Swoon
User reviews
11 reviews
Overall rating
3.4
Plot
3.1(11)
Characters
3.5(2)
Writing Style
3.5(2)
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Swoon
Overall rating
4.3
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Loved the spookiness of the possession in the beginning and the sexiness of Sin throughout the whole book =)
~Paige @ Comfort Books
~Paige @ Comfort Books
Good Points
I agree with some of the reviews I’ve seen recently of Swoon by Nina Malkin. But don’t get my wrong it’s not a bad thing at all! The reviews have said that this book is darker then it looks which some people were disappointed with but I wasn’t at all. Dark books are my favorite books especially books about ghosts. I don’t read enough of them and I seriously wish I did. But enough of my rambling let’s talk about the book.
Our main characters is Candice she lives in Swoon, CT where she moved from NY to be closer to some family. Everyone in Swoon has a nickname that has something to do with their names. Including Candice, her nickname is “Dice” this is one of my favorite parts of the book because everybody had such unusual names considering they were nicknames and they were short too which made it easy to keep track of everyone. Our other main character is Dice’s cousin Penny “Pen” these two together very much trouble makers.
Our two main characters are cousins and there always doing things together. Which I love I wish I was that close to my cousins. But anyways Pen is crazy and she loves to do daredevil things so of course she’s climbing a tree and guess what happens? She falls! Which is a really bad thing because a long time ago a man name Sinclair Powers was hung from that very tree. Can you guess what happened next? Yes Sinclair takes over Pen’s body and this becomes a very interesting possession you know like you see in haunting. As you can tell I was loving this book at this part!
While Sin is in Pen’s body she starts doing bad things. Worse then the crazy things she did before, and Dice realizes this she knows that she has to do something to get Sinclair out of Pen’s body and so she does. But instead of getting Sin out she gives him his own body and he’s able to walk the earth as a new man. That’s as far as I’m going to tell you because the rest would just be spoilers but I can tell you that I fell in love with Sin even though he was really really bad!
Now of course this book had a bit of a love triangle between Sin, Dice, and Pen. But it wasn’t a huge heart breaking one It was a manageable one which was another thing I loved about the book. You could see that Pen was falling for Sin really hard since he became his own person but I was rooting for him and Dice all the way! There were plenty of other things to enjoy about this book including some of the problems the other characters had. They weren’t huge problems but they were enough to where you wanted to find out what happened to them as well as Pen, Dice and Sin.
I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars. The reason being because there were some chapters in the book that made no sense to me at all what’s so ever. Those chapters were the ones when the mysterious Ruby showed up. I just finished the book and I have no clue who she was and why she was even in the book to begin with, I’m hoping to find out what the story with her is in the second book!
Our main characters is Candice she lives in Swoon, CT where she moved from NY to be closer to some family. Everyone in Swoon has a nickname that has something to do with their names. Including Candice, her nickname is “Dice” this is one of my favorite parts of the book because everybody had such unusual names considering they were nicknames and they were short too which made it easy to keep track of everyone. Our other main character is Dice’s cousin Penny “Pen” these two together very much trouble makers.
Our two main characters are cousins and there always doing things together. Which I love I wish I was that close to my cousins. But anyways Pen is crazy and she loves to do daredevil things so of course she’s climbing a tree and guess what happens? She falls! Which is a really bad thing because a long time ago a man name Sinclair Powers was hung from that very tree. Can you guess what happened next? Yes Sinclair takes over Pen’s body and this becomes a very interesting possession you know like you see in haunting. As you can tell I was loving this book at this part!
While Sin is in Pen’s body she starts doing bad things. Worse then the crazy things she did before, and Dice realizes this she knows that she has to do something to get Sinclair out of Pen’s body and so she does. But instead of getting Sin out she gives him his own body and he’s able to walk the earth as a new man. That’s as far as I’m going to tell you because the rest would just be spoilers but I can tell you that I fell in love with Sin even though he was really really bad!
