Review: Scintillate (The Light Key Trilogy #1) – Tracy Clark

Posted 3 March, 2014 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 13 Comments

Review: Scintillate (The Light Key Trilogy #1) – Tracy ClarkScintillate by Tracy Clark
Series: The Light Key Trilogy #1
Published by Entangled Publishing on 4 February 2014
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 320
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley

4 Stars

Cora Sandoval’s mother disappeared when she was five and they were living in Ireland. Since then, her dad has been more than overprotective, and Cora is beginning to chafe under his confines. But even more troubling is the colorful light she suddenly sees around people. Everyone, that is, except herself—instead, she glows a brilliant, sparkling silver.

As she realizes the danger associated with these strange auras, Cora is inexplicably drawn to Finn, a gorgeous Irish exchange student who makes her feel safe. Their attraction is instant, magnetic, and primal—but her father disapproves, and Finn’s mother orders him home to Ireland upon hearing he’s fallen in love. After a fight with her father, Cora flees to Ireland, both to follow Finn and to look for her missing mother.

There she meets another silver-haloed person and discovers the meaning of her newfound powers and their role in a conspiracy spanning centuries—one that could change mankind forever…and end her life.

*I received a free ARC of Scintillate from Entangled via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review*

Scintillate is a mesmerizing tale where some of the characters can see auras, and there are aura-killers who are searching for those with a silver-aura that scintillate, because their energy is like the sun – never-ending, beautiful, warm and life-giving.

Even if there are some of the most well-known YA tropes present in Scintillate, like insta-love, some kind of love-triangle, and one missing parent while the other is too controlling, I  enjoyed the story. Cora has been kept in the dark about what she is and what she can do for most of her life, and when she falls very ill and can see auras when she wakes up, she has no idea what is happening to her. And her father is no help, apart from the fact that she can see in his aura that he is keeping secrets from her.

Scintillate mesmerized me because the paranormal aspect of the story is so different, and seeing auras is also something I believe some people can do in the real world. From California to Ireland, Cora goes on a quest to find out what happened to her mother thirteen years ago to make her disappear. And of course, handsome Finn whom she dated a few times while he was an exchange student, shows up in Ireland as well.

The writing is good, I was right inside the story alongside Cora and her friends from the start, and I was very intrigued by the auras, and the mystery with the man following Cora around. His aura being plain white, and his ability to completely deplete another person’s aura until that person died certainly made for some excitement as Cora had to get away from him several times. Pretty fast-paced most of the time, there is no use to try to figure things out, even if I did guess one thing – and ended up being a little sad I was right.

Cora is a typical teenager in many ways, she wants freedom, and to make her own decisions. When she realizes that sometimes it is important to be protected, though, she understands that what she saw as controlling from her father really was his way of keeping her safe. If you are looking for a different paranormal YA story, and you would like to take a trip to Ireland, Scintillate should make its way to your shelf so you can read it soon.

Eventually, I slept, though fitfully due to a creepy light that appeared whenever I closed my eyes. It began as a far-off point but advanced – bit by bit – toward me. My stomach clenched with fear. The light moved deliberately, as if nothing on earth could stop it. As if it were time itself stalking me.

Finn Doyle had unfortunate taste in friends. He was one of them. The banal, popular crowd I found so irritating. I nicknamed them the VIPs. (Vapid. Irritating. Populars.)

I fixated on the woman in front of me who, if you counted the misty blue-white fog around her, had a personal space boundary of about three feet, nearly touching my abdomen. I took a tiny step back.

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Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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13 responses to “Review: Scintillate (The Light Key Trilogy #1) – Tracy Clark

    • I loved reading about the auras, especially because I really believe we all do have auras. I would love to go to Ireland, too, and this book kind of made that dream half come true 😉

      Thanks for stopping by, Pamela.

    • Oh poor Jessica, you suffer from one-click-itis, too? It’s horrid, isn’t it?
      I hope you’ll enjoy Scintillate!

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