Glimpse

Zellie Wells #1

by Stacey Wallace Benefiel

Zellie Wells has a devastating crush on Avery Adams, the son of her mom’s high school sweetheart. At her sixteenth birthday party, held in the basement of her dad’s church, she finally finds the courage to talk to him. Turns out, the devastating crush is mutual.

As Avery takes her hand and leads her out onto the makeshift dance floor, Zellie is overwhelmed by her first vision of his death; shocking because not only are they both covered in his blood, but they’re old, like thirty-five, and she is pregnant.

Afraid to tell anyone about the vision, (she’d just be labeled a freaky black magic witch, right?) Zellie keeps the knowledge of Avery’s future to herself and tries to act like any other teenager in love. When they get caught on their way to a secret rendezvous by her mom and his dad, they are forbidden to see each other.

Convinced that their parents are freaking out unnecessarily, Avery and Zellie vow to be together no matter what. They continue their relationship in secret until Zellie learns that their parents are just trying to prevent her and Avery from suffering like they did. The visions are hereditary, they’re dangerous, and if they stay together the visions will come true.

Now Zellie must choose between severing all ties with Avery, like her mom did to prevent his father’s death, and finding a way to change Avery’s future.

Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal Romance, Supernatural, Fiction

262 pages, Paperback

First published April 20, 2010

About the author

Stacey Wallace Benefiel writes paranormal love stories, often with a time-bending twist.
She lives in Beaverton, OR with her husband and their combined five children. Obviously, Stacey drives a minivan.

Reviews

[Dani · Rating 2 out of 5]

Glimpse was a book that I wanted to like, but just couldn’t seem to get into. The beginning of the book is well thought out and well written, but once I reached the point of Zellie’s 16th birthday party, the writing starts unraveling for me. Events seem rushed, the characters aren’t developed enough and seem one dimensional, the dialogue is awkward at times, and the romance evolves unbelievably fast. This novel carries some pretty emotional, heavy themes but I felt like the gravity of those situations didn’t really come across. With all the things that turn Zellie’s life completely upside down, she seems rather unaffected.


Overall, I think Glimpse has real potential, and there’s nothing wrong with the basic idea of this novel, but the emotional, relationship and character development left something to be desired.

[Stacey Benefiel]

Hey All!
I'm involved in the love tropes paranormal, sci-fi, and fantasy Goodreads book of the month club.

Join the group and you'll get a free PNR book and a chance to chat with the author of the book that month.

For instance, I'm April, and I'll be giving away The Retroact Saga (yes, all six books)!

There will also be giveaways and other fun bookish happenings.

Join us:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

The club starts in October, but you can jump in anytime.

SWB

[Sarah Law · Rating 1 out of 5]

I cannot fathom why so many people rated this book four or five stars. It was a waste of time to read, almost as if the author wrote it as a NaNoWriMo project and never bothered to edit it before publishing. The pacing was the biggest problem- it dragged so much that I kept thinking "when is this going to be over?" which was weird because the actual story raced through things so quickly it was like reading a book on fast forward. It's like the author only wanted to write the fun, romantic bits, but needed to tie it all together with a plot, so she would have the kissing love story scenes and then fill in everything else as fast as she could so she could get back to the romance.
I think the reason why it felt so slow to read was because of the poor, amateurish writing style. You've heard that writers should "show, not tell"? Well, every single word in this book is telling. There is no show, no feeling in any of it. When the characters are upset or angry, the author literally has to explain why because it is impossible for the reader to empathize with them. And that's my third complaint about this book: the characters.
There is not a single person in the story who is developed, realistic, or even remotely likeable. She has them reacting to events in ways that make no sense and only frustrate and annoy you. They are like really bad puppets that the author pushes and pulls around, making them do what she wants them to do in order to give her story a good plot. A high quality novel has the characters direct the story, not the other way around. An author should be so familiar with their characters' personalities that they can put them in a situation and setting and then watch things unfold without having to force it. This writer wanted certain things to happen in the plot, so she would have her characters react in whichever way was most convenient for the story. It was ridiculous. One second they're in love, destined to be together; five minutes later he is acting like she disgusts him; ten minutes after that he forgives her and yearns to be with her. And the mom! SO unlikeable! Worst parent ever! Worst WIFE ever!
Don't waste your time or money on this book. Even if it's free, it doesn't deserve to take up space on your kindle. There are better books out there. God help us.

[Amanda Hocking · Rating 5 out of 5]

The thing that struck me the most about her book was the voice - it was perfect. Zellie always sounded like a teenager without being whiny or obnoxious. She was very likable and very realistic.

The story flowed beautifully. I think with a lot of debut novels, the biggest problems authors have is with flow and voice - they just haven't figured out how to hit their stride yet. But Stacey didn't stumble with either of those. It had a real honesty with the characters that I appreciated. Zellie and Avery were wonderfully drawn characters, and I couldn't help but feel their yearning.

The paranormal aspect (which I loved) was a bit different than what I'd encountered before. I'm not going to give it away, but it wasn't what I'd expected it to be, and that's always fun.

All in all, I'm excited to read the next books in her series, and I see tremendous promise in Stacey's writing and her future endeavors. Any fan of YA paranormal romance should definitely read this book!

[Brianna (The Book Vixen) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review copy provided by author

4½ stars

Why I Read this Book: I really enjoy reading YA novels, especially those with unique paranormal elements, so when I first heard about Glimpse I was intrigued. I was anxious for this book to reach the top of my reading pile and I’m happy to say that it didn’t disappoint.

What I Liked: The story held my interest from the start. This is the kind of book where you find that you’re not constantly looking to see what page you’re on. I was in the zone and the pages were just turning themselves. The narrative is easy to follow; Glimpse is told from Zellie’s point of view (POV) and switches to Avery’s POV using third person narrative.

The climatic part of the story happens half way thru the book and just keeps going from there at a brisk pace. I’m not saying that the beginning was a slow starter, because it wasn’t, but once things took off they really took off.

What I Didn’t Like: Avery falls in love with Zellie after their first make out session. I’m not a fan of characters, especially teens, falling in love too quickly. I like a bit of build up in the relationship before characters start using the “L” word.

Then there was this part, at the end of the book, that had me scratching my head:

I’d been doing nothing besides teaching VBS and hanging out with Dad, which was great, but […]

I had no idea what “VBS” was. Not a clue. I was able to Google it to find out that it’s an acronym for Vacation Bible School but I think it would have been helpful if the author would have spelled it out. Not a big deal and this had not effect on my rating but I’m throwing it out there so that when you read this book (which I hope you do), you’ll know what it means.

