Gifted (The Evangeline Devine Series) [Kindle Edition]

Annalise Hulse (Author)

Book Description

What really happens when we die?
It wasn't a question that seventeen year old Evangeline Devine - Evie to her friends - had ever thought about much. There was no reason why she should - her life on the small island of Jersey with her family and best friend Seth was untouched by tragedy, idyllic even.
Until the day that Evie nearly dies herself. When Seth pulls her from the watery depths that nearly claim her life, Evie is no longer the carefree girl she was. For now she is the recipient of an unwelcome supernatural gift. Now the dead are all around and impossible to ignore.
But when someone close to her dies mysteriously, Evie is forced to embrace her new power, for she may be the only one that can prove that it was no accident. Someone is getting away with murder.
With only the spirit world for guidance, Evie sets out to uncover the truth and find the vital evidence she needs to get the case re-opened.Soon she finds herself torn between her feelings for best friend Seth, who she's begun to see in a whole new light since he saved her life, and the powerfully charismatic Piers Du Pont, who she finds herself inexplicably drawn to, even though he might just be the killer that she seeks.
As events unfold, dark secrets are revealed, loyalties are tested to their limits and Evie discovers that the path that Fate has chosen for her is more terrifying than she ever could have imagined.
Life, should she survive, will never be the same again..........

"Gifted" is the first installment in The Evangeline Devine Series, a supernatural suspense quadrilogy suitable for ages 12 +.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Annalise Hulse lives on the small island of Jersey with her husband, her son, a scruffy hairball of a dog and a mildly psychotic cat. She is the author of "Gifted", the first instalment of the paranormal suspense quadrilogy "The Evangeline Devine Series" which is available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. "Twin", the second instalment of the series, is scheduled for release in Spring 2013. For more information on the series and other projects by Annalise Hulse, log on to www.annahulsebooks.com.

Product Details

• File Size: 600 KB
• Print Length: 459 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1476265828
• Publisher: Annalise Hulse; 1 edition (April 2, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007R6D16K
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #794,973 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Exciting tale of intrigue and murder... April 19, 2012

By Wading Through Electronic Ink

Format:Kindle Edition

(cross-posted from the blog Wading Through Electronic Ink)

The Plot

Evie plans to have an ordinary day on the water, but when she nearly drowns, things quickly spiral away from normal. When she wakes up in the hospital, she realizes two astonishing things: First, that Seth, her best friend who saved her, might be more than just a friend, and second, that she can communicate with ghosts.

Just as she's getting used to the strange path her life has taken, someone close to her is found dead, and because of her gift she knows the truth: that he was murdered. Her investigation brings her to the doors of the wealthy Antoine Du Pont and his teenaged son Piers. But as she grows closer to finding the killer, she cannot always tell who she can trust - the living or the dead?

The Good

Ordinarily when I get review requests, I read the book descriptions and am like, "Meh, that sounds somewhat interesting." When I read the blurb of Gifted, my response was more akin to, "A girl in England with supernatural powers? And two boys, one of whom is best friend and one of whom may be ebil? Sign me up!" Okay, yes, so I have an undeniable penchant for both the British Isles and love triangles with bad boys. But! The important thing is that in this case, I was not disappointed.

The story was quite exciting, with a lot of danger and high stakes that felt more real than your average paranormal dilemma. Evie is in a very precarious position, trying to solve a murder that no one believes is murder, while also dealing with a supernatural heritage that is more complicated than she knows. The people who she should be able to trust are keeping secrets from her, and the people being nicest to her may well be plotting her downfall. It's a suspenseful journey, and we don't know until the very end whom she should be trusting.

The Bad

Gifted read quite smoothly throughout, and for the most part the story kept me captivated. There were, however, a few points where narration wandered away from the plot and stayed in little side stories for long enough that I was like, "Lalala, I don't care. Can we go back to the main story now?" The first two of these points were related to spirits that Evie was helping. Esther, the ghost in her room, had a tragic tale that probably did not need to be described in as much detail as it was. (And the ending of Esther's storyline? Yeah, just creepy.) Evie also helped the newly deceased Dan come to terms with his death, and while that was touching, it also felt kind of irrelevant.

The third thing that seemed out-of-the-blue and not plot-relevant comes later in the book and involves Evie finding out personal information about herself and her family. And I'm not telling you what it is because I do TRY not to put spoilers in my reviews. But the revelation felt very out of left field. Judging by the first chapter of the second book in the series, which is included at the end of the book, I'm guessing that the family secret is going to be a major plot point in the later books. Which I confess has me a little concerned that the story is going to go somewhere bizarre.

The Romance

As I mentioned, earlier, the romantic conflict involves Evie's changing feelings for her best friend Seth and her new association with Piers. Best-friend-turned-love-interest and boy-who-may-be-murderer are both compelling love interest tropes, and to have both in a single book leaves me at a total loss as to who I should like better.

