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Dazzle (2012)

by Amber Garza(Favorite Author)

3.98 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1479226033 (ISBN13: 9781479226030)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Createspace

series

Delaney's Gift

review 1: I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This book was so easy to immerse myself in. It was a quick read filled with action, mystery and romance. I like how the book was written from three different POV's. because of this tactic the reader receives that extra bit of information that you otherwise would have missed if there was only a single POV. There were some religious undertones, but they were very light so I didn't mind. I do still have a few questions so I will definitely read the next book to see if they get answered.I really enjoyed reading about both Delaney and Micah. I feel like they are great main characters because they are both heroes, but don't have a hero complex. At first I thought that they were for sure an item, but now... more I see that they are as confused about what they are as I am lol. Sam is your typical villain turned good because of love. I just hope he can stay on the good side and make up for his mistakes. Ariel to me is still a wildcard. She is just keeping too many secrets. I want to be wrong about her and I hope I am.Overall, this was a great, fast, light read. I will be continuing on with the series to see what is going to happen after the giant cliffhanger at the end. I would recommend this book to all YA readers and especially those who love paranormal.
review 2: Dazzle was a very unique YA paranormal/fantasy romance. The premise was unlike anything I’ve really come across. Delaney had a special power, along with her best friend, Micah, who grew up with her all of her life. Both of them used their powers to save others when possible. Their lives were quite sheltered and they’ve only really hung out with each other, which was an agreement sort of forced upon them by their parents. Their parents were followers of Zerach, along with most of the members of their town of Edenly. Followers of Zerach were marked with tattoos on their skin which manifested on their own, all representing important moments in the person’s life. Their enemies were Sarafites, who were marked with a tattoo on their forehead of flame. Some members of Edenly were followers of neither. Delaney’s parents seemed to encourage her to stick to Micah because of their abilities, but they also trusted other followers of Zerach. Micah had the gift of strength and felt pretty content with his life. He searched for more people who possessed power because he knew there were 10 altogether. Delaney, on the other hand, felt extremely suffocated by her life. She longed to have no limits and be able to choose her destiny. The book was written from the points of view of Delaney, Micah, and Sam and I thought it was interesting being able to get inside their heads and view the story from different angles.When I first started reading, I was under the impression the book was set in the real world (or something quite similar) and had people with special powers. The mention of followers of Zerach kind of threw me for a little bit as I discovered the setting was not like the real world at all and had its own history. The world in Dazzle was certainly unique, but I felt like there needed to be more world building in order for me to really understand the lives of Delaney and Micah. After awhile, I understood more as the history of the town was given throughout the story, but those details should have been provided sooner. I found the history/legends interesting and I loved the idea of the tattoos appearing on their own.Sam was a major character in the book. He wasn’t a follower of Zerach, but Delaney was drawn to him anyway. He was jaded and cynical and wanted nothing to do with Zerach and felt stifled because he was rarely able to decide anything in his life. His feelings were much like Delaney’s in that regard and connected both of them. I really liked his character, despite the fact that he aligned himself with the “bad guys” early on. I knew he would change along the way. I felt like his purpose was predictable, but I enjoyed his character nonetheless.Ariel’s presence added a ton of conflict to the story. Micah and Delaney had such a predictable routine going on and while she felt stifled by her life, nothing happened yet to really change anything. Once Ariel showed up as one of them, things really started to change for various reasons. I liked Ariel, but I sided with Delaney on the issue of her trustworthiness.I enjoyed Dazzle quite a bit and devoured it quickly. I loved seeing Delaney and Sam slowly fall for each other and watching the conflict around them grow. I didn’t care for Micah much and I disliked his point of view the most, but I understood him and what he stood for. I loved the way that Micah and Sam represented two ways of life for Delaney. I loved the romance, legend, fantasy, betrayals, secrets, and strength of the story and all of those qualities made it a wonderful read. I thought the world building could have been a lot better because even though I “get” the way the world is, I’m still just a little weirded out about the whole “followers of Zerach” thing and what that even really means and why things are the way they are in this strange town. I really needed more from the book in that area. Also, some parts of the story were incredibly predictable. Some of the dialogue and interactions felt weird and unnatural to me in certain areas. Those were my only issues with the book.Overall, I liked Dazzle and I’ll probably continue the rest of the series now that I’m invested in the characters and because of the way it ended. I would recommend it as a unique and refreshing addition to the paranormal YA genre with just enough romance to keep me interested, with awesome action and underlying themes. less

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