Overall Impression: I had chills when I read the last few lines of Glimpse. This book was pure YA reading satisfaction. Fans of YA and paranormal genres will surely enjoy this unique story. Although Glimpse doesn’t have a cliffhanger ending, the book did leave me with some unanswered questions (particularly about Benjamin). I am anxiously awaiting the release of Glimmer , the second book in this series, which comes out in November of this year.

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found Glimpse through two methods: 1) Goodreads new auto-recommending system brought it up based on my 5star shelf. 2) ibooks had it as one of their top 100 free ebook listing. Seemed prudent of me to read such a book - so I did. What I found was a book that contained equal parts of beautifully captured moments that exist in every teens life, a potentially original premise and some really crazy, mixed-up, disgusting non-sense.

GR summary: "Zellie Wells has a devastating crush on Avery Adams, the son of her mom’s high school sweetheart. At her sixteenth birthday party, held in the basement of her dad’s church, she finally finds the courage to talk to him. Turns out, the devastating crush is mutual. As Avery takes her hand and leads her out onto the makeshift dance floor, Zellie is overwhelmed by her first vision of his death; shocking because not only are they both covered in his blood, but they’re old, like 35, and she is pregnant. Afraid to tell anyone about the vision, (she’d just be labeled a freaky black magic witch, right?) Zellie keeps the knowledge of Avery’s future to herself and tries to act like any other teenager in love. When they get caught on their way to a secret rendezvous by her mom and his dad, they are forbidden to see each other. Convinced that their parents are freaking out unnecessarily, Avery and Zellie vow to be together no matter what. They continue their relationship in secret until Zellie learns that their parents are just trying to prevent her and Avery from suffering like they did. The visions are hereditary, they’re dangerous, and if they stay together the visions will come true. Now Zellie must choose between severing all ties with Avery, like her mom did to prevent his father’s death, and finding a way to change Avery’s future."

My impressions: I liked Zellie's story. It was original and quite captivating. The writing flowed nicely through her voice. What broke down was the surrounding plot lines. Her mom went through this situation herself, but instead of having any kind of sympathetic discussions, support or empathy, the mom goes way off the deep end throughout the story. The cover of this book screams grade school library book but the content is NOT. I can't bring myself to (NOT)recommend this book. Hey, I gave it 3 stars indicating a likability to the book but it should come with a warning something like....be prepared to suspend belief and look past the parents for the second half of the book. Focus on Zellie, her sister, the originality of idea regarding her family's talents and maybe you'll find the joy that is hidden inside this book.

[Abigail · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate writing these kinds of reviews, but I'm really not sure what to say that wouldn't be negative. Which is sad, because when I picked this book up off Amazon it looked interesting and I had high hopes for it. I'm afraid this book fell short of my expectations.

One of the things I was really disappointed about was the relationship between Zellie and (oh bother, I forgot what the dude's name is :O That says a lot doesn't it :P. *goes to check*) Avery. I felt like their entire relationship is pretty much physical....oh and random "sparks" when they touch. Oh wait, touching is physical too... Basically I felt like there was no depth to their relationship at all, and their basically just interested in sneaking out to make out and oh, some other much more inappropriate stuff.

Language. *repeated head-desk* All kinds of profanity flying from the pages (or screen, depending on what you're reading on) of this book. If you're anything like me, who despises such things, this probably isn't the right book for you.

The premise of the book--chick with powers that just started and she hasn't really figured out yet--interested me, and I saw potential in it, but it fell terribly short.

I bought this book, and therefore was not required nor asked to write a review, nor a positive one at that. I was not compensated for this review.

[Turtle · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I really wanted to give this book a chance.



I swear I did.

The whole glimpsing thing was intriguing enough to keep me going at first. I have to say that although I thought the love story was bogus, I endured it because I thought the predestined doom looming over them was far more fascinating. I didn't particularly like any of the characters. I thought Zel was extremely horny (which I guess made a sort of stereotypical sense being the pastor's daughter). Avery and Melody were both sort of non-events. And Claire seemed to be trying too hard to get attention. Only the falling out between Zel and Avery's parents was intriguing.

Accident happens. It seems like it's going to get really fun. Lots of blame being tossed around. Survivor's guilt. The death of Avery's father probably causing a permanent rift in both Zel and Avery's relationship. It makes a lot of sense that the two of them would part ways at this point. It really wasn't meant to be. And perhaps the pregnant Zel in that vision was married and pregnant by someone else. Wouldn't that be a twist?

But then you get to the second half of this book.



First off, all the adults in this book suddenly turn into teenagers. They lose their spines, and immediately turn into petty children, blaming their own children other than themselves for an unfortunate accident. Not once does Zel's Mom not take accountability for her own part in Mike's death. She immediately just pounces on her own daughter, which is just a terrible thing for a mother to do. Now I would be able to take this if I thought we were going to learn something from Zel's mother's actions. That maybe there would be some consequences for her terrible behavior. I'm no stranger to writing terrible parents in my novel. But I try to make their actions punishable... you know. Give the readers some catharsis. Please!

But no, instead Zel's mother immediately starts making out with Mike's ghost. Not only does she not go to any lengths to apologize to her daughter who she wrongfully accused. But she scorns her husband and her daughter all for the sake of a relationship with a f-king ghost.

Now, this is something I actually think about (as I'm writing a ghost story myself). And I personally do not think that a relationship between a ghost and a human being should be painted up as acceptable. Not that there are really any problems of people hitching up with ghosts, but if you think of it in a symbolic sense, it would be like clinging to the urn of your husband and never moving on. Some people can't, and that's a sad truth. But do we really want to pretty up a relationship between someone who's dead and can't be apart of the living world anymore and a person who's still has so much left to do. She'd rather not stay married to her husband or take care of the children she has. Instead she's going to run away with a ghost and have his baby... There are so many things wrong with this, I could go on for pages talking about it.

Avery and Zel inevitably get back together despite having no reason to forgive each other. And Zel forgives her horrible family despite how horrible they were to her.

There was a reason this book was free. It was absolutely horrible. And I refuse to read what happens next because I'm sure it will tick me off just as much as this book did.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh boy. Okay, to be fair I downloaded this for free to read on my iPhone when I had some free moments throughout my day. I wasn't expecting anything amazing, but I thought the premise of this book sounded like enough to hold my interest in a "I will read this in a few hours" kind of way.

Problems: stereotypical characters, stereotypical love story, every little thing was melodramatic to the extreme, and the things that were actually dramatic were completely overwritten in terms of emotion and underwritten in terms of action. The writing was weak in the vein of a very young writer who doesn't understand what strong, active language and "showing not telling" means.

The only reason I'm not giving this one star is that I remained interested enough in the premise to follow the plot through to the end. However, the premise was poorly executed and the things I found cool or interesting were overexplained to the point of mundanity.

