Book Review: The Forever Girl: Sophia’s Journey

Forever Girl series #1
by Rebecca Hamilton

Sophia Parsons is struggling to survive after college while working at a diner in the small, judgmental Colorado town where she lives in the house she inherited from her grandfather. Not only does she have to deal with a dead end job, but the leader of her mother's church wants Sophia to sell her the house and rid the town of her "evil" Wiccan ways. Each day is a challenge with the threats from Mrs. Franklin until Sophia meets Charles and discovers an unknown world where her talents are more than a disability.

Rebecca Hamilton is a new author on the supernatural scene, but on the basis of her first Forever Girl book, I believe she'll be here to stay. The Forever Girl: Sophia's Journey starts Sophia's journey into the supernatural world where the voices in her head have meaning and the drastic changes that will come to happen in her life. It is a Wiccan coming of age story with a love story and supernatural revolution rolled into the background. There is a good flow to the book and I was sucked in by the end of the first chapter. I'd suggest you don't start this late at night because you will struggle to put it down. I know I did and finally had to pause at 2 am when I starting taking long blinks and almost rolled my laptop off my lap.

While the protagonist, Sophia, is 22, this book is well suited for young adults. There is little swearing and the minimal sex and violence (which occurs more at the end of the book) is not graphic by any stretch of the imagination. The cover image, by the way, doesn't really express the feel of the books. Though the main character is a Wiccan, the book does not have a goth feel. It does have vampires (Cruor) and shapeshifters (Strigoi) and fans of the genre will enjoy it. It has the same feel as Lauren Kate's Fallen series though the supernatural elements differ. I'm looking forward to the second book, Come, the Dark: Cordovae's Journey, which is due out next year.

I plan on recommending this to a few friends with teenage daughters.

You can pick up a copy at Bookshop.org.

BIS Rating: 4 nightlights

BIS Rating system:
1 nightlight = put it down and didn't care to pick it back up
2 nightlights = finished the book
3 nightlights = enjoyed the book but probably wouldn't re-read it
4 nightlights = had a hard time putting the book down
5 nightlights = stayed up way too late to finish instead of going to bed

Disclosure: I was provided a free e-copy of the book by the author for review.

(originally published 07 May 2012)