Customer Reviews

Golden

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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GOLDEN, the debut novel by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, centers around the story of Lissy, a middle-of-the-road teenager with just one special characteristic: Her ability to see auras.

When Lissy moves from California to Oklahoma, her gift of Sight starts to go all crazy, and she has to learn to deal, along with navigating an insane social ladder at the new school.

This book is fun, intriguing, and just won't let go. I LOVE the fantasy element, even though I dont usually read fantasy/paranormals...it works SO well in this novel that you believe every page of it. You also never see the end coming-- and by the time it does, you wish the sequel was already out.

Five stars for Jennifer Lynn Barne's debut, GOLDEN

When Lissy James moves from California to Oklahoma, she expects her new home life to be exceedingly boring. After all, what is even in Oklahoma? When she gets to Emory High, however, she realizes it is going to be anything but boring. The social structure -- Goldens vs. Nons, is both extremely prominent and hard to understand. Lissy is even more worried about Emory High discovering her Aura Vision, which is growing stronger all the time and sure to label her as a freak and a Non for life. The more time she spends there the more she realizes that the may not be the only one with "powers" and that not even her aura vision can help her know at all times who is good and who is not. Readers will cheer for Lissy as she battles evil, some in the form of her school's alpha female, some much more dangerous. This new-girl tale has far too many supernatural elements to be completely familiar, yet girls everywhere will relate, and the characters are realistic enough that you may start to wonder when you'll receive your powers.

The trials and tribulations of adolescence have been addressed in song and story but perhaps not as intriguingly as in this debut novel. It was written when the author was 19, thus she had a recent and fresh take on those sometimes acutely painful years. Add a bit of fantasy, and you have a captivating story. Chick lit? Yes, but nonetheless above the expected.

There are many pitfalls for teenagers and moving is surely one of them, so it was quite a shock for Lissy James when she moved from California to Oklahoma - from the Golden State to the Sooner State and Emory High where she knew absolutely no one. Perhaps the worst part of moving from California was leaving Paul, her best friend and "partner in crime." They'd known each other since kindergarten. We hear: "And now, a thousand miles away from home and who knows how far from civilization, all I had left of Paul was the seashell he'd given me on my sixth birthday, his last words to me ("I'll miss you, Weasel"), and a memory of him on the beach. The colored lights around him had stood out, midnight blue against the stark white sand, moving in slow waves as he watched me drive away forever. "

Now, Lissy is not just an ordinary teenager as she has Aura Vision, she sees people by colors. There is one particularly frightening person at her new school - the math teacher who seems to have no color. The colors that Lissy sees are clues to the person's personalities, thus to her that particular teacher is someone to be feared.

Of course, there are cliques at Emory High, the "in" crowd and those who don't seem to matter. More problems for a newcomer.

Fortunately for Lissy she comes from a very stable home, parents who love and support her and a fine younger sister, Lexie. Still, she's alone when she goes to school and she must not only adjust to her new surroundings but also somehow discover what the math teacher might do.

Many may remember stage, screen and television actress Jenna Lamia's superb narrations of The Secret Life of Bees and Girl With a Pearl Earring. She's an articulate narrator who, in this instance, artfully portrays a teenager trying to cope. We hear Lissy's fears, hopes, and determination.

- Gail Cooke

Lissy James comes from a long line of ladies who possess the Sight, a supernatural sense or ability of some kind. She can see people's auras, with different shades indicating different personalities - and good or bad intentions. The women in her family - especially her younger sister Lexie, who has yet to acquire a Sight of her own - think she should be proud of her Aura Vision and hone her skill. Lissy would rather not broadcast her gift to her classmates.

Before her family moved, Lissy told herself that Oklahoma wouldn't be the same as California, but she had no idea how different it would truly be. At her new school, the popular crowd decides who is hot (or, as they say, Golden) and who is not (Non). Lissy watches as the popular girls work their charms on the boys and realizes something out of the ordinary is going on. Before she knows it, she's swept up in a power struggle not only between social classes but between good and evil.

Jennifer Lynn Barnes' debut novel is sure to appeal to fans of modern-day supernatural stories set in high school. With realistic dialogue, a good amount of twists and turns, and a rainbow of colors, the auras and characters of Golden shine.

Lissy moves from California to Oklahoma and finds herself in a social nightmare, facing two competing factions at school who vie for popularity in Jennifer Lynn Barnes's GOLDEN. But Lissy has something even more troublesome: Aura Vision, which is getting harder to hide as she sees beyond the average to get a sense of evil underlying the conflicts. Social and psychic tension are wonderfully done in this story of adjustments and changes.

GOLDEN tells the story of Lissy James, who has just moved from California to Oklahoma and struggles with the unexpected social hierarchy of Goldens versus Nons at her new high school. To make matters more complicated, Lissy's also dealing with ever-growing Aura Vision, which is sure to brand her a freak, an uber-popular cousin who seems bent on making Lissy's life miserable, and a new teacher who may or may not be evil. Barnes does a good job of blending the supernatural and real-world elements of the story in a natural and meaningful way. She wrote this novel as a teenager, which may be why the drama of the high school world rings more true than in most novels with similar settings. Also, unlike most young adult authors, Barnes doesn't seem to think that teenagers are completely stupid, shallow, and self-obsessed. Her characters have more to them than meets the eye, and they don't fall prey to the disease many young adult characters do in which they describe every aspect of their designer wardrobes in excruciating detail. The characters are smart, and the contrast between Lissy's snarky, sarcastic inner thoughts and her somewhat more meek outward demeanor is very relatable.

