Book Review- Pyxis, The Discovery by K C Neal

Title: Pyxis-The Discovery

 Author: K. C. Neal

Series:  Pyxis #1

Published: Ebook Oct/Nov 2011, Print Dec 2012  

Length: 216 pages

Warnings: Sex references, suggestive situations, 14+

Source: Author in exchange for review

Other info: This is the first book in the series. Book two, The Peril, will come in Spring 2012.

Summary : Corinne lives an average teenage life working at her dad’s cafe, hanging out with her best friend, and trying to forget a falling-out with her almost-boyfriend Mason. Things take a strange turn when she uses her late grandmother’s food dyes for a bake sale, and her customers suddenly find her irresistibly alluring. Then she discovers she and Mason are haunted by the same dreams of a dark force that consumes everything in its path. Pursued by shadowy figures and a crazy woman with secrets from the past, Corinne must find out who her grandmother really was. In her quest to unravel her family’s history, she learns she is destined to protect this world--and the dark world of her dreams. She races to find the answers she seeks before her nightmares break free. 

Review: some time ago, there was a thing on K.C.Neal’s website saying book bloggers could reserve an e-ARC. I read the vague summary, and requested one not knowing at all what I’d actually get. It could have been anything. It was  an original concept with the cakes being the thing that starts a discovery, which then quickly escalates into something  really awesome.

After realising tipping liquid from strange bottles into cakes that will be given to strangers is not the best thing to do, as the customers start acting really weirdly, Corinne and her friend Ang and nearly-boyfriend Mason investigating. They come across a list with their names on it, with mysterious initials and many more unexplained things. Corinne and her friends must learn about their new status quickly...

The characters were all well developed. Corinne was very relatable, as were her problems of being a teen girl in general, with the added fact that she’s received a letter pre-written (if that makes sense) by her grandmother telling her what to do. How much I love Grandma Doris and her opening to the explain all letter... “if you’re reading it [the letter], I must be dead. What a pity!” The other characters were all fleshed out just as well, and I can see some of them coming into play majorly as we go through the series (I’m looking here at Harriet and Sophie...)

The romantic side actually added quite a lot to the book, something that doesn’t always happen with books. Mason and Corinne’s   relationship was open for exploration, and towards the end when they are bound together magically in a way, you could tell there was another slight layer to this.

The pacing was a little slower at the start, but it quickly picked up. Some bits were a little predictable, but  there are some bits that really kept me thinking about what happened/what will happen.  The book ends at an annoyingly convenient part- convenient because here was a logical place to end it, but annoying because it had just turned a huge corner in terms of plot development and I wanted to read on!

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to an amazing book that I can’t wait for the sequels to. I want to carry on with Corinne’s story and I also want to see if my suspicions are correct...

Links: | Goodreads | Author website |