Woof. Sorry for the scathing review! I'm just of the opinion that this author needs to write a whole hell of a lot more (and READ a lot more) before before publishing anything else. I am sick of reading poorly written books with good ideas behind them.

[Susan Bischoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable read. I enjoyed the two different character viewpoints, and seeing their mutual attraction. The author has an authentic teen voice which manages to create a vibe between the main characters that is undeniably sensual, and yet layered with a kind of young and clueless innocence that's very sweet. The psychic concept on which the story is based felt fresh and had some nice surprises (nice for me, not always for the characters). I look forward to continuing reads in this series.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Source: Downloaded for free from Amazon.co.uk.)
15-year-old Zellie has a gift for knowing what’s wrong with people – if someone’s got a cold – she knows what it is, when she has her first kiss, and suddenly has a vision of her would-be boyfriend Avery dying, she’s shocked though.

As it turns out, Zellie’s mother also has a similar gift, and she tells her that she needs to stay away from Avery, or her vision will come true and he’ll die.

Zellie and Avery don’t want to be apart though, and find ways to still be together, until a shocking event that forces them to be apart.
Will Avery really die the way Zellie saw it happen? Can they ever be together without that risk? And is seeing glimpses of the future all that Zellie can do?


This book was okay, I liked the storyline, but there were several ‘Really?’ moments!

Zellie came across as a pretty typical teenager. She got really excited over little things with regard to Avery, such as him saying that he liked her hair, and was also pretty OTT at times. She also had little regard for things that I would have been concerned about, such as always throwing her lunch away because she was bored of peanut butter (what a waste! People out there are starving!), and happily spending $60 on a dress when she knew that $60 was a lot of money to her dad, and he would have to put stuff on a credit card (a little selfish).

I thought the storyline was actually pretty good in this. I liked the whole visions thing, and I liked the other thing that Zellie ended up being able to do, even though it was a bit unbelievable.
There were so many things in this book that made me say ‘What?’ or ‘Really?’ though, that it got a bit silly. It’s a bit difficult to go through most of them without dropping spoilers, but let’s just say that I’ve got a whole list of them!

There were some unexpected twists in this story, and I did enjoy it overall. I’ve already got the next two books in the series so I’ll probably carry on and finish them now. I’d say though that this book is pretty good for a freebie, and its well worth giving it a try, you might have to look past a lot of the ‘What?’ moments though!
Overall; an okay YA paranormal story, but there were a few hard-to-believe moments.
6.5 out of 10.


Want to know what those 'Really?' moments were?
Couldn't believe that Mr Avery shot his wife through the head (before the rewind) - that was pretty unexpected.

Couldn't believe Claire's weird-ass story that she told the police about her driving underage etc. Wouldn't she have ended up getting arrested for that?!

Why was it that Zellie never mentioned the fact that she knew that her mother and Avery's father were having an affair? Did she just forget or what? I expected her to say something about this!

I was really annoyed at Avery for the way he treated Zellie and accused her of killing his father instead of hers - like she had a choice!
Really wanted to punch him when he called her a bitch too!

what was with her grandma too? "hi, i'm your dead grandma." - what a way to broach that subject.

and why did she go to bend to evesdrop? wasn't she worried that someone would recognise her?

and why - if coma patients usually wake up if they're rewound - isn't she at the hospital waking up some coma patients? how selfish is that?


I also thought that whole just think of him and you'll see him' thing was ridiculous -she's done nothing but think of him for days and hasn't seen him, than avery suggests that she can and ping! there he is. I mean really?

i thought Grace's dad was very blunt too - "your mother's not dead - she's in portland"

then avery going on about how he'd do anything to get zellie back after what he said to her and the way he treated her? Her best friend says "it wasn't her" so he suddenly loves her again?

and what was zelie's dad doing telling avery's mom about zellie's abilities? they're not exactly keeping it low key are they?

and how awful was her mother - going on about how her love for avery's dad was 100x what Zellie felt for avery - how rude! why should her love be worth more than zellies?

[Jess Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how Glimpse's artsy and pretty cover creates a sense of mystery and curiosity!

On to the interior content--I liked the sensory elements included straight from the opening paragraph (and the combination of these visual/audio sensory elements, combined with the characters being "in line to take communion," was a hilarious touch).

Pacing is good, as is the descriptive writing. For example:

"I began at [Avery's:] feet. Polished black dress shoes, black socks slouching at the ankles, a glimpse of beautiful calf, his khaki pants hiked up just a little."

and

"Avery felt electric. Lying on top of his made bed in the dark, still wearing his church clothes, he listened for his parents, trying to detect any movement coming from their bedroom. All he could hear was the energy coming off of him. The whole room was buzzing."

This novel has an authentic YA voice--which is neither patronizing/pretentious, nor whiny. I enjoyed the great attention to visual detail too, like the opening of Chapter Two, where the narrator observes her best friend cutting her punk rock hair. This sort of attention to detail livens potentially commonplace scenes. There was also a great balance with the interactions between

1) the narrator and her romantic interest, Avery,
2) the narrator and her best friend, Claire, and
3) the narrator and her family members.

I think it ended on a good note--because it leaves me impatient/wanting to see the next installment! Ms. Wallace Benefiel has penned a delightful romance packed with emotion, tension, and likable characters that pull at your heart.

[Margaret Metz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I happen to like YA fiction. Part of that is that I think the writers are so creative and they are willing to go places that other authors aren't. I like good stories - no matter who they're written for.

This has an interesting premise. Where it kind of fell flat for me is the . . . intensity and reactions of the characters to what was going on. The visions and supernatural activity in the book is pretty intense and, at times, dark. Yet the friends and loved ones react to it all as if they just told them about a new movie playing at the mall.

There is also some very bold make-out sessions that either nobody notices or they just wink at - even though they involve taking off clothes in public places and sneaking around in church. It was . . . like they told her they knew she licked frosting off the cake or something. Nobody took it seriously.

The romance is pretty much limited to those make-out sessions as well. There doesn't appear to be a relationship. He's just soooo cute and he likes her soooo much and they just have to be together. The dialogue makes teens sound like big hormones.

[Asia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book on my recommendation list because of another book I was reading. I was very intrigued by the premise of the story so you can imagine how glad I was after months of having this on my to-read list, it was available off Amazon from the kindle store. I read the book but now my opinion has changed.

The book begins in the pov of narrator Hazel "Zellie" Wells who at the start of the story is staring at the back of her crush, Avery Adams's head. The book changes between the two's pov and you get a little insight on both of their lives. Zellie has an uncanny ability to know certain things about people, a trait she inherited from her mother. Avery's home life isn't exactly ideal, and Zellie's not the only one with a crush.

