Review & Giveaway: Visited by Janine Caldwell




Visited 
Janine Caldwell 
Publication date: May 25th 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

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Seventeen-year-old Joanna Murphy has lost faith in her life. Vying for her mom’s attention, she’s resentful of her stepdad’s intrusion to their family. Her best friend, Tommy, has no clue she’s in love with him as he dates girl after girl without noticing how it tortures her. The final kicker, though, is God’s sick joke to make her freakishly tall when everyone knows boys prefer petite girls.
Then in a bizarre accident Joanna meets James, a breathtaking teen who appears to her after an unusual falling star sighting. Suddenly, her dream for an alien encounter becomes all too real. But when she finds her life has been made unrecognizable, she’s forced into an explosive study of the original design for her life that just may have her regretting every wish she ever made.


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My review


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Have you ever wondered what it would be like if everything you wanted to change in your life suddenly did? Would your life be perfect then? Joanna Murphy wishes she wouldn't be so tall. Petite girls - she thinks - are more attractive. Or, at least, James - her best friend - seems to only date this particular type of girls. If only he could fall in love with her as she did him! And now that her mother is pregnant with her new husband - the fat, disgusting Stan that Joanna can't stand - the mother and daughter trip to Europe they have been planning for a long time won't happen after all. On the roof of her house, stargazing, Joanna makes three wishes when shee sees a rather unique shooting star. Little she knows that her life is going to change exactly as she wanted to... only things will not be as good as she hoped.


I related a little to this story, and probably this is one of the reasons why I liked this book so much. Having to share your mother with a total stranger that appears suddenly in your life and marries her all of a sudden - that sounds exactly like what happened to me when my mother remarried a year ago. And while I don't react as violently nor downright hate the guy like Joanna did, I totally understand her feelings of jealousy that her mother isn't hers alone anymore.


James is a key character in this story. He is the one who finds Joanna when she falls off the roof after she makes those three wishes and heals her. He claims he's an alien with a secret mission on Earth, and since Joanna is totally into Sci-Fi... she believes him. Especially when he shows her again his powers. Joanna, with the help of James, will learn a very important lesson - that everything is as it is for a reason and that we should be happy with our lives as they are, and not wish for the circumstances to magically change for our selfish reasons.


"Visited" turned out to be more than I expected, more than what the cover and blurb indicated. My expectations were certainly exceeded and I look forward to reading more books by Janine Caldwell. My only regret is that it ended so quickly. I wish the story continued at least for a few more chapters, but then... the ending is perfect as it is and maybe further extending the book would have ruined some if its charm. "Visited" was very inspiring and I would definitely recommend it to all teenage girls looking for a great read.


Giveaway


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4 comentarii

  1. Wow! Thank you so much for this thoughtful review. I'm very grateful. If you have a chance, I would appreciate if you would vote for Visited on Goodreads as best teen clean fiction. Here's the link:
    http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/15058.Clean_teen_fiction_Christian_#17984925

    I also have a fan group that I would love for you to join! Thanks again!
    http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/102675-janine-caldwell-fan-group

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  2. GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR BOOK AND THANKS FOR THE GIVEAWAY!

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  3. I would love to change where I live!!

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  4. I wish things could just be a little easier.

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