Now of course this book had a bit of a love triangle between Sin, Dice, and Pen. But it wasn’t a huge heart breaking one It was a manageable one which was another thing I loved about the book. You could see that Pen was falling for Sin really hard since he became his own person but I was rooting for him and Dice all the way! There were plenty of other things to enjoy about this book including some of the problems the other characters had. They weren’t huge problems but they were enough to where you wanted to find out what happened to them as well as Pen, Dice and Sin.
I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars. The reason being because there were some chapters in the book that made no sense to me at all what’s so ever. Those chapters were the ones when the mysterious Ruby showed up. I just finished the book and I have no clue who she was and why she was even in the book to begin with, I’m hoping to find out what the story with her is in the second book!
Too explicit
Overall rating
2.7
Plot
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Characters
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Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
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First Impressions: So, as you all know, I am a sucker for books with awesome covers. When I first seen the cover of Swoon, I knew I needed to read this book. Gotta love the pretty cover! The story sounded interesting to me and reminded me a bit like Twilight. The author was kind to send me this book along with Swear, the second book in this series, for my reviews.
First 50 Pages: I had a love/hate relationship with this book from the beginning. While I loved the author’s style of writing and I thought the material was clever and entertaining, the names of the her characters really bothered me. The names were Dice, Sin, Pen, Doll, Con, Marsh, Gel, Crane, El and Em, Duck, Wick, Boz, No and Way. This was extremely distracting and unnecessary. It also made it very difficult for me to be able to connect to any of these characters since I had a hard time following who was who. It wasn’t until I was about ¾ of the way through the book that I was able to tell exactly who was speaking. I’ve been seeing unusual names in books lately and I really wish that this trend would stop.
Plot Points: The initial premise, as seen in the book synopsis, of this book really grabbed my attention and for the most part, it delivered. What I wasn’t expecting was the sexual references and scenes. I know that most teens are driven by their hormones and some practice casual sex. Whatever. That is their prerogative. This story wasn’t so much of a romance as it was borderline erotic. It is very racy for a YA book. It isn’t a bad thing, but I’m not sure how most parents would feel having their child read this book. I don’t think I would want my teenage daughter (if and when I have one) reading this book. There is A LOT of sex. I mean, an absurd amount of sex. This book would be much better suited for an adult or a very mature older teen.
Final Thoughts: Besides the fact that it is overly sensual for a teen novel, the core of the story was very good and like I had said before, the writing style is unique and edgy. This book isn’t going to be for everyone. A more conservative reader and young teens should skip this book, it’s not for them. It’s a decent book and I believe in second chances. I hope that Swear will be less focused on the sex and more focused on, well…just about everything besides sex.
First 50 Pages: I had a love/hate relationship with this book from the beginning. While I loved the author’s style of writing and I thought the material was clever and entertaining, the names of the her characters really bothered me. The names were Dice, Sin, Pen, Doll, Con, Marsh, Gel, Crane, El and Em, Duck, Wick, Boz, No and Way. This was extremely distracting and unnecessary. It also made it very difficult for me to be able to connect to any of these characters since I had a hard time following who was who. It wasn’t until I was about ¾ of the way through the book that I was able to tell exactly who was speaking. I’ve been seeing unusual names in books lately and I really wish that this trend would stop.
Plot Points: The initial premise, as seen in the book synopsis, of this book really grabbed my attention and for the most part, it delivered. What I wasn’t expecting was the sexual references and scenes. I know that most teens are driven by their hormones and some practice casual sex. Whatever. That is their prerogative. This story wasn’t so much of a romance as it was borderline erotic. It is very racy for a YA book. It isn’t a bad thing, but I’m not sure how most parents would feel having their child read this book. I don’t think I would want my teenage daughter (if and when I have one) reading this book. There is A LOT of sex. I mean, an absurd amount of sex. This book would be much better suited for an adult or a very mature older teen.
Final Thoughts: Besides the fact that it is overly sensual for a teen novel, the core of the story was very good and like I had said before, the writing style is unique and edgy. This book isn’t going to be for everyone. A more conservative reader and young teens should skip this book, it’s not for them. It’s a decent book and I believe in second chances. I hope that Swear will be less focused on the sex and more focused on, well…just about everything besides sex.
