Captivate

Author: Carrie Jones
Genre: Young Adult/Supernatural
Pages: 273
Published: 2010
Series: 2nd book in the Pixies series
Series Order:

1. "Need" (2009)

First Line: "There are these bizarre people who actually like physical education class."

One Word Review: fromage


Synopsis: Zara and her new friends thought they had solved their town's pixie problem by locking the pixie population and their king in a secluded house in the woods. Unfortunately, as the pixie king's power decreases another pixie king, Astley, arrives in town vying for the old king's kingdom. Astley swears to Zara that he is different. Can she trust this attractive pixie even though Astley is after her to become his pixie queen? Zara swears she will never turn pixie and she has a group of friends who will stand by her. But when one of the things she loves most becomes threatened will Zara change her mind and do something she's sworn she'll never do?

My Thoughts: Sadly, this book didn't captivate this reader. The first book in this series, "Need", was a really good read filled with romance and action. I wanted to read "Captivate" to find out what happens to the Pixie King and his minions who have been locked in a house deep in the woods. Sadly, towards the end I had to force myself to finish the book.

This book didn't even come close to being as good of a read. It was filled with cliched and too 'cutsie' conversations between Zara and Nick. For example, "'Baby? What's up?', his face is a worried ball of cute." is not my idea of great writing. I think I may have damaged my eye muscles due to the overwhelming need to roll my eyes in various points in the book. Maybe that's how tween and teenage girls learn their amazing ability to eye roll. Something to ponder. I realize that this book was written for young adults but I think the 13 to 15 year old female population deserves better examples of teen love than this wee bit of cheesiness.

As for the storyline? It kind of dragged and I didn't feel like there was enough angst or 'will she, won't she?' regarding the two main men in Zara's life. The arrival of the new Pixie king, Astley should have created more stress or confusion for Zara. Is he using Zara or does her really love her? He did make Zara acknowledge her Pixie side, I'll give him that much but it would be interesting to see what his true intentions are. Not sure I totally trust the character.

"Captivate" had a little too much in common with "Eclipse" in the Twilight saga. SPOILER ALERT: Zara struggles with the decision to change to pixie just like Bella struggled to change to a vampire. The love triangle between Zara, Astley and Nick just wasn't there enough. Not enough 'who will she pick?' ... maybe the author is waiting to delve into that topic in the next book? "Eclipse" did a much better job, in this reader's opinion, in playing up the love triangle.

My Rating: 2 stars