Empath by Becca J. CampbellMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I received an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of Empath for the purpose of giving an honest review.
Becca J. Campbell's book is the first of a series -- Flawless series. It is about a young girl named Jade who spent most of her live sequestered within the home she grew up because of what she perceives to be a handicap. Jade is an empath -- she feels the emotions of others. When she is around people, she gets overwhelmed by all the emotions that assault her which is why she is taking most of her college classes online. However, once class -- Philosophy -- was not available as an online subject so she had to go to an actual class.
The first time she actually made it into the classroom, Jade felt suddenly overwhelmed and had to go somewhere where she could be alone. She drove to a secluded area and decided to enjoy being alone in the woods. But she got lost as she had not taken much notice of where she had been walking and could not find her way back. She meets a camper named Logan who helps her find her way back to her car. Logan, she learns, teaches at the University where she is taking her classes. Logan is different from most people because Jade noticed he manages to hide his emotions so she is able to be herself with him.
Because Jade realizes that, sooner or later, she will have to adjust to the real world and be around other people she takes another class -- Biology. Her lab partner is a guy named Cam who appears to be someone she can get along with easily. His emotions are always so lively and happy that Jade feels the same way too when she is near him. Jade is able to have a good time when she is with Cam and his siblings -- his brother Josh and his sister Chloe.
Unknown to all of them, there is a man named Ethan who has been murdering beautiful women. Ethan is a psychopath who enjoys going after women. He likes to hunt for his victims at night because that is when he feels he is most powerful -- he can see in the dark. Ethan spots Jade in a parking lot and wants her badly but Jade was able to drive away before he could do much of anything. Now Ethan needs to find her and get her.
Empath is a paranormal thriller. I find the book easy to read and I enjoyed it. What I really like about Becca's book is that the violence is not graphic. She is able to write in a way that violence is hinted at enough that the reader is able to feel the level of violence without it being described in detail.
The premise of the story is that there are people who are either born with special abilities or acquire them as a result of accidents; though those people may see those abilities more like curses or disabilities. It is something new to me and I kind of like the idea. All in all, I find Empath as a nice read and I enjoyed it enough to wait for the next book in the series.
Empath is due for release on August 20, 2013.
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