A good kind of weird
Overall rating
5.0
Plot
N/A
Characters
N/A
Writing Style
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Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
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Reader reviewed by Lia
This was a very good book. I did laughed a lot with this book, and I
liked Sin a lot. I loved him! but dint much liked what he did almost
till the end, but he still is awesome! =)
Sin is coming... Prepare to Swoon. Torn from her native New York City
and dumped in the land of cookie-cutter preps, Candice is resigned to
accept her posh, dull fate. Nothing ever happens in Swoon,
Connecticut...until Dice's perfect, privileged cousin Penelope nearly
dies in a fall from an old tree, and her spirit intertwines with that of
a ghost. His name? Sinclair Youngblood Powers. His mission? Revenge.
And while Pen is oblivious to the possession, Dice is all too aware of
Sin. She's intensely drawn to himbut not at all crazy about the havoc
he's wreaking. Determined to exorcise the demon, Dice accidentally sets
Sin loose, gives him flesh, makes him formidable. Now she must destroy
an even more potentand irresistibleadversary, before the whole town
succumbs to Sin's will. Only trouble is, she's in love with him. What
do you do when the boy of your dreams is too bad to be true?
This was a very good book. I did laughed a lot with this book, and I
liked Sin a lot. I loved him! but dint much liked what he did almost
till the end, but he still is awesome! =)
Sin is coming... Prepare to Swoon. Torn from her native New York City
and dumped in the land of cookie-cutter preps, Candice is resigned to
accept her posh, dull fate. Nothing ever happens in Swoon,
Connecticut...until Dice's perfect, privileged cousin Penelope nearly
dies in a fall from an old tree, and her spirit intertwines with that of
a ghost. His name? Sinclair Youngblood Powers. His mission? Revenge.
And while Pen is oblivious to the possession, Dice is all too aware of
Sin. She's intensely drawn to himbut not at all crazy about the havoc
he's wreaking. Determined to exorcise the demon, Dice accidentally sets
Sin loose, gives him flesh, makes him formidable. Now she must destroy
an even more potentand irresistibleadversary, before the whole town
succumbs to Sin's will. Only trouble is, she's in love with him. What
do you do when the boy of your dreams is too bad to be true?
G
Guest
#1 Reviewer
What the Heck? And Orgy!?
Overall rating
1.0
Plot
N/A
Characters
N/A
Writing Style
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Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
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Reader reviewed by Yan
I honestly have no words to express myself of this book (but I am going to try). On more than one occasion I found myself completely and utterly lost, constantly flipping back and forth trying to figure exactly what had indeed occur.
Swoon had all the right ingredientsdark and eerie themes, lustful characters, an awesome title, so where did it fail? In all the messy details. Where each chapter began with a new plot, a sense of correlation was lost between the period of the previous page and the next chapter number. This was where the frustration lied. I had absolutely no idea where things were heading! One minute they were discussing Sinclairs past and the next thing I knew theres a freaking orgy in the basement of some kids house! (Yes theres an orgy. At first I did not believe either when I heard about it but then I came to the scene and I literally flipped). It was up and beyond confusing that I almost cried. Not from anything sad or touching, but rather from sheer frustrating.
Going back to the orgy, lets talk about sex since sex and lust seem to be quite pronounced in this book. I love a smidgen of lustfulness as much as the next reader but there was a bit too much here. Swoon (the city name) is practically the capital of PDA (public display of affection), grinding hips, and necking, and lets not forget the whole friends with benefits. Tone the sex down is all that I ask. I care not to read about the adventures of how Sin deflowered you, how Sin is a great lover, how Sin is practically hitting on every girl and yet you still love him.
Aside from the most obvious flaws in this book some of the characters I did happen to enjoy reading. I love the whole one syllable nickname and some of the twists in the plot. The confusion did die out in some parts as well albeit it only took 15 chapters for the author to revisit some of the beginning scenes and explain what the heck just happened.
