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Whisper's Edge by London Cole
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Drake and Kelsie quickly discover life won't be quite the same after getting their new abilities, but they hope everything will settle into a sort of normalcy. It doesn't take long for them to realize it's not the kind of normal they were hoping for.
When Kelsie joins Drake for a routine Hunt, they end up stumbling upon an underground bunker that hasn't been opened in nearly a century. When they meet a far-too-friendly ghost, it should be their first indicator to leave things alone and get out of there. Never ones to resist the opportunity for excitement or mystery, they end up in a situation that could cost them dearly–threatening not only everything they've worked for, but their very lives!
Drake's world is turned upside down. A mysterious new girl seems intent on capturing his heart, but that's not all she's after.
Kelsie faces betrayal by the one she holds most dear, only to meet someone new who could change her entire existence; past, present, and future. If only she can stay alive long enough to find out the truth...

Actual rating: 2.5 stars

Oh dear. This is one tough review to write. For start, I sort of accidentally requested to be a part of the blog tour because as always, I'm drawn to eye-catching book covers. I wasn't aware that Whisper's Edge is the second book of the series because I trusted Goodreads with my dear life (you know, GR usually put the book number in the bracket after the book title which is there now but not before). Anyway, I was indeed supplied with the first book but I chose to read the sampler from Amazon and a few reviews instead because of the time constraint. The first few chapters of Book 1 were okay, I guess. It convinced me enough to proceed with Book 2.

I had a very mixed feeling about this book. Hmm...how do I say this. Of course, it's unfair not to like a book because I don't understand what was going on in the first place. But here's the thing, if I really like the other aspects of the book i.e. the writing, the characters development, the conflicts, I would go back to Book 1 and look up all those new terms and characters background because I have it at my disposal. The problem is, I didn't care enough to do that.

I read Young Adult books to...uhmm...avoid reading about sex scenes. While there was no sex happened in this book, the innuendos and the foreplay kind of bothered me. I understand that Drake and Kelsie don't even know, how..ermm...babies are made, so sleeping and showering together should be practical things to do and completely 'harmless' for them but I found these scenes a bit too abundant. It was borderline fanservice. Kelsie and Drake should compete who got naked more often.

The characters are certainly not plain. In fact, I find them pulsating with good energy and life which is something refreshing in books with post-apocalyptic setting. They have attitudes and the dialogues were believable and casual with some swearing at times if you don't mind. The problem is I do mind and it's not the book's problem, it's my problem.

Uh, I think I lost track of what I want to say.

I don't know...I have a tendency to like well-mannered characters, that's all. But trust me, the characters, even the secondary ones are well-developed. The main proof is that the characters in the Guild interact like they are indeed in a community. I particularly like Samantha, she stood out as the ghost with an attitude. The rest...hmm...I'm fairly indifferent to them.

In my opinion, the biggest weakness of this book is the plot. The subplots could have be told more neatly and I was hoping that the main plot would carry more substance than 'Drake and Kelsie finally realize their feelings towards each other'. I know some readers might disagree with me because their mutual affection is not as simple as the way I put it but seriously, the whole story revolves around the tug war between Drake and Kelsie. Otherwise Kelsie's mad dash out will not lead to revelation of her true form after she died and Drake's feeling of rejection will not somewhat lead to his involvement with Meghan.[his involvement with Meghan. (hide spoiler)]

The main conflict in this book is just not sufficiently big enough. Like, the whole book could be condensed into an episode of a TV series instead of a sequel to a movie saga. Judging from the cliffhanger ending, I have no doubt that Book 3 will be big. But it doesn't mean that Book 2 should function only as a bridger. It should have its own moment of glory and sadly, I don't think it achieved that. Will I read Book 3? I don't think I would. This series does offer a wonderful world for us to explore but I struggle to adapt with the characters and the writing.

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