Things escalate between the two at her 16th birthday party where they share their first kiss. Zellie is hit with a vision of Avery's death in a future where they're married and expecting a child. Despite all this and her mother's warning she is determined to have the future that her mother and Avery's father denied themselves for the very same reason.

Things that irritated me about this book

1) Zellie's and Avery's crush turned instant love. It is so irritating when a relationship is rushed. Why are they in love with each other? Am I really supposed to believe they're in love? Nothing in the book answered these questions for me.I found their relationship shallow and based on lust more than anything else. I mean they went to from barely being able to talk to each other (admiring from afar) to dating which is not really a problem. But then after not even a good 24 hours of dating Zellie's taking off her top, baring her rack to Avery while they make out in public no less. Don't worry Zellie's okay with being mildly slutty, her words not mine. I'm sorry was I supposed to swoon here?


2) The characters in general are very flat and underdeveloped. I can honestly say that after reading this book I didn’t care about any of them. Zellie’s mother is horrible. She appears to be an okay character in the beginning but as the story goes on She berates Zellie for things beyond her control (Avery's father dying) and declares that she’s having Avery’s father’s baby and that she sorry she betrayed Zellie’s father but she needs to be happy. Really? Who's the adult here? So many things wrong with this.


3) Everything about Zellie learning about her visions, her ability to rewind time, and the fact that her grandmother who started the whole being psychic thing in their family was in fact alive (faked her death, nice), seemed disjointed and not all interesting as one would think. I spend a lot of time skimming this section and then having to go back and read because I was missing stuff.

4) The sloppiness of the ending. Yes everything was tied up in the strangest bow I ever seen. Grandma is no longer pretending to be dead. Zellie's mom and dad are separated she's going to continue a relationship with Avery's father who's still dead—but wait now he's a ghost . Zellie and Avery are back together. Did I forget to mention that they breakup because he initially believed that she caused his father's death and that ended with him calling her a stupid freak? No? It's all good with them, remember true love and everything.

It’s sad because I wanted to like this book. Maybe I’m too picky but this wasn't a good one for me.

[Cas | casreadz · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Glimpse, Stacey Wallace Benefiel paints a very realistic portrait of teenage life. Zellie is a relatable heroine, going through all the awkwardness of first love and growing up. The decision to alternate points-of-view between Zellie and Avery is a nice touch, showing truthfully that everyone feels self-conscious at this age. The alternating perspectives also give some believability to the fast-paced love story, allowing the reader to see how far back the attraction goes and making it impossible not to get caught up in the whirlwind romance. The overwhelming sense of fate that drives the novel is both beautiful and tragic, strongly reminiscent of "Romeo and Juliet," but with a streak of the supernatural. Glimpse blends darkness and light, tragedy and romance in a fascinating interplay. The young love is compelling and impassioned, made even more so by the storm clouds threatening their happy ending. However, the preternatural rules that govern this world are sometimes unclear and it's hard to know what to believe about the devastating vision at the heart of the novel.

Alongside the couple is Zellie's best friend Claire, one of the most vibrant characters in the novel. Claire is a refreshing counterpoint to Zellie's insecurities, showing someone who is unique and comfortable in her own skin. However, the adult contingent is appalling. This truly is a novel to empower the second generation because the adults behave like children: they are selfish and apparently hellbent on ruining each other's lives. The way they treat their children is especially horrifying, and makes the reader appreciate what well-adjusted kids they turned out to be, no thanks to their parents. This novel has an unusual flow, with the climax seeming to come in the middle of the novel -- however, Benefiel still has plenty of surprises up her sleeve, and the twists and turns this star-crossed saga takes will leave readers stunned.

[Sassy Sarah Reads · Rating 1 out of 5]

Glimpse by Stacey Wallace Benefiel

First in the Zellie Wells trilogy

DNF at page 41

I've had Glimpse on my TBR for six years and I've had it on my Kindle for five. I was excited when I saw that this book was free on Amazon and immediately downloaded it. It's been sitting on my Kindle forever and I finally figured it was time to start going through my old Kindle books. Glimpse is definitely not for me. It's far too juvenile. The writing is absolutely horrid. It feels so awkward and cringey; it's definitely not strong writing to carry out a story, characters, or a series plot that lasts throughout three novels. This is supposed to be a paranormal novel, but it's 41 pages of intense eye-humping, stalking, obsession, and weird dialogue. I didn't even make it to the vision she has that's explained in the synopsis and I don't care why she's having visions. The synopsis gives the whole plot away and this teeny-bopper romance is just not for me.

Seriously, the stalking in this novel is creepy. Zellie stares him down throughout her father's whole sermon in church. Then there's this really creepy quote that baffled me to no end:
"I calculated. It'd been what, two months since his last haircut?"

You calculated his hair growth? WHAT? I had intense teenage crushes where I did probably way too much staring, but this is just beyond creepy and weird.

Avery, her obsession, is just as bad. His PoV reads exactly like Zellie's, which is downright uncomfortable to read. He's crazy, obsessed, and bumbles through conversations with her. This novel has no plot besides setting up a true lurv story and I'm not about to waste my precious time on books that don't make me happy.

Cover Thoughts: The cover is cute. It's blue and shiny, but also as cliche as the rest of the novel.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love the way Stacey writes and her originality of her ideas just keep blowing me away. This was an easy read, a great storyline that pulled you along with the characters. Some parts I thought "God I could just slap her or him". Some pretty major stuff happens that affects you mentally and emotionally.
Stacey slips in teenager speak so easily it just flows. The main character is a typical teenage girl, with one exception. She has visions of the future, how people die, what their ailments are. As the story progresses she learns new skills in her abilities, twists and turns appear that I would never have guessed keeping me on my feet the whole time.
I refuse to talk too much of the storyline as I reckon this is a story that needs to have no giveaways. Great characters that each had their own identities, some easily hated, others easily loved. A great read, a must read, and so can't wait to start Glimmer. Thanks for a great book Stacey, can't wait to see what you produce next. :D

[Lucy Swing · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love, love, love this story! My eyes were burning, and still are, but I had to keep on reading, I needed to know what would happen next. The suspense is amazing!
Reading about Zellie totally took me back to my teenage years, and to those school parties where you would hide in the dark corners and make out... what? no one else did that!? Oh, come on!
But best of all was to embark in this amazing journey Zellie found herself in. It wasn't an easy one, either. I mean, how messed up would it be if, the one you love the most, will die if he stays with you? And we have all seen the movie "Premonition" with Sandra Bullock, even if you try to change the outcome, it will still happen.
Anyway, "Glimpse" was an extremely fun and fast read. You will get sucked into Zellie's life and all of the drama that comes with it. Believe me, there is plenty to go around! I cried, I laughed out loud and most of all, I read while my eyes threatened to fall out of their sockets.
I suggest you all take the time and read it, I promise, you will not be let down!