Overall: I wanted something mysterious, deliciously tangy, and mass amounts of swooning happening. Instead I got a 425 page book that left me tears (which I am going to take a blind guess that it was not the main purpose of the book). Something about this book I just could not stomach, I just could not hold it down, devour it and savor the texture.
I honestly have no words to express myself of this book (but I am going to try). On more than one occasion I found myself completely and utterly lost, constantly flipping back and forth trying to figure exactly what had indeed occur.
Swoon had all the right ingredientsdark and eerie themes, lustful characters, an awesome title, so where did it fail? In all the messy details. Where each chapter began with a new plot, a sense of correlation was lost between the period of the previous page and the next chapter number. This was where the frustration lied. I had absolutely no idea where things were heading! One minute they were discussing Sinclairs past and the next thing I knew theres a freaking orgy in the basement of some kids house! (Yes theres an orgy. At first I did not believe either when I heard about it but then I came to the scene and I literally flipped). It was up and beyond confusing that I almost cried. Not from anything sad or touching, but rather from sheer frustrating.
Going back to the orgy, lets talk about sex since sex and lust seem to be quite pronounced in this book. I love a smidgen of lustfulness as much as the next reader but there was a bit too much here. Swoon (the city name) is practically the capital of PDA (public display of affection), grinding hips, and necking, and lets not forget the whole friends with benefits. Tone the sex down is all that I ask. I care not to read about the adventures of how Sin deflowered you, how Sin is a great lover, how Sin is practically hitting on every girl and yet you still love him.
Aside from the most obvious flaws in this book some of the characters I did happen to enjoy reading. I love the whole one syllable nickname and some of the twists in the plot. The confusion did die out in some parts as well albeit it only took 15 chapters for the author to revisit some of the beginning scenes and explain what the heck just happened.
Overall: I wanted something mysterious, deliciously tangy, and mass amounts of swooning happening. Instead I got a 425 page book that left me tears (which I am going to take a blind guess that it was not the main purpose of the book). Something about this book I just could not stomach, I just could not hold it down, devour it and savor the texture.
G
Guest
#1 Reviewer
Swoon review
Overall rating
4.0
Plot
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Characters
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Writing Style
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Reader reviewed by Bookmark This
My Review: (warning might have spoiler)
Swoon was not really what I was expecting...it was better! From page one its very fast speed you don't have to wait 20 pages to get to any action. The storyline was very original nothing I personally every read before. Boy (Sin) hanged over 250 years ago comes back to Swoon to seek revenge on the town's people for the killing of his love, unborn child, and for his unjust killing. All the while betraying, hurting, and falling in love with a girl (Dice) who just happens to have psychic ability's.
Characters:
Characters:
Dice- New York born and raised pulled from here home after the death of her best friend, moves to Swoon where her world turns upside down. When I think of Dice I see a strong, independent girl with some secrets that might break her if she lets them out. Dice's character is a little hard to understand, what with being in love with someone who is hurting your friends and love ones, plus killing a few people. But, like they say you can't help who you fall in love with and it doesn't help if the guy is freakin hot! Plus having psychic ability's is like icing on the cake. By the end of the book Dice was not someone I related to but definitely someone I would want to know.
Sin- My favorite character, why? Because who doesn't love a bad boy. In the beginning of the book Sin is just a soul who has possessed Pen. He seems like a good guy and you feel bad for him since his love and unborn child were murdered, then he was hanged for a crime he didn't commit. Once he gains Dice's trust he lies to her and gets her to perform what Dice thinks is a exorciam but really a spell to make him into a real guy. Once he has his own body that's when he starts his revenge spree. Going after people who are descendants of the people who sentenced him to death. Its hard to understand why he would want to kill people who had nothing to do with the death of him or his love but that's probably something I will never fully get. While I was reading I was anticipating the next part that would have Sin in it or talked about him.
Pen- Not my favorite character she to me was just there as a body bag for Sin not once but twice, Sin's little toy he could get to do whatever he wanted. Her attitude was just stuck up look at me. She did play a big part with out her being dumb and climbing the tree and falling Sin would have never had a body to possess.
