Product Details
- Title: Aura
- Author: Rebecca Lynn Talley
- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (December 4, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1481002449
- ISBN-13: 978-1481002448
- FTC FYI: We were given review e-copies in exchange for honest reviews.
- Reviewed By: Sheila and Mindy
Book Description:
“I half-turned to her and shrugged, still processing what I’d seen, or at least what I thought I’d seen, in Ms. Neal’s eyes—like they weren’t hers. Obviously, they were her eyes, but it looked like she’d plucked them from someone else’s head. A dead someone else’s head.”
In the fight between good and evil, Light is your only weapon.
Crystal Scott finally feels like a normal teenager. She has a lead in the high school play, a best friend, and a gorgeous boyfriend. With prom only a few days away, Crystal’s ordinary life seems perfect.
Endowed with great Light because of her virtuous choices and her inherent gifts, Crystal’s aura has become visible to those with the ability to see auras. Unfortunately, her power has also attracted the attention of demons intent on destroying all Light.
When Vincent Crandall, the human host for a powerful demon, discovers that Crystal’s Light is strong enough to disrupt the connection between demons and their hosts, he realizes she may be able to sever the connection altogether. Determined to stop her from interfering with his plans to rule the world, he sends operatives to neutralize her Light.
After the operatives fail to disable Crystal, Vincent decides he must harness her power for himself. He kidnaps her parents, and Crystal is thrust into battle against a demon army she didn’t even know existed. With the help of a mysterious young man and his mother, Crystal must learn to use the power within her before Vincent kills her parents and exploits her Light.
Excerpt From Aura…
“Looks like we’re right on schedule for the summit meeting with the other divisions.” Vincent smiled as he continued. “I’m sure you’ve heard that upper management is considering combining the southwestern and western divisions and I’m in line to head the merger. Of course, I plan to make the western division a strong competitor for our eastern comrades. The east coast currently out sells and out performs us, but I plan to change that.”
“Sir, we do have a problem,” Jack said. “In Colorado. Silver City.”
Vincent glared at Jack. He didn’t like being interrupted especially with news of a problem. Vincent was set to take over the western half of the United States, something he’d been working toward since he started with the organization right out of college. “What kind of problem?”
“There’s this . . .” His sentence trailed off.
“What, Jack? There’s this, what?” He emphasized the last word.
“Disturbance.”
He pursed his lips and then said, “What does that mean?”
Chris, a man in his early thirties with cropped black hair, cut in, “A very recent associate in Silver City has reported a disruption of control over the host.”
“Then take care of it.” Vincent had no time for this, not with the summit meeting looming. He ran his fingers through his thick hair attempting to settle his bubbling anger. His powers of persuasion were far more successful when he was calm.
Jack leaned forward, making his chair creak. “Apparently, a teenage girl there can interrupt the connection in our newer, and possibly weaker, associates.”
“Preposterous.” Vincent blew out a breath. Was he working with morons? A teenage girl? Absurd.
“If she has enough Light to sever the connection between our associates and their hosts—”
“Yes, yes, I know. You don’t have to explain it to me, Jack.” Losing associates, and thus control, in any city reflected poorly on the organization, and on him. Vincent couldn’t have that.
“What should we do?” Chris asked.
Vincent closed his eyes for a moment, considering his options. He drew a deep breath and gazed at Priscilla, head of associate training. “Neutralize the girl.”
Sheila’s Review:
I’m a big fan of Rebecca’s writing. This is her first offering in the YA paranormal genre. What did I think of Aura? It was a success! It had so many things I’m looking for when I’m selecting something for my teen daughter to read. It had a strong protagonist, who also has very strong morals and values. It showed a teen faced with making important decisions in her life and choosing between good or evil.
Crystal finds out that she is so much more than the average teen. Because of the many good choices she has made in her life, she is filled with a great light within her. Her aura can be seen by those who can detect aura’s…those that are good and evil. The problem is, Crystal’s light is so strong that she can destroy demons and their evil. So they come after her and the action begins. Not only is this a great story of morals, but also a story of action and suspense. I really liked the way it ended, and leads perfectly into a second book. Crystal is a character that I really like, and can’t wait to see how her powers grow in the next installment. This book will be enjoyed by tween, teens and adult readers.
Mindy’s Review
I really enjoyed
Aura. I thought Crystal was an amazing character who stands up for herself no matter what the cost. There was one part towards the end I thought was a little too “trusting” on her part. But, all in all, there was some great action and suspense. Crystal is a great example to teen-age girls everywhere. In real life, they won’t have demons chasing after them, but it’s a great example of standing up for what you believe in, and letting your Light shine.