[Kait Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall an excellent start to a series. Benefiel nailed the teen tone and made me feel like I was back in high school--except, you know, with psychic powers. The POV transitions were a bit jarring as there wasn't any indication of the shift, but this might have been some kind of issue with the Smashwords meatgrinder eating away the formatting. Zellie is a totally relatable heroine, and I absolutely look forward to seeing more of her in Glimmer.

[Mandiann · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

Interesting plot, terrible execution. None of the characters were particularly likable or realistic.

I doubt I will continue the series but who knows. Perhaps one day I will be really bored.

[Milena · Rating 1 out of 5]

All I can say is that good thing this was a free e-book off of Amazon, because I would've been really mad if I'd spent any money on it - even if I'd paid only 99 cents. While the idea and premise are a bit interesting, the writing and characters fall flat, they were not developed at all. Not to mention the family dynamics are so dysfunctional and weird, they're just terrible. I'd highlighted some choice passages, but the whole book just frustrated me so much that I deleted it from my iPod before I even managed to will myself to write this review.

* review update - 09/06/2012 *

Zellie Wells, the main character, is a very selfish, self-centered girl. Throughout the entire novel, all she cares about are herself and making out with her crush/boyfriend as much as possible. She's harbored a crush on Avery Adams "for years." When they kiss for the first time at her birthday party, the whole thing escalates really fast and he's got her pinned to a wall. Hormones mess up with her head, because Zellie is sure that Avery is her one true love about half a second after they make out. This would've been annoying enough, but as we read along, we realize that EVERY FUCKING CHARACTER feels the same way, they all think that Zellie and Avery are "meant for each other" simply to the intense attraction they share. They hardly ever talk about anything.

Avery Adams, the main character's love interest, is super flat. He's one-dimensional and subtly sexist. When describing Zellie through Avery's point of view, the narration says that "she was pretty funny for a girl." Way to show your unintended misogyny, because women could never be truly funny, right?

Zellie has a best friend, Claire, who is one of the two characters that didn't annoy me completely. She's very frank and blunt most of the time and seems to act in her friend's best interests most of the time. I thought it was hilarious, in a sad way, how the narrator kept trying to establish that Zellie was such an awkward girl and different from Claire. When talking about Claire, Zellie thinks to herself that Claire is brave because "she could talk to hot boys like they were normal people."

The author's narrative is full of silly and accidentally funny descriptions. After Zellie and Avery engage in a steamy kissing session, Zellie notes that Avery "looked like he'd been punched in the mouth." LOL.

Also, Avery often sounds like a dog/animal when Zellie describes their make out scenes. in one instance, she talks about how he "took a whiff" of her hair/scent.

All of the characters had inconsistent speech patterns, even the "grown up" ones. Sometimes they sounded about 13 years old, others they sounded really old. Like when Avery says: "We've gotta go home, Zel, or we're liable to get ourselves arrested for public indecency." Which 15-year-old talks like that??

AND don't let me get started with how fucked up the adult relationships are. Zellie's mom and Avery's dad were high school sweethearts or some shit like that, but Mrs. Wells broke it off in hopes of avoiding Mr. Adams' death (which she'd seen in a vision). Long story short, the guy dies anyway. And then Mrs. Wells finds out that she can talk to the dead because that's one of her powers, so she starts talking to her dead past lover. And get this: they start having an affair!!! I didn't even mention that they had sex the day before he died, what means they cheated on their spouses, and then we find out she's pregnant from that one night of sex. LOLS everywhere.

Anyway, at a certain point, Zellie wants to get her parents and sister and Avery and his father together to talk about things and sort it all out. After the whole cheating/death thing, Zellie's mother moves into Avery's house because he's home alone, since his "psycho" mom is sent to an asylum home. When Avery gets the news that Zellie wants everyone to get together, he asks if Mrs. Wells is supposed to be there. Claire says yes. So Avery delivers this super creepy line of dialogue: "Crap. Not if she's shacked up with my dead father at the family cabin." Like, WTF?

There's a lot more wrong with this book. The paranormal aspect of it had some premise, a society of women with gifts that let them see the future/past/present or talk to the dead and stuff. But when the author goes to build on it, it all gets very complicated and silly. and we find out everything through laundry-list descriptions delivered by Zellie's grandmother, who died a million years before, but not really, she just faked her death in order to avoid her daughter from being a social outcast for having a "crazy mother" in high school. Totally cool.

I know this review doesn't make much sense, but neither does this book. Save yourself the time, and don't be lured in by the super cute cover like I was. There are better things out there.

[Kate Copeseeley]

So Glimpse is the story of Zellie (Hazel Grace) Wells: pastor's daughter, high school girl, love interest of the hottest boy in town, Avery.

It's an easy read, this book. I'll admit, after the last book I read, this was a dream. The author sets the scene and the characters right away and spends about a third of the book setting the story. Very nice. I'm so tired of these books that start with action and just keep piling it on until you feel like you need a break or you'll explode.

The characters are likeable, although I'm not into this whole exasperating best friend thing a lot of YA books have going on. Claire was no exception and I wanted to kill her more than I wanted to read about her.

I loved the switch between first person and third person and I thought it did a much better job conveying viewpoint then a lot of YA books out there, so kudos to the author for that!

The love story was more like a lust story, but they are both teenagers, and the way it unfolded seemed pretty honest to me. Besides, they'd known each other for a long time, so I didn't have to suspend belief too much.

Here is where the book went south for me: the end. The end was so strange that half the time I was shaking my head.

**********Spoiler Here************
First the grandmother is dead, but then she's not.
Then Zellie meets another rewinder, a boy —who isn't supposed to exist, but does. The author goes so far as to mention his name, dismisses him as gay, and then we never hear from him again. Um, WHAT?? Now, I haven't read the second two books, but it seems to me, some foreshadowing is in order, like I don't know a GLIMPSE at the end?
But wait, there's more. Zellie's Mom turns out to be pregnant. From AVERY'S dad. Oh, and Zellie and Avery are still hot and heavy. I'm sorry, but that's just all incesty. I get that it's not Zellie or Avery's fault, but now they will both have a sibling that's related to the other person. Honestly, I just don't understand what the author was thinking here. As a beta reader I would have said..."You might want to lower the creep factor there!"
But wait, there's more. Avery's dad died towards the beginning of the book, but now Avery's mom can see him and they've decided to live together as ghost and wife. That's right. She and her GHOST lover are going to raise their bastard offspring together. That's. Just. Odd.
***********************End

So yeah, what started out as a great typical YA read turned into this crazypants festival of events that had me baffled. I can't complain too much, though. I'll probably read the next one, just out of curiosity! :)

One small side note:
One of the reasons I picked up this book was because the main character was a pastor's daughter and I am also a pastor's daughter. I have to say, I didn't think her portrayal of Zellie as a PK (pastor's kid) was particularly realistic.