Overall I loved this book, I gave it 4 stars just because at times I was a little confused and while the end was good I felt like Sin should have been able to stay with Dice but that's just me. I can't wait to read it again...There are some sexual references nothing to bad, just thought I'd worn you.
So get your copy and get ready to SWOON!!!
G
Guest
#1 Reviewer
Do books have Parental Advisory stickers?
Overall rating
2.0
Plot
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Reader reviewed by Megan Howell
I'm going to start this off by saying that I am in no way, shape, or form a prude. I'm the girl that tells the perverted jokes. I'm extremely comfortable with myself and sex doesn't bother me in the least. But this book really bothered me. If you're under sixteen you have no business reading this. This book is near porn at certain points.
Apparently in Swoon, Connecticut all teens do is smoke, drink, and have sex. I know it's a small town, but the author could have given them hobbies. Dice grew on me as the story continued. She'd gone through some terrible things. Her love for Sin confuses me like nothing else. I can't figure out how in the world she fell in love (lust?) with him. I had some serious issues with Sin's morals (or lack of). Even when he was alive he just seemed to have some problems. I didn't like Pen, but that might have just been Sin's affect on her so I won't judge her.
The story itself had some real potential - "long-dead soul seeks revenge by entering some girls body and the girls cousin falls for the soul". The writing style is gorgeous! The story just fell flat. The chapters jump around WAY to much and there's about three chapters that I still have no idea what they're about. I'd pick up another book by this author, but I don't think I'll be picking this one up again.
I'm going to start this off by saying that I am in no way, shape, or form a prude. I'm the girl that tells the perverted jokes. I'm extremely comfortable with myself and sex doesn't bother me in the least. But this book really bothered me. If you're under sixteen you have no business reading this. This book is near porn at certain points.
Apparently in Swoon, Connecticut all teens do is smoke, drink, and have sex. I know it's a small town, but the author could have given them hobbies. Dice grew on me as the story continued. She'd gone through some terrible things. Her love for Sin confuses me like nothing else. I can't figure out how in the world she fell in love (lust?) with him. I had some serious issues with Sin's morals (or lack of). Even when he was alive he just seemed to have some problems. I didn't like Pen, but that might have just been Sin's affect on her so I won't judge her.
The story itself had some real potential - "long-dead soul seeks revenge by entering some girls body and the girls cousin falls for the soul". The writing style is gorgeous! The story just fell flat. The chapters jump around WAY to much and there's about three chapters that I still have no idea what they're about. I'd pick up another book by this author, but I don't think I'll be picking this one up again.
G
Guest
#1 Reviewer
Dark, Edgy Read
Overall rating
4.0
Plot
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Characters
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Writing Style
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Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
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Reader reviewed by kim
Torn from her native New York City, nickname-loving Candice (or Dice) is resigned to accept her fate when her family moves to Swoon Connecticut, a place where nothing ever happens. That is until spoiled cousin Penelope, better known as Pen, has a near fatal fall from an ancient ash tree. Pen's body is infiltrated by the vengeful spirit of an eighteenth century man bent on revenge against the descendants of those who unjustly murdered him. In an attempt to save Pen from the possession, Dice accidentally frees the spirit of Sinclair Youngblood Powers (aptly nicknamed Sin), and installs him into the body of a real flesh-and-blood man. Now more dangerous than ever, Sin awakens the quiet, cookie cutter small town to their darkest, most suppressed desires and subsequently leaves a path of destruction in his wake. Dice is the only person who can save her friends and family from Sin. But theres just one problem- shes inexplicably, utterly in love with him. In setting Sin free, she knows shell lose him forever.
