The Emerald Talisman by Brenda Pandos

GoodReads Synopsis: To be normal, sixteen-year-old Julia Parker would shed her empathic gift in a second. Life has been difficult since her mother's mysterious disappearance ten years earlier - an event she witnessed, but can't remember. Julia's situation becomes more complicated after a near death experience from a blood thirsty stalker. As high school students go missing it is clear there is a connection to her own experience--past and present. Someone has to stop the madness and a chance encounter with a creepy psychic foretells that only Julia is the key to stopping the madness, but it may require the life of the one she loves.

Kathy’s Review: I guess I enjoyed this one. I’m still wavering between my rating. I really wanted to like it, and for the most part I did. I guess the one thing that bothered me most was the relationship between Julia and Nicholas. It just wasn’t that believable for me. I just can’t believe Julie would be so into a guy that she only interacted with for about an hour. They kind of had a conversation and the rest of the book we hear about how much she wants to be with him and only him. Even with her special abilities it was hard to believe. But, if I overlook the “love-at-first-sight” angle, I did enjoy the story. I liked the different take on vampires and their origins. After reading reviews for the next two books I’m actually pretty curious to see what happens. I thought it was pretty well written, but felt the dialog at times was a little lacking. I guess any vampire book nowadays is really going to remind me of Twilight. If you like vampire stories then you will probably enjoy this one.

Bookworm Rating: 3.5

Genre: YA Fantasy
Publication Date: March 2010
One Word Review: Good
Author Website: www.brendapandos.blogspot.com

Reading Order:
Book One: The Emerald Talisman
Book Two: The Sapphire Talisman
Book Three: The Onyx Talisman