I LOVE the paranormal – even if it scares me half to death. It’s no wonder that I flew through this next book in a matter of hours.
Goodreads Blurb
Haze by Rebecca Crunden
When Eliza Owens gets a phone call in the middle of the night from a girl she’s never met, she doesn’t know what to think. The girl introduces herself as Paige, and says she used to date Erik Stern, Eliza’s fiancé. What’s more, she has something important to discuss.
The only problem? Paige has been dead for years.
Believing it to be a sick prank, Eliza tries to force it from her mind until Sam, Eliza’s older sister, tells her she met Paige only a few weeks before. And, according to Sam, Paige has nothing nice to say about Erik.
The fight which follows shatters the lives of everyone involved, and Erik disappears without a trace.
Five years later, Erik returns to town after his father’s death. Old wounds quickly resurface and with them several burning questions. None the least of which is: Who spoke to Eliza and Sam if it wasn’t Paige? And why?
Review
This has been touted as a paranormal love story. Now, usually, I want more of the paranormal than the love story and I can be very put off if a book skews the other way. However, in the case of Haze, it was the perfect balance of the two. While in parts there is a little too much pining and “babe” between Eliza and Erik for my liking, the flaws of both characters moved it away from becoming a cheesy love story. In fact, all the characters in Haze are pretty real although, in my opinion, none more so than Erik, whose character development I enjoyed the most.
See, beyond the romantic and paranormal elements of Haze, this is actually a pretty dark book. The characters might be real but they are also pretty troubled. As readers, we dive right into these troubles, exploring how people handle pain, whether it be through drugs, alcohol, sex, or distancing themselves from the people they love.
I was pleasantly surprised just how well-rounded Haze was, leading me to read it in just one morning. It would be a perfect gift for YA fans taking the first step into the paranormal genre.
Pick up your copy of Haze here.
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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