Swoon was a dark, edgy and sensual read. The starkly beautiful prose in which Malkin constructs her sentences was like a breath of fresh air, and I found myself wanting to savor each delicious turn of the page. By far, my favorite character was Dice. Told in the first person narrative, her observations were so wry and so honest, I felt like I was transported into the book and literally sitting right next to her while she told me her story. I understood why she was so conflicted in her feelings, especially when it came to Sin. And lets talk about Sin, shall we? Sin was so witty, so ruthless and so insanely passionate. Not to mention gorgeous and a gentleman (in his own warped way). There were times when I knew I should hate him, but I simply could not. It was easy to see how Dice could fall for him, who wouldn't?
The following is a really great moment between Sin and Dice after she realizes she was tricked into releasing Sin into a body of his own, and illustrates how mischievous and conniving Sin could be-
Torn from her native New York City, nickname-loving Candice (or Dice) is resigned to accept her fate when her family moves to Swoon Connecticut, a place where nothing ever happens. That is until spoiled cousin Penelope, better known as Pen, has a near fatal fall from an ancient ash tree. Pen's body is infiltrated by the vengeful spirit of an eighteenth century man bent on revenge against the descendants of those who unjustly murdered him. In an attempt to save Pen from the possession, Dice accidentally frees the spirit of Sinclair Youngblood Powers (aptly nicknamed Sin), and installs him into the body of a real flesh-and-blood man. Now more dangerous than ever, Sin awakens the quiet, cookie cutter small town to their darkest, most suppressed desires and subsequently leaves a path of destruction in his wake. Dice is the only person who can save her friends and family from Sin. But theres just one problem- shes inexplicably, utterly in love with him. In setting Sin free, she knows shell lose him forever.
Swoon was a dark, edgy and sensual read. The starkly beautiful prose in which Malkin constructs her sentences was like a breath of fresh air, and I found myself wanting to savor each delicious turn of the page. By far, my favorite character was Dice. Told in the first person narrative, her observations were so wry and so honest, I felt like I was transported into the book and literally sitting right next to her while she told me her story. I understood why she was so conflicted in her feelings, especially when it came to Sin. And lets talk about Sin, shall we? Sin was so witty, so ruthless and so insanely passionate. Not to mention gorgeous and a gentleman (in his own warped way). There were times when I knew I should hate him, but I simply could not. It was easy to see how Dice could fall for him, who wouldn't?
The following is a really great moment between Sin and Dice after she realizes she was tricked into releasing Sin into a body of his own, and illustrates how mischievous and conniving Sin could be-
It was impossible. I believed in the big bang theory, in evolution. Besides, I was no god, or goddess, witch, whatever. Except Sin was there, in flesh and ...what, mud? Leaves? That extra special ingredient of my own tears? Only he couldnt be! I did those things, yes but for the opposite reason. What I did each word was a sharp pebble from a quarry below my lungs- was supposed to bring you peace.
Sin smiled. A dissolute, ferocious thing in his face.
Its a lovely night, my belly is full, and Im in the presence of a beautiful woman. I couldnt be more at peace. (Page 152)There are a lot of conflicting reviews I have read about this book. Though I agree with other reviewers that the writing could meander a bit, the characters were so well developed and the atmosphere so hauntingly decadent, I was able to overlook it with no problem. Many people also objected to the parade of lust left behind as Sin ran rampant through the former mild mannered town. While I can understand that, I personally did not think it was portrayed in an overtly explicit manner. However, with that being said, Swoon is not a book that everyone will love, and it's definitely geared toward older, more mature teens.
BOTTOM LINE: Swoon is a novel that will stay with you long after you have finished reading it. Its a smartly written, achingly beautiful novel about improbable love and unimaginable loss.
G
Guest
#1 Reviewer
Smartly written, dark edged tale
Overall rating
4.0
Plot
N/A
Characters
N/A
Writing Style
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Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
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Reader reviewed by kim
Torn from her native New York City, nickname-loving Candice (or Dice) is resigned to accept her fate when her family moves to Swoon Connecticut, a place where nothing ever happens. That is until spoiled cousin Penelope, better known as Pen, has a near fatal fall from an ancient ash tree. Pen's body is infiltrated by the vengeful spirit of an eighteenth century man bent on revenge against the descendants of those who unjustly murdered him. In an attempt to save Pen from the possession, Dice accidentally frees the spirit of Sinclair Youngblood Powers (aptly nicknamed Sin), and installs him into the body of a real flesh-and-blood man. Now more dangerous than ever, Sin awakens the quiet, cookie cutter small town to their darkest, most suppressed desires and subsequently leaves a path of destruction in his wake. Dice is the only person who can save her friends and family from Sin before its too late. But theres just one problem- shes inexplicably, utterly in love with him. In setting Sin free, she knows shell lose him forever.
