Disclaimer: I was given this book by the author. All opinions are my own.
Book Series: standalone I believe
Rating: 1/5
Publication Date: Septemebr 19, 2015
Genre: YA fantasy
Recommended Age: 18+ (incestuous thoughts, sexually criminal activity, degrading females to their bodies)
Publisher: Clifton Kenny Publishing
Pages: 262
Synopsis: A humble youth. A paranormal gift. A haunting history. In 1974, Shane Sullivan is a quiet, gangly teen in the suburbs of Boston who discovers he can explore the ancestral memories of a person’s lineage. Confused and frightened, his pursuit of this supernatural ability takes him down a dark and unexpected road of history long forgotten —or rewritten by historians.
With the aid of his two friends, Jimmer and Paige, he contemplates a more ruthless version of the reality he thought he knew. Shane finds himself on a shocking journey into a celestial world of truth that puts him face-to-face with his own destiny.
Filled with ghostly, historic discoveries of good versus evil, Reflections is a faithful, mystical tale about one teen’s unique coming of age.
Review: Okay so I had to stop reading this book. I DNFed about 20ish percent of the way through and it was because of some very disturbing things I thought were happening in the book. The main character is written to be a sexual predator and a peeping Tom. The main also has some very disturbing thoughts about his sisters and it made me really uncomfortable to read it. The main character, at one point, is in the shower where he has some really inappropriate thoughts about the sisters and he tries to look at one of them as they are naked. The sisters undress while he’s in the shower and it’s just all around icky. Because I’m an only child I asked my husband, who has a sister, if this was normal and his reaction was as followed: “No. Ew.” The main displays other sexually inappropriate things throughout the book (the portions I read) that I found very upsetting and criminal as well. Yes, being a peeping tom is a crime. The main doesn’t face consequences for his actions (from what I read) and we’re supposed to be rooting for him? Definitely not something that needs to be in a book that’s targeted towards young kids. Sex in YA books should be presented in a healthy manner or at least shown what the repercussions of that activity could be. It shouldn’t be shown as it is in this book. Especially in the era of the #metoo movement. Do you know that the majority of sex offenses for young children are by a member of their family? I do and I had to sit in court and listen to some of those, some of them perpetrated by their older siblings. It’s awful and it’s mentally and physically damaging for kids to go through stuff like that, definitely shouldn’t be taken light-heartedly in a YA novel.
Verdict: This book was a nope for me.
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