Morgan Sparks is psychic. Her visions are never wrong, and often times that means she's doling out bad news for her
classmates. But when her boyfriend's "cousin" comes to town and her boyfriend, Cam, starts acting strangely she breaks one of her rules about visions and looks into his future and get's some bad news of her own. Cam is a changeling - a fairy baby that was switched with a human baby in the hospital because he had bad asthma and the fairies assumed he would die. Only now, his older brother, the heir to the fairy throne, has died, which means the fairies have come back to claim Cam as their own. Both Cam and Morgan will stop at nothing to try to keep Cam on earth - rather than let the fairies take him home to the Otherworld - but as the deadline gets closer Morgan finds herself torn, not only about the plan, but also about where Cam will really be the happiest and about which boy she's in love with.From the very first chapter, I knew I would love this story. I'm a sucker for a strong first person narrative voice, and lately a lot of the manuscripts or books I've been reading have been missing something. Morgan Sparks isn't missing anything. She's original and spunky, and her voice stands out. She's also really interesting, and I can't help feel the last couple novels - as well as a few manuscripts I read recently didn't have a narrator who was interesting. Morgan is girl next door - she constantly finds herself taking a deep breath and wondering how Cam chose her. (sa-woon, as Sarah Dessen would say.) But she's brave and creative and awesome in her own right - it's easy to see why Cam is so into her.
I also liked the other characters as well. Both Cam and Pip are endearing, so much so, I wasn't sure who I wanted Morgan to end up with because I liked them both so much! Eden, Morgan's best girl-friend, is hilariously original, and even though she's only a minor character, she fits perfectly into Morgan's world.
Only one tiny thing bothered me about Morgan in the beginning, and it didn't bother the reader, but rather the feminist, in me. Morgan's just a little too dependent on Cam for her identity. I like the fact that they've been "dating/in love" since before it was cool to have a boyfriend/girlfriend and that they're so important to each other, but at one point Morgan says "If he really, truly is going to be leaving me forever on his sixteenth birthday, that gives us only a week. And I have no idea who I'll be then, because I've never had to define myself without him." I can't help but feel a little bothered by the idea of a girl who's a sophomore in high school defining herself, her future, her everything, based on a guy. But there is a point for this, and by the end I felt she had quite redeemed herself.
There is, admittedly, a little predictability with the ending, but it doesn't matter. The characters are realistic, easy to relate to, and fun. There are numerous funny and witty lines which made me smile or break into a laugh, and the plotline is fast-paced and easy to get sucked into - I managed to read it in an afternoon. If you're looking for a feel good read with good characters and a cute story, this is a definite must!
To check out Cyn Balog's website, click here.