Swoon was a dark, edgy and sensual read. The starkly beautiful prose in which Malkin constructs her sentences was like a breath of fresh air, and I found myself wanting to savor each delicious turn of the page. By far, my favorite character was Dice. Told in the first person narrative, her observations were so wry and so honest, I felt like I was transported into the book and literally sitting right next to her while she told me her story. I understood why she was so conflicted in her feelings, especially when it came to Sin. And lets talk about Sin, shall we? Sin was so witty, so ruthless and so insanely passionate. Not to mention gorgeous and a gentleman (in his own warped way). There were times when I knew I should hate him, but I simply could not. It was easy to see how Dice could fall for him, who wouldn't?
The following is a really great moment between Sin and Dice after she realizes she was tricked into releasing Sin into a body of his own, and illustrates how mischievous and conniving Sin could be-
Torn from her native New York City, nickname-loving Candice (or Dice) is resigned to accept her fate when her family moves to Swoon Connecticut, a place where nothing ever happens. That is until spoiled cousin Penelope, better known as Pen, has a near fatal fall from an ancient ash tree. Pen's body is infiltrated by the vengeful spirit of an eighteenth century man bent on revenge against the descendants of those who unjustly murdered him. In an attempt to save Pen from the possession, Dice accidentally frees the spirit of Sinclair Youngblood Powers (aptly nicknamed Sin), and installs him into the body of a real flesh-and-blood man. Now more dangerous than ever, Sin awakens the quiet, cookie cutter small town to their darkest, most suppressed desires and subsequently leaves a path of destruction in his wake. Dice is the only person who can save her friends and family from Sin before its too late. But theres just one problem- shes inexplicably, utterly in love with him. In setting Sin free, she knows shell lose him forever.
Swoon was a dark, edgy and sensual read. The starkly beautiful prose in which Malkin constructs her sentences was like a breath of fresh air, and I found myself wanting to savor each delicious turn of the page. By far, my favorite character was Dice. Told in the first person narrative, her observations were so wry and so honest, I felt like I was transported into the book and literally sitting right next to her while she told me her story. I understood why she was so conflicted in her feelings, especially when it came to Sin. And lets talk about Sin, shall we? Sin was so witty, so ruthless and so insanely passionate. Not to mention gorgeous and a gentleman (in his own warped way). There were times when I knew I should hate him, but I simply could not. It was easy to see how Dice could fall for him, who wouldn't?
The following is a really great moment between Sin and Dice after she realizes she was tricked into releasing Sin into a body of his own, and illustrates how mischievous and conniving Sin could be-
There are a lot of conflicting reviews I have read about this book. Though I agree with other reviewers that the writing could meander a bit, the characters were so well developed and the atmosphere so hauntingly decadent, I was able to overlook it with no problem. Many people also objected to the parade of lust left behind as Sin ran rampant through the former mild mannered town. While I can understand that, I personally did not think it was portrayed in an overtly explicit manner. However, with that being said, Swoon is not a book that everyone will love, and it's definitely geared toward older, more mature teens.
It was impossible. I believed in the big bang theory, in
evolution. Besides, I was no god, or goddess, witch, whatever. Except Sin was
there, in flesh and &.what, mud? Leaves? That extra special ingredient of my own
tears? Only he couldnt be! I did those things, yes but for the opposite
reason. What I did each word was a sharp pebble from a quarry below my
lungs- was supposed to bring you peace.
Sin smiled. A dissolute, ferocious thing in his face.