3 1/2 out of 5 stars.
Rebecca’s Top Ten Ideas for Making Time to Write
1. Work through scenes or plot snags in your head while doing errands, washing dishes, or taking a shower
2. Make a list of all that you need to do each day and schedule a time for writing
3. Get up early (before the family does or the workday begins)
4, Stay up late (after the family is in bed)
5. Take along a laptop and write while at the dentist’s office or waiting for kids to finish activities or during your lunch break
6. Use the 15-30 minutes while dinner’s cooking to write down ideas or a scene
7. Give up TV
8. Give up other hobbies like knitting, sewing, playing the piano and use that time to write
9. Plan what you want to write so you can make the most use of even a few minutes here and there
10. Write instead of eating–ha ha, just kidding. Use a recording device to talk through a scene while folding clothes then go back and transcribe it later
Author: Rebecca Lynn Talley
Rebecca Lynn Talley grew up in the gorgeous seaside city of Santa Barbara, CA. She met, and married, her husband, Del, while attending Brigham Young University. She graduated from BYU with a degree in Communications. She currently lives in rural Colorado on a small ranch with a dog, too many cats to count, and a herd of goats. She and Del are the proud parents of ten wildly-creative, multi-talented children.
Rebecca is the author of a children’s picture book, Grasshopper Pie (WindRiver 2003), a children’s chapter book, Gabby’s Secret (DuBon Publishing 2011), four novels, Heaven Scent (CFI 2008), Altared Plans (CFI 2009), The Upside of Down (CFI 2011), and Aura (DuBon Publishing 2012). She has also authored numerous children’s stories and articles for both print and online magazines.
When she isn’t writing, Rebecca loves to date her husband, play with her kids, swim in the ocean, and dance to disco music while she cleans the house. She has folded at least one million loads of laundry, baked hundreds of batches of chocolate chip cookies, and eaten 5,478 gallons of ice cream.
Contact Rebecca, and find more information about her, here
at these locations.
Reviews
This YA urban fantasy is fantastic! The story grabbed me from the start and kept me enthralled until the end! I love books that keep me thinking about the characters and events and possibilities even after putting them down…Aura is one of those books! Rebecca Lynn Talley has created characters you care about in a world begging for the special gifts they possess. I love the premise of Aura and imagine I’ll be enjoying many more Light vs. Demon novels in the future….at least I hope there are more to come!
~KindleQueen
I loved the clasic good VS evil in Aura. I loved that Crystal made the conscious choice to be good inspite of feelings and doubts. I also loved the idea of demons posessing somone who had made dark choices, or greedy bargains. The book is clean and well handled inspite of the serious subject matter.Well done.
~C. Michelle Jefferies
This is one of those books that you hope will become widespread enough to make a positive impact in this world. Personally, I think this is a book every teenager should read and I will definitely be passing it along to my own kids. Thank you, Rebecca, for writing a beautiful story with a wonderful message! I hope you keep at it because now I want a sequel!
~Rachael Anderson
Aura sucked me in from the first page. The book is intense and well-written. I loved that Crystal is innocent and makes a conscious choice to stay that way in the face of intense pressure. I would recommend Aura to young adults on up.
~Cami Checketts
Wonderful, wonderful message. Probably the most solid moral message I’ve ever read in contemporary literature, but without being too heavy or feeling like a lecture. You could almost look at it like an allegory, I think, representing real life with fictional symbols. I’m trying to explain without giving anything away, and I think I’m doing a bad job. Anyway, I have four boys, but if I had a girl, I would definitely have her read it. The story is imaginative and creative, Crystal is a strong but believable heroine, caught up in high school cares and not realizing her own potential or the battle that is waged around and for her. I thought at times it was a bit predictable, and that the first half of the book drug a little. It probably could have been told quicker or perhaps made a little more interesting. But all in all, I enjoyed it. The story kept me going and the characters were sweet and compelling.
~May Abbey
Wow! I got this book for free and LOVED it! I can’t wait to read any follow up books! (There WILL be follow up books, right?) In this story Crystal is full of light, thanks to making good choices, and she has to figure out how to keep the light in the midst of high school where temptation runs rampant and where she just wants to be an average girl! I like that things never went too far, and I felt like it was very well-written, with rounded out characters!
~Tamera Westhoff
In the ideal Christian world the Disciples of Christ continually embrace all of the values discussed in chapter 6 and live lives exemplary of the Savior. Shortly after the ascension of Jesus Christ the Christian community lived in great harmony where “all that believed were together, and had all things common” (Acts 2:44) and were assembled to be taught as Christians (Acts 11:26).
