who had all the right moves and lines to make Abby swoon. Abby was more interesting because the story was entirely written from her point of view so we got to know more of her thoughts and feelings and she felt much more fleshed out than the other characters.

I would have liked to know more about the history of the Valens and a little more world-building on Salvus Island, but on the whole this was an enjoyable read and set up the story nicely for its continuation in the next books.

Buy Gifted here:

www.amazon.com/GIFTED-Valens-1-Andy-Lewter-ebook/dp/B08YLFNJXB

Add Gifted to your To Be Read list here:

www.goodreads.com/book/show/57414950-gifted-a-valens-series

About the Author

Andy Lewter is an urban fantasy/fictional writer that loves a healthy dose of character development. She’s a true Potter-head at heart with a deep love of nature, cooking, and comfy clothes. Andy is constantly plotting and pondering her works to come, and has many exciting things in store.
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