Its a lovely night, my belly is full, and Im in the presence of a beautiful
woman. I couldnt be more at peace. (Page 152)
BOTTOM LINE: Swoon is a novel that will stay with you long after you have finished reading it. Its a smartly written, achingly beautiful novel about improbable love and unimaginable loss.
G
Guest
#1 Reviewer
Shockingly Different
Overall rating
5.0
Plot
N/A
Characters
N/A
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Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
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Reader reviewed by Jessica
Shockingly different from other young adult paranormal romance books, SWOON is a great book to read. When Dice realizes that something is wrong with her cousin, something is different from how she usually acts, she begins to believe that a possession is in play. Possession as in ghost who has taken over her cousin's body. Able to force the ghost into a human form through touch, Dice questions him, his motives, and learns of a dark past for which Sinclair, also known as Sin, wishes to have revenge against, only the people he wishes to harm are Dice's friends and neighbors.
As the story progresses, Dice begins to fall in love with Sin and ultimately makes the grave mistake of trusting him. Through a series of dark events, Sin takes on a human form, the most beautiful human in all of their small town of Swoon. With girls after his every move, Sin continues the life that he had in the past, while carefully arranging the pieces for his game of revenge. Dice is clouded by her love for Sin and has trouble seeing what it truly happening, and stopping what that is.
Though it had it's confusing moments, everything in SWOON worked out to be alright in the end. The seams were ironed straight and the book left me with a feeling of completeness, as though the book was truly over. The characters were greatly developed and I enjoyed their common quirks, seeming to make them more real. A book for fantasy, sci-fi, and romance readers alike, SWOON is a great read for any time of the year.
Shockingly different from other young adult paranormal romance books, SWOON is a great book to read. When Dice realizes that something is wrong with her cousin, something is different from how she usually acts, she begins to believe that a possession is in play. Possession as in ghost who has taken over her cousin's body. Able to force the ghost into a human form through touch, Dice questions him, his motives, and learns of a dark past for which Sinclair, also known as Sin, wishes to have revenge against, only the people he wishes to harm are Dice's friends and neighbors.
As the story progresses, Dice begins to fall in love with Sin and ultimately makes the grave mistake of trusting him. Through a series of dark events, Sin takes on a human form, the most beautiful human in all of their small town of Swoon. With girls after his every move, Sin continues the life that he had in the past, while carefully arranging the pieces for his game of revenge. Dice is clouded by her love for Sin and has trouble seeing what it truly happening, and stopping what that is.
Though it had it's confusing moments, everything in SWOON worked out to be alright in the end. The seams were ironed straight and the book left me with a feeling of completeness, as though the book was truly over. The characters were greatly developed and I enjoyed their common quirks, seeming to make them more real. A book for fantasy, sci-fi, and romance readers alike, SWOON is a great read for any time of the year.
G
Guest
#1 Reviewer
Bad, Bad, BAD
Overall rating
1.0
Plot
N/A
Characters
N/A
Writing Style
N/A
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
N/A
Reader reviewed by Katy LaPlace
The third book I read was Swoon by Nina Malkin. This is the first of the books that I read that I definitely will not be including in my classroom library. I was initially attracted to the story of a ghost who takes over the body of young girl and the young girls psychic cousin who falls in love with him and eventually helps him get his body back. The fact that the cover stated that fans of twilight would love this book because they could really root for this heroine also intrigued me and gave me high hopes that this would be a good book. Unfortunately, I quickly realized that this book was nothing like I hoped it would be. To begin with, this book seemed to glorify (glorify= make it sound like something you should try) drug use and premarital sex. Dont get me wrong, Im not big on censorship, but a young adult book that deals with issues like this should eventually show that those actions have negative consequences. As if that was not enough, I also found the writing in this book to be terrible! The book was often difficult to understand, it left a ton of unanswered questions, and it expected you to root for the hero (and I use the term for lack of a better one&maybe jerk would work better) and the heroine to be together after he has slept with all of her friends (including her cousin). Overall, I found it hard to root for characters I hated from pretty much the beginning of the book.
G
Guest
#1 Reviewer
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