Review: Perception: A New Adult Anthology + Giveaway!

The world will never look the same…

There comes a defining moment in every young person's life that irrevocably shifts their point of view. For a new teacher who still compares herself to her students, it’s a missing girl and a false accusation that could cost her more than her career. For a young man who settles into a rut that not even his broken marriage can pull him out of, it’s a drifter’s gun to his head. For an idealistic college student, it’s her parents’ divorce pulling back the curtain on who they really are, shattering everything she thought she knew about love. And for a recovering addict who's not ready to change, it might just be an unhappy ending to her illicit affair.

In Perception, discover five captivating stories that explore what it means to be a new adult.

Description taken from Goodreads

My Review

My Boyfriend is a Senator by Linda Davis

This story really caught me off guard with it being surprisingly sad and heartwrenching.  I loved how it was told in third person, you really felt connected with the main character as if it were you. 

Right from the beginning I could tell that Taylor wanted some kind of approval and just wanted to tell someone the truth about her boyfriend and it definitely hits you like a ton of bricks when you read between the lines and realize what’s actually going on.

The very last line really got to me and sent shivers down my spine.

Very interesting story, 4/5 hearts

Missing by Mary Laufer

A page turner this book definitely was.  Holy crap, I could see this as a movie, it was so thrilling.  Or even a TV show ala The Killing.

The characters had a lot of depth and could easily have had a whole book written about them.  I was sucked in from the very beginning and had my mouth hanging open by the end of the book.

I felt for the characters and the suspense definitely had me very fidgety.

I want to know what happens, Mary! 

Great thriller and mystery, 4.5/5 hearts

The Outlaw by Scott C. Davis

This really didn’t hit me as hard as the first two did.  I was so pumped up from reading them that this was kind of a let down.  Where the first two could be a small snippet of a full fledged novel, this felt random and didn’t make much sense.

It was written well but I feel like I just couldn’t connect with the main character.  I could definitely sympathize with him but there just wasn’t enough for me to actually care about him.

I feel like if it had been a tad more realistic or if there was more to it, then I might have enjoyed it more.

A decent story that just fell flat, 2.5/5 hearts

Drive by Nealy Gihan

I was severely disappointed with this story.  Both the main characters were horrendous.  I just couldn’t believe that Trevor was in his thirties when he acted like he was seventeen.  Simona was okay but I felt like she had no depth.

I really thought that this book had promise when Simona was in a restroom and found a disturbing message on the stall door and was really excited about what was going to happen.  I was actually more excited about that than the actual plot and I thought that Nealy was somehow going to weave that into it but it just kind of hit a roadblock.

Another story that felt very random with little things that would have made the story great that are just thrown in and not developed at all or just don’t make sense when all is said and done.

Started out great but I was, unfortunately, left disappointed and completely unsatisfied, 3/5 hearts

The Talisman by Heather Hildenbrand

This one was very interesting and the only paranormal/supernatural story of the bunch.  I loved the talisman aspect and the Demi demons.

The religious aspect kind of turned me off of it though, if that hadn’t been a part of it or if it was just tweaked a bit then I would have fully enjoyed it.

I still really did enjoy it and wold love a full book about this world and how everything came to be.

Heather did a great job of developing a paranormal/supernatural story in such a short amount of time.

Interesting P/S story, 3.5/5 hearts

All in all, Perception was a great bind up of some very interesting stories that you will fly through.

Overall, 3.5 out of hearts

Also, here is a snippet from my favorite story, Missing:

Theresa continued to write pages full of fabrications, mostly sexual fantasies planted for my sake. There were several entries involving her seducing older men—not only Scott Miller, but also other guys at the high school, from the science teacher to the custodian. With a vibrant red gel pen, she wrote paragraph after paragraph describing her having intercourse with them in the old darkroom off the Yearbook room, in the science lab, in the custodian’s closet. It happened before school started, between classes, and after school. “They can’t resist me,” Theresa wrote. “I’m beautiful.” 

Giveaway!!

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