Well, really, the proper choice makes itself apparent near the beginning of the story. Which is good in the long run. I really hate investing a lot of time in a series hoping beyond hope that she will choose the right boy, only to have her ride off into the sunset with the other guy at the end. But in Gifted, we even have a chapter from the right boy's point of view. Ordinarily I might be skeptical of such limited changing of viewpoints, but in this case, I think it's necessary to keep the audience on the right track.

The other non-romance-related chapter from someone else's point of view? Yeah, that one is less necessary, and I'm less on board with it. But it's really short, so I let it go. Mostly.

Will I read more?

I really enjoyed Gifted, meandering narrative tangents aside, so I definitely want to tune in for the next installment. I do have some slight qualms that the story might go somewhere inexplicably odd, but I have enough faith in the author to trust that she will bring the tale around to something good. For now.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good read July 5, 2012

By snowflake

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I would like to say right off the bat that this is my first review so please bear with me.

I found this to be a well written YA. It was fast passed enough that it kept you going, while at the same time taking the time to explain things in enough detail that you felt like you were there.
I cried quiet a few times in this book, but that may be more to do with the fact I'm a new mum and a big sook when it comes to things. It was a nice escape book for a weekend read.

Would recommend it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely June 29, 2012

By yllektra

Format:Kindle Edition

It's about 4 1/2 stars for me.

I have to say that I loved this book. It wasn't just the plot, but also the imagery and the feelings and everything it invoked in me while I read it.
Once I started it I really couldn't stop reading it.

Evie is the seventh and last daughter of her family and has lead a happy life till now, with her sisters and two close friends, Seth and Peter. It's the end of summer and school is about to start again when Evie is almost drowned while enjoying the sun with her friends in the water.
Seth, her best friend who also shares her birthday, saves her but not before Evie has some sort of paranormal experience. While in the water she thinks she sees people on the bottom, all looking at her for what exactly she doesn't know.
Initially, after waking up in the hospital she thinks she imagined it, but not when she realizes that cheesy though it sounds, she has gained the ability to see dead people. It's not that they always talk to her, or that they all have something to say or want to, but they are there, around us, in the corners, on the margins. Some have come to terms with their fate, others haven't and Evie has no clue as to what she is expected to do. And as if that wasn't enough, her friend Seth, seems to be glowing with a white light when he gets emotional.

She has no one to confide in but her grandma and it turns out she is not surprised. Evie is clairvoyant, a Seer and her accident just made it manifest. But it's not till her best friend, Peter has an accident, a fatal one, falling to his death from a cliff that her real trouble begins.
Is it really an accident or was he murdered? And does Pete old nemesis' return, Piers Du Pont, to school after years and years in boarding school have anything to do with it? After all, Piers was always despicable to him and almost everyone...
As Evie's life gets complicated, she finds herself compelled to solve the mystery, figure out if Seth is as in love with her as she is with him and undeniably drawn to Piers, who seems changed....

I know it sounds pretty straightforward, but it isn't...
It's not even your typical love triangle... It is so much more than that.

The author did a marvelous job with the description. Seriously the scenes she creates are compelling and imposing. The imagery she creates is so powerful that especially in the scenes with Evie entering a soul's essence I was mesmerized. And the very first scene of Evie's accident is pretty vivid and intense too. I loved all the descriptions and I found that I quite enjoyed Evie's voice, who actually narrates the story.
She sounds her age, her voice is strong and clear and demands to be heard and she is a very sympathetic character.

I also thought the little chapters the author added of other people's pov were a nice addition and refreshing, but I felt that especially Seth's didn't sound that much different than Evie's and I don't know, it is difficult to explain, but I was hoping he would have a more distinct voice, which imo he didn't. but that didn't deduct from the story. :)

I have to say that all characters are likeable - even the bad ones...well maybe not one of them - the original one those who read the book will know who I'm referring to - and I had a little crush on Piers at some point, as well... Embarrassing I know..but there you have it. At some point I thought I liked him more than Seth ;) But in the end somehow I liked them both.

If you haven't read the book yet, give it a try!
I know you will love it and won't be able to wait to start the second. :)

P.S.: Thanks to Ms Hulse for providing me with a link to the book.

More About the Author

Annalise Hulse lives in Jersey in the Channel Islands with her husband and son. When she's not writing her own books, she loves reading other people's and is a big fan of Stephen King.
Annalise is the author of the newly-released "Gifted", the first installment of the YA paranormal quadrilogy "The Evangeline Devine Series", which was partly inspired by the tales of local witchcraft and folklore that she was told by her Grandmother and elderly aunts when she was a child.
Annalise is currently working on "Twin", the second installment of The Evangeline Devine Series, which she hopes to release in Summer 2012.