GOLDEN tells the story of Lissy James, a fifteen-year-old who has just moved from California to Oklahoma. At her new highschool, the populars are the Goldens and everyone else is a Non, and Lissy doesn't want to be considered a freak. To complicate matters, Lissy has the Sight: she sees auras, colored clouds surrounding people that reflect their moods. Unfortunately, Lissy is certain that there is evil in the school and that it is up to her to end it.

The final confrontation of the book seemed a little rushed and some things remained unexplained or aren't explained very clearly. The plot also seems like it relies on coincidence and luck a little too often. Occasionally the book seems to drag on a little. However, what made this book shine was Lissy's character. Lissy was so realistic, and I really enjoyed her sarcasm and her comments about the "backwardness" of Oklahoma. Lissy is one of the first characters that I can remember reading about that actually seems like a real teen, like a person I could know. The supporting characters, too, were fairly well done, though none came close to reaching Lissy's character.

Overall, this was a very good first novel. Considering that Barnes wrote it at the age of nineteen only makes this book even more impressive, despite its faults. Barnes is definitely a good writer, though the plot could do with some work. I look forward to reading Barne's next work TATTOO and strongly recommend GOLDENto teens who enjoy stories of the supernatural or even the basic new-girl-at-school story.

Jennifer Lynn Barnes wrote GOLDEN when she was only nineteen, but you can't tell that by reading this book. It doesn't seem like a teenager wrote it (not that all teenagers are bad writers, but most think they're way better than they actually are), but an experienced author. In the novel, Lissy James' family moves to California from Oklahoma. Big deal. Lots of people move. Lissy's move, however, is a little different.

There are two major dramas she has to deal with in her life. One is the typical teen-movie sort of high school thing: everyone in her high school is separated into two groups. Goldens are the popular ones, Nons are everyone else. She's got to understand that and decide which side she falls on.

She may not have much of a choice, though, if her Aura Vision gets in the way of things. In her family, the women have powers to see things differently from most people, and Lissy can see people's auras. If that's not freaky enough, her powers are expanding so that she can see more, even the connections between people. Possibly, she thinks, the fault of her grandmother.

Every part of this book is great. The characters are interesting (with way more to them than meets the eye, which is nice, not to have everything right at the surface). The plot as well. Perhaps teenagers in an ordinary world with magical powers are becoming rather common in young adult literature, but this book is one of the better ones of that type. Anyway, it's a good thing to write about. Popular, and you can usually get a good story out of it. This author sure did!

In this story, there's evil. There's magic. There's the popular crowd versus the losers. Even a hint of romance. Basically, take elements from lots of popular teen books, put them together, and you have a great book: GOLDEN. Not only is it a fabulous first novel, but it's written by a brilliant new author. I'm certainly looking forward to reading Jennifer Lynn Barnes' next book!

Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce

The beginning is slow, but once you get into it, Golden is a novel that is hard to put down. There were revelations that actually surprised me once the mystery started to unravel. Because while this is very much your typical unpopular-girl-trying-to-navigate-her-way-through-high-school sort of book, it also has a rather intriguing mystery attached to it. I was definitely more interested in this than Lissy's analyses about how much of a freak she is, so it's a good thing that the mystery takes over in the latter half of the novel.

While it's a good story, it's apparent that the author was young when she wrote this. The characters lack complexity and a lot of the conflict is superficial. I know it's probably supposed to be the point that all the "Goldens," or popular kids, at the high school are unintelligent and shallow, but I like to have a little more realism in the characters I read about. The only interesting character is Lilah, the leader of the "Goldens" because she's hard to figure out.

Even though I don't usually like music and sound effects in audiobooks, I did like the music that signaled the end of every section. It was different each time and perfectly complemented the tone of the story at the time. The integration is so well done that I hardly noticed that there was background music playing (which is a sign of a good soundtrack, in my opinion). Jenna Lamia also does a good job in portraying Lissy.

I would say that Golden is a good beach read. It's quick, has a decent plot, and a really good ending. Young adult paranormal fans -- this one's for you!

I made the mistake of picking up this book while in the middle of reading a couple of others, because as soon as I opened it up to the first page I couldn't put it down. It has a witty first-person narration that engulfs you in the story and makes you instantly like the main character, Lissy. She is easy to relate to, faced with typical teenage drama even though her power to see auras is anything but typical. It is fascinating to see the other characters described by their auras; it gives us a better sense of who they are and what they are feeling even though, because of the first-person viewpoint, we are never privy to their thoughts. Lissy isn't the only character with a psychic ability of some sort, and the way that weaves with the plot makes this an engrossing read and a unique addition to the YA paranormal genre. In the end I was satisfyed, but left wanting to read more about Lissy and the other characters who are just as endearing and entertaining. If you're looking for a quick read with a fresh blend of humor, fantasy, and suspense, then Golden is a must.