Review - The Vision by Jen Nadol

The Vision by Jen Nadol
Released: September 27, 2011
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 240 pages
Format: Paperback
Source: Author/ARC
Author Site: Jen Nadol

Cassie Renfield knows the mark tells her when someone is going to die and that she can intervene and attempt to change fate. But she still doesn't understand the consequences, especially whether saving one life dooms another. With no family left to offer guidance, Cassie goes in search of others like her. But when she meets Demetria, a troubled girl who seems to have the power of the Fates, Cassie finds the truth isn't at all what she expected. And then there's her heady new romance with bad boy Zander. Dating him has much graver repercussions than Cassie could ever have imagined, forcing her to make choices that cut to the essence of who she is and what she believes.

I tried really hard to like this book because the first in the series, The Mark, was super, fresh, and unique. The Vision just paled in comparison to it. It took me a long time to finish reading it because I would keep sitting it down and picking others up thinking I was just not in the right frame of mind for this particular type of read but sadly my feelings never changed until the ending. The last couple of chapters were the best in the entire book.

The first problem I encountered was I felt cheated out of Cassie's relationship with Jack. As the story begins she has already had it and broken up with him to move away to Bellevue because she doesn't trust him enough to tell him about her secret but then she winds up falling for a new guy, Zander, who has deadly secrets of his own. Although creepy and a user I really enjoyed the introduction of Zander and hope to see him in a future book.

Another thing for me it was just to slow moving and got to bogged down with the retelling of The Mark and all the religious traditions and customs. While tidbits of it were interesting I just didn't understand the point in it all as it didn't help Cassie at all with her questions?

If you've not read The Mark I say read it it's really good but The Vision can certainly be read as a stand alone book. It's not "that" bad of a story at all it's just after having read The Mark I guess my expectations were really high for the second book.