First of all, I'm not saying PK's are perfect. Nope. I've met my fair share of rebels, but the rebels are pretty obvious about it. Zellie is painted as the typical first born, participates in everything pastor's kid and it just doesn't fly with me that on her first DATE with a boy, she'd be taking off her shirt and making out with little to no guilt. Being a PK is ALLLLLL about the guilt. That's how they get you. Everyone in the congregation is watching you, your parents have unrealistic expectations of you, and sometimes you feel like you want to burst out of your skin and fly away.

But you don't. That's the key point here. I NEVER NEVER heard a PK (and I went to convention's for heaven's sakes. All my friends were PKs) say Je**s H. Ch***t. NEVER. Or OMG for that matter, unless the G was gosh. Hell, yes. Damn, yes. But using the Lord's name in vain is right up there with the big no-no's. You don't even do that around your friends.

My parent's weren't super conservative or anything, but man, Zellie's dad is like the coolest dad I've ever met, never MIND the pastor part. I don't think there is a dad out there that would say that to his kid. There is NO WAY a pastor would. Sorry. I guess if Stacey is a PK and her life was like that, I will believe it, but if she's not, then no dice. Totally unrealistic to my world.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

Glimpse starts off with Zellie Wells daydreaming about her crush, Avery Adams, whilst waiting in line for communion. Zellie has liked Avery for ages, but she’s sure he can’t be interested in her. But when Avery appears to reciprocate her feelings, Zellie is ecstatic. Until she has a vision of his death that changes everything. At first, Zellie is content with ignoring the visions. Nothing bad will really happen, right? But after a while, Zellie has to face the fact that being with Avery will lead to his death, and there’s no way she can stop it. Will Zellie be able to let go of the guy she loves?

Glimpse is a fast-paced and thrilling novel with a very unique concept. I was intrigued by the premise from the very beginning – the idea of having visions of the future is something that has always interested me. Zellie was a great character; I liked how she was sure of herself and confident, yet was prone to embarrassment and spacing out as well, which made it easier for me to relate to her. She could be a bit shallow at times but I thought that made great reading because I thought she was funny too, and I laughed out loud at some of the situations she got herself into. Zellie’s not your typical pastor’s daughter and I really liked that about her. I also really liked her best friend Claire; I think they made a great pair and their friendship seemed real and easy – I could easily imagine seeing them at my school or out in town.

One thing I really liked about Glimpse is that not only do we hear the story from Zellie firsthand, but we also get to read about it in third person from Avery’s point of view. I think this really helped keep the book flowing, and it also gave us insight into Avery’s mind and what he was thinking. This means that we as readers find out a few things before Zellie and Avery do, so we get to formulate theories and ideas about what might happen next, which I think really involves us in the story. We also get to know Avery a little better; we discover how sweet and caring he is and how he gets just as embarrassed as Zellie does, and I found myself able to empathise with him more because of this. The connection between Avery and Zellie is very intense – there are definitely a lot of sparks flying, and they feel inexplicably drawn to each other. Whilst I think that perhaps the “I Love You” s were exchanged a bit too soon and their relationship progressed quite fast, I definitely understand why they felt so strongly about one another, and I loved the way Zellie’s mum and Avery’s dad reacted to the situation – they knew history was repeating itself and they felt powerless to stop it.

However, Glimpse isn’t just a love story. There’s a fair amount of action involved, some of it quite shocking – at certain points I felt my eyes glued to the page, unable to stop reading. There’s also a lot of learning going on; Zellie has to learn how to control her powers, and this was one of the parts that interested me most. I loved finding out about Zellie’s history, and discovering all the things she could do with her powers. Aunt Hazel was a quirky character, but also quite serious, and I enjoyed her interaction with Zellie and her sister Melody. But Zellie doesn’t just learn information, I think she grows emotionally too, and I thought it was very big of her to forgive her mother towards the end, even though she was still upset and angry. Even though I think Zellie should have told about her visions earlier, I think she makes up for it later on in the book and really begins to understand the seriousness of the situation.

The character who intrigued me most though was definitely Ben. He made a short and surprising appearance, and there are now a lot of questions surrounding him. I’m really eager to find out more about him – waiting for the sequel is going to be torture!

In conclusion, Glimpse was an exciting read, and I really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to the sequel, Glimmer, and I would recommend this to anyone who liked Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready or The Iron King by Julie Kagawa.

[Mollie! · Rating 1 out of 5]

Glimpse was a lot like going to the Cheesecake Factory and thinking that cheesecake AND decadent hot chocolate is a good idea. You start off eating the cheesecake, and it's so delicious, but then you get thirsty and all you have to quench your thirst is a cache of hot chocolate hidden beneath a mountain of whipped cream. Suddenly, nothing tastes very good anymore. How could such a delicious dessert go so wrong??
Now, I'm not saying Glimpse was a delicious dessert, but it WAS a free read. That in itself gives me more room to stomach it. And it started off okay. The premise was promising [I can't hold back on the alliteration today] because it wasn't like any other YA para I've read yet.
So first arrived the hot chocolate, since the drinks ALWAYS come first:
Zellie lives in a small town.
Zellie is a preacher's daughter but isn't a bible humper. She's actually pretty normal.
Zellie has a crush on Avery, who we find out from the synopsis of the book is the son of her mom's high school lurv. Which I think is kind of weird, I mean, this is a huge part of the plot and you already know about it before you even open the book. But whatevs.
Zellie and her crush and her small town are stock YA. So is the annoyingly rich best friend and the grumpy younger sister. It was actually an okay start to a book though, because it was obvious the author put a lot of thought into how she wanted to introduce the characters and the beginning of the book.

And then the cheesecake came.
It was like the author thought, "Oh shit, the first climactic moment of the story! I'm not sure how to translate this from my thoughts to paper, so I'll just introduce EVERYTHING all at one time as soon as I think of it! If it comes to me later in the story, I'll bring it up, and NOBODY will notice!"
Except I totally noticed. There were like ten things going on at once. I couldn't figure out what was going on in that car crash/insurance agency/Avery/random minivan/Retrocrap/magic/cheating parents scene. It made even less sense when it was explained again. Suddenly, all the characters lose their personalities and their ability to think past anything on a one-dimensional plane. Avery, who has this undeniable love for Zellie, decides she's a crazy-cray bitch-witch and wants nothing to do with her.
Because true romance is being unsupportive and assuming the worst of your partner.
Then all of the sudden, Zellie and friends are in Portland. With her aunt. And oh yeah, the magic stuff called "Retrocrap" [it's not really called that, it's actually called Retroact, but it was ridiculously craptastic] is sort of explained. But not really, because Zellie's long dead grandmother appears with like no fanfare and says she's still alive. Zellie just accepts this because hey, she doesn't bother questioning her parents for hating her or Avery for getting dumped and just up and leaves for Portland.

