Review: Harbinger by: Sara Wilson Etienne

Harbinger by: Sara Wilson Etienne
Publication Date: February 2, 2012
Publisher: Putnam’s Sons BYR
Page Count: 309
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Mystery, Fantasy, Dystopian
Cover Rating: 8/10
Buy the Book: Amazon
Author Website: Sara Wilson Etienne

Summary from Goodreads:

Girl, Interrupted meets Beautiful Creatures in this fast-paced thriller.
When sixteen-year-old Faye arrives at Holbrook Academy, she doesn't expect to find herself exactly where she needs to be. After years of strange waking visions and nightmares, her only comfort the bones of dead animals, Faye is afraid she's going crazy. Fast.
But her first night at Holbrook, she feels strangely connected to the school and the island it sits on, like she's come home. She's even made her first real friends, but odd things keep happening to them. Every morning they wake on the floors of their dorm rooms with their hands stained red.
Faye knows she's the reason, but what does it all mean? The handsome Kel tries to help her unravel the mystery, but Faye is certain she can't trust him; in fact, he may be trying to kill her - and the rest of the world too.
Rich, compelling writing will keep the pages turning in this riveting and tautly told psychological thriller.

My Review:

The cover is what drew me in to read Harbinger. Then, when I read the synopsis, I was hooked. Honestly, this book wasn’t at all what I expected it to be. It had a lot of great mystery that kept me flipping the pages, but I was just a bit disappointed with it when I finished.

Faye has had these hallucinations since she was a child and almost drowned, visions of tides of water cascading into her presence. Her parents have finally had enough and send her to Holbrook Academy, a school for teenagers with mental issues that sits secluded on a mysterious forested island.

There, she is introduced to her new “Family”, or the students she will be interacting with and getting to know throughout her time at Holbrook. Maya, Nami, Zach, Damion, and Kel al have very unique personalities and back stories that I enjoyed and laughed out loud reading. Kel, who Faye meets in solitary, is mysterious and seems to understand Faye in a way that nobody else ever has. So they naturally develop a relationship and a habit of sneaking out at night.

Sneaking out at night isn’t a good thing, though. Faye and the rest of her family wake up in bed every morning with their hands soaked with blood and strange symbols painted in blood on their floor. I was instantly curious about what this was all about. It was so strange and gave me that panging feeling you get when there’s a good mystery coming on.

However, as Harbinger progressed toward the end, I  was fairly disappointed with how it turned out. The story turned in a direction that wasn’t very intriguing at all. I can see it being an amazing story if it only went another way. If this book ends up being the first of a series, I can still see myself reading the second book just to see where it goes from the ending of Harbinger.

Official Rating:

Two and a half Un-Birthday Cakes