Whisper by Phoebe Kitanidis

Summary from Goodreads:

I’d love a cup of coffee. I wish she knew how pretty she was. I wish I could drop this kid in the dryer sometimes. I just want her to be happy. I hope she didn’t find out what Ben said about her. I wish I knew how many calories were in a bite of muffin…

Joy is used to hearing Whispers. She’s used to walking down the street and instantly knowing people’s deepest, darkest desires. She uses this talent for good, to make people happy and give them what they want. But for her older sister, Jessica, the family gift is a curse, and she uses it to make people’s lives—especially Joy’s—miserable. Still, when Joy Hears a frightening whisper from Jessica's own mind, she knows she has to save her sister, even if it means deserting her friends, stealing a car and running away with a boy she barely knows—a boy who may have a dark secret of his own.
 
Review:
 
Whisper was an addicting and fast paced debut novel chronicling one girl's journey through a superhero type ability- hearing people's wants and desires, otherwise known as whispers.

Joy is the polar opposite of her dark, dreary, and negative sister Jessica. Jessica views her superhero power as a curse, unlike Joy who takes it in stride, becoming a do-gooder, instead, who helps people through her ability.

Joy was a character I found to be likable from the start, because of the fact that she was a good person who always put people's wants and desires in front of her own, even if everything didn't always turn out the way she wanted it to. Plus, her relationship with a certain boy was sweet and charming, even though I would've loved to seen more development with it.

The one aspect of Whisper that I really liked was that it showed that while family, especially siblings, can have the tendency to get on your nerves, they truly are the people who care the most about you in the end. This aspect was showed mostly through Joy and Jessica's relationship. One that was a struggle, at times, kept the book moving, as you wondered if Joy and Jess would ever get through their personal issues and become friends again before time ran out.
 
Also, I applauded Phoebe for having such an intriguing premise, and an even better execution of the idea, even though it wasn't always what I excepted it to be.

Though there were a few things that brought Whisper down a few notches, including the lack of some key character development to a lack of closure. Thankfully, I saw on the author's goodreads that she has a sequel in process for this, so hopefully some of my burning answers will be answered with the next addition.
 
In all, Whisper is a book that I'm sure will be flying of the shelves come its Apirl release, and a read I highly suggest to fans of the paranormal genre, because, let me tell you, Ms. Kitanidis is a great new voice in the that genre!
 
Grade: A
 
Whisper will be released April 27, 2010.

Source: 1 ARC Tours