Then a lot of boring stuff happened. There's one instance of Retrocrapping, which involves Zellie turning back time [I guess?] without people knowing what's happening [I think?]. Ugh, just poor execution and planning all around.

Finally, we find out in about five pages that Zellie's mom cheated with Avery's dad--but only once, of course--and got preggers from that ONE TIME, and is now shacking up with Avery's dad's ghost. Avery's mom is in a mental hospital, and Zellie's dad just seems dandy about everything. Nobody really questions how shitty everyone else is, or why stuff that didn't get resolved years ago is only now being brought up.
But Zellie and Avery get back together, because none of the unexplained crazy shit that happened seemed to even cross their minds. What a totes presh ending.

My advice is to stay away from this book, unless you have some weird fetish for books that get worse over time, or if you just like feeling sick to your stomach.

[Adrienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

What are my thoughts on this book? Well, I can't entirely be too sure. The concept of the book was very original and I had a huge feeling I would've liked it a lot if only it was executed properly. Like, for example, if the author had developed the main character's relationship with her longtime crush slowly and deliberately. Don't get me wrong -- I 100% support the two of them. I know the two of them have had the hots for each other since middle school and getting into a real relationship was a major dream come true. But to me, their relationship kinda seemed... rushed. I expected them to have long, deep conversations with each other in private gardens or somewhere equally romantic, but most of the time they just sucked face and groped each other. (Not a good mental picture, believe me.)

Their idea of a romantic date involved lots of making out on a bench in the park and to make it even more disturbing, they did it in the dead of night. Okay, lovebirds, I know physical attraction can be a little irresistible. BUT LOVE ISN'T ALL ABOUT SHOVING YOUR TONGUE DOWN EACH OTHER'S THROATS. It's connecting with someone not only through physical contact but also through real, heartfelt words. If they didn't talk, how else would they hear each other's stories and secrets? Or discover each other's likes and dislikes? Conversations are essential in any relationship, you know. (Oh wait, but how would I know? I'm not an expert. I've barely had three boyfriends in my entire life. Huh. I've gotten way over in my head again.)

So after being assaulted with images of Zellie and Avery getting all hot and heavy on a park bench my interest in the story dropped pretty fast. It only resurfaced back again when I learned that Zellie and Avery were two star-crossed lovers who couldn't be together in the future. According to Zellie's glimpse into the future, if they ended up marrying and having babies together, something horrible would happen to Avery and Zellie would end up losing him forever. Her mother had also gotten the same vision before, just about her and Avery's dad. If Zellie and Avery didn't break it off then they'd end up just like Zellie's grandmother and grandfather -- Zellie's grandfather who had died because of the unforeseeable accident and Zellie's grandmother because of the heartbreak that she experienced. (But later on I found out that Zellie's grandmother was alive and well and that she'd faked her death in order to escape and join a special organization dedicated to doing good with their powers.)

It still hasn't been explained why this particular curse had been placed on Zellie's family (of all the families in the world why did it have to be hers?!!) so I'm hoping to get my hands on the next book and uncover the truth behind all this. I also want to find out if Zellie learns to harness her full powers and help stop -- literally stop -- crime, as well as bring up a solution to the whole Avery-getting-into-an-accident-and-dying thing. I'm also looking forward to Zellie and Avery having a real conversation (highly unlikely) and laughing out loud more to Claire's witty statements. (She's, like, the coolest best friend ever.) Totally worthy of three stars.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a free book in the Nook shop and when I read the synopsis, I thought it sounded promising. I figured free book, good story line, what could go wrong. Oh, how naive I was. I really wanted to like this book but I have to say I did not. The story line held a lot of promise but it was lost somewhere along the way. My first and biggest complaint, I did not know who the characters were at all. If a book has bad character development you can probably guess I am not going to like it and this book has pretty much no character development. The author told us their names and that is about it. I didn’t have an understanding of who any of the characters were. There were not so subtle hints dropped throughout the book but most came so late in the game I was already lost reading about the black shadow characters I had come to dislike so much. The small amount of details I did know about each of the characters made them unlikeable.

The mom has to be the worst character EVER. She is a horrible mom and wife. She is married to a preacher and she is a full-time liar and cheater. Not only does she keep a huge secret from her daughter but she basically cuts her out of her life the second she finds out that her daughter is just like her. WHAT?!?!?!?!? Is anybody else lost? Then when her daughter is going through quite a life changing event mommy decides to add to the boiling pot and have an affair. She is probably one of the most selfish characters ever written.

The love story between Zellie and Avery was ridiculous. Again another person in Zellies life who decided that she was not worth a pickle the second things started going wrong. I thought this was rather strange considering that they were supposed to have some earth shattering, life changing connection.

The story line seemed to jump all over the place like the author wasn’t really sure where to go with the plot so she just went a million different directions. The book never really got to the point yet I felt like I had been left in the dust. Does that make sense? Probably not. See what I mean? That’s how I felt while reading this book. The author tried to throw in page turning events but fell short every time. Even the dramatic scenes felt over developed or under developed. There was never a happy medium. I kept reading hoping something, anything exciting would happen but it never did. Things just kept getting stranger and making less sense until the book ended. So there you go. There are 3 books in this series and I am pretty sure unless I am extremely low on books to read, I will not be reading the last two.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Have you ever read a book so weirdly bad on several levels that you just… couldn't stop reading? GLIMPSE was that book for me. I had high hopes for this story, as the general synopsis sounded interesting: Teenage girl (Zellie) with a special ability to glimpse the future, namely her future with her first boyfriend (Avery) – who apparently comes to some harm later on in life that she may be able to keep from happening. On top of that, their parents seem to know what is going on and have forbidden them to see each other, but nothing will stop true love!

Okay, so it is a little cheesy, but hey, I like cheese with my wine from time to time and the Kindle e-book was free, so I was willing to take a risk. And now… I wonder what the heck caused this book to earn such rave reviews on Amazon! Perhaps these ratings were from 10-12 year old girls who think it’s “romantic” to be 16 years old and dry-humping a boy you’re kissing for the first time – in a church basement of all places? Maybe it’s “cool” to sneak out of the house in the dead of night and rip off your Minnie Mouse nightshirt in the middle of the park, exposing your breasts to your horny little boyfriend? Nah, it definitely had to be the disgusting, disturbing “love story” between Zellie Wells’ mother and the ghost of Avery’s father – who just so happened to impregnate her mother the day he died. I mean, it’s completely normal for a religious wife and mother to carry on like a hormonal, love-sick teenager, ignoring her two young daughters and devoted husband for the ghost of a man she loved when she was a teenager… Right?

