Review + Giveaway: Edgewood by Karen McQuestion

Title: Edgewood
Author: Karen McQuestion
Series: Edgewood Series (#1)
Genres: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Paranormal, Young Adult
Publication Date: September 2013
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Program
Page Count: 324

The night Russ Becker witnesses a strange astronomical event, his world changes forever. Before long Russ discovers he's developed incredible superpowers, and he’s not the only one. Three other young people—beautiful Mallory, arrogant Jameson, and mysterious Nadia—have had the same experience and all of them now have powers of their own. Mallory can control peoples’ minds, Jameson moves objects with his thoughts, and Nadia has empathic abilities.
At first the four relish their newfound gifts, but things become serious when they learn they are being hunted by an organization that wants them for its own nefarious purposes. When Russ’s family is threatened, he’s forced into action. What transpires will change all of them in ways they never imagined.

Edgewood is a sci-fi, paranormal and fantasy book about these four teens, who witness an astronomical event, and they get superpowers. The story is told from a teenage boy's perspective, Russ Becker, who suffers from terrible insomnia and just has to go outside for a walk. He witnesses an strange spiral astronomical event and then he meets three other teens who have seen this strange event and they tell Russ that he has a power, but that's not it. There's an organization called the Associates that are hunting down teens who have witnessed the event because of their powers. Not only that, but Russ's family is also threatened unless Russ walks straight into the Associate's hands. 

The book is written in first person perspective and you can really believe that it is in a 15 year old boy's perspective. The hard part about writing in first person perspective is that I realize that a lot of authors tend to have to character become very self centred and I'm the important one. An example would be Tris in Divergent, a novel that I believe almost all of you have heard about. What happens is that in the first book, Divergent, Tris is okay. Then in the second book, I feel like she thinks that she's the important one and she's the centre of attention. I find that this happens a lot to the first person perspective novels I have read, but Edgewood is not that kind of novel. 

The pacing was really good. I'm really tired of books that have really slow pacing in the beginning, but Edgewood was really quickly paced at all parts, which is one of the reasons why I love this book. It was quickly paced, but not so that it felt like the author was just smashing words and flinging them at you. 

When I received a copy to review, I wasn't planning on reading it before the other books I had to review. But then I decided to take a peek at Edgewood because it was sitting on my desk so I cracked open the book and started reading. It was so captivating that I stayed up really late until my parents started to yell at me, or else I could have finished the entire book in a day. 

I finished the book in two days. 

Edgewood was really good. You know how sometimes, when you're riding a roller coaster, you feel adrenaline pumping through your veins? Edgewood was exactly like riding a roller coster: scary but thrilling and I just had to read on. Edgewood was very original and expertly crafted. 

I loved Edgewood. I had never read any of Karen's books but I've for sure become a fan of her amazing work! I can't wait to read Wanderlust and Absolution, the other books in the series!

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