Yes, sarcasm is just oozing from this review, but I am just sick of books that glorify and “normalize” teenage sex acts and broken families. I think I mainly kept reading because I was holding on to hope that there would perhaps be a hint that there was a good lesson in the making at the end. Unfortunately, I was so disappointed in the way this first book ended, I can’t imagine how horrible the next two are. I honestly can’t find one redeeming quality in any of these characters or the plot that would make me want to give the next two books a chance. Now, more than ever, young girls need to be edified and uplifted and not made to feel like sex objects. I would never recommend this book or series to any girl I know.

As if the hormonal, unbelievable characters and pathetic, contrived plot were not bad enough, there are numerous grammatical errors and grating dialogue that sealed the deal on GLIMPSE earning a big fat “zero” on my reading chart. Dear readers, do yourself a favor and find something better to do with your time.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glimpse (Zellie Wells #1)
4.5 out of 5 stars

Visit me at my blog: http://bookingthroughgradschool.wordp...

Quotes: “Since we’re nearing the ever so wonderful state sanctioned standardized tests, there are thirty extra vocabulary words this week. Apparently, none of you is to be left behind.”

For Readers Who:

(1) Don’t mind a bit of teenage angst. Wait, hear me out. I am usually averse to all forms of angst (I still shudder at my experience with Holden Caulfield), but this book spins the situation in a humorous and quite lovable way.

(2) Enjoy clever plots. Benefiel doesn't just stick a supernatural creature into a human world. Her books are far more creative.

Review: Glimpse is one of those books whose concept I would have never been able to come up with on my own. I love books that fit into this category because I read many, many books.

Plot aside, what is most memorable about Glimpse is its humor and its dynamic characters. When I mentioned that it was an “angsty” book, I did not mean that Zellie had the kind of angst of Holden Caulfield (gag). She isn't having an existential dilemma. As she journeys through high school with her best friend Claire and her little sister Melody, she tries to attract the attention of the boy who always seems to catch her eye, Avery, without looking like too much of a spaz in the process.

The book’s humor comes from the sheer relatability of Zellie's awkward encounters with the boy she likes. She may have visions, but she is still a teenager. Her inner dialogue and her interactions with Claire and Melody are memorable because they are genuine, sometimes self-deprecating, but (most importantly) fueled by her loving relationship with the two girls.

The supernatural element in this book is original and exciting. I will not say more, because I do not want to spoil it. However, Zellie's visions are just the harbinger of her supernatural power.

Verdict: While this is a book about a girl with extraordinary powers, Zellie's appeal is her very ordinariness. Her relationships with her best friend and sister are the anchor of this novel and are at the heart of its humor. While Glimpse is somewhat angsty, in the sense that Zellie is rendered as a genuine and believable 16 year old girl, it is not annoying because her inner dialogue is so funny. I think that, more than anything, Glimpse is a book about finding oneself not only in a supernatural sense, but in an even more basic and human way.

[Cynthia Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every once in a while I like to read a book without reading the synopsis first or knowing anything about it, I just like to be surprised about what the story will be about. I know it's kind of weird and I don't do it often but I decided to do it with Glimpse. The book doesn't have the synopsis on the back so I figured I would take a chance with it, and let me tell you that Glimpse was a delightful surprise.

I started reading without any kind of expectations, at first Zellie's extreme infatuation with Avery was a little annoying to me but once she had the vision about their future together and I got to learn a little more about her gift I understood why they had such a strong connection. The story is told from Zellie's and Avery's point of view and I did get a little confused at the beginning because of the way the paragraphs break and change from one character to the other but I eventually got used to it and really started enjoying it a lot more.

Glimpse was full of twists and surprises that keep the book at a really fast pace and had me glued to the pages, I finished it within a few hours. I was really intrigued with Zellie's power of being able to see the future but not only that, she also has another special ability that comes in as a huge surprise during an intense part in the story that completely blew me away. I couldn't put the book down after that, I just had to find out more!

Glimpse felt like a rollercoaster that brought out several emotions out, I was happy and laughing at times and then I would turn the page to a huge shocker of a surprise and got angry or frustrated. Zellie's mother was the only character in this story that I didn't like, I thought she was a very selfish and immature person, I couldn't stand her! Even though she claims to have a reason I didn't think it was enough of an excuse for what she ends up doing in the story. Most of the other characters were likable even though a few that I won't name because it would be a spoiler got me really irritated at one point but were easy to forgive. Claire (Zellie's friend) was a perfect addition and wrapped up the story nicely with her great sense of humor and sarcastic comments, I loved her!

Glimpse is a little hidden gem that more people need to know about, I was quite impressed at how much I liked it and I couldn't get enough of it. I want the sequel out now!

(Review posted on MundieMoms.com)

[Shawna LeAnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a great fast read! And when I say fast, I mean fast. I picked it up and was done within 24 hours, to some this may be bad, but really it was just because I COULD NOT put it down, and did not want to put it down for that matter, and it made me ask myself ; "Why did I not read this sooner as many times as I came across it?!" I was a bit angry at myself. [:

What really got me going in this book was page one. No really, from the first page you are thrown into a huge ginormous crush that Zellie has for Avery. And what girl does not like a good crush?! Who hasn't stared at a boy and thought no one else was noticing or for that matter made yourself feel and look like a complete fool for doing so? I felt a bond with Zellie and for me to feel a bond that fast in a book is amazing. Stacey Benefiel did a amazing job with the voice in this book. It was exactly how a teen would talk, how they would think, and how they would act. I loved the word play in this book also, completely into the teen world she threw us, and I didn't mind it one bit.

This author had me loving her as she switched between Zellies point of view to Averys point of view once the full extent of the crush was out in the open to us readers. I LOVE that in a book. It adds more depth to a crush or relationship as it turns out to be. It is great getting to see both sides when it comes to some pretty crazy and serious situations and makes you think yourself how you would handle it if it happened to you. Once the ball got rolling on the paranormal aspect of the book, I was doomed to be a sleepy chick for a day.

This paranormal book was unlike any other I have read. I never would have thought of it and it fit so perfectly. This writer had me by my teeth wanting to know what was going on, and how it would all play out in the end. Though, the ending to this book did happen way too fast for me and it actually played out nicely after thinking things were going down the drain for Zellie. But the ending did leave a few things to question, and that my friends is what has me rushing out to buy the next two books in the series.

Overall, this captivating paranormal romance is a fast read for anyone who will get wrapped up in a book and not want to put it down. It held my attention every moment and I did not want it to end. Very well worth your money and time. [: