Manifest by Artist Arthur

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

Krystal just met the perfect boy. Trouble is, he's dead.

When fifteen-year-old Krystal Bentley moves to Lincoln, Connecticut, her mom's hometown, she assumes her biggest drama will be adjusting to the burbs after living in New York City.

But Lincoln is nothing like Krystal imagined. The weirdness begins when Ricky Watson starts confiding in her. He's cute, funny, a good listener—and everything she'd ever wanted—except that he was killed a year ago. Krystal's ghost-whispering talents soon lead other "freaks" to her door—Sasha, a rich girl who can literally disappear, and Jake, who moves objects with his mind. All three share a distinctive birthmark in the shape of an M and, fittingly call themselves the Mystyx. They set out to learn what really happened to Ricky, only to realize that they aren't the only ones with mysterious powers. But if Krystal succeeds in finding out the truth about Ricky's death, will she lose him for good?

Review:

When I first heard about Manifest, I was quite excited because the cover was pretty and the summary sounded intriguing. Sadly enough, when I finally did read Manifest I found out it wasn't nearly as fantastic as thought it would be because of a lackluster main character and plot holes.

One of my main reasons for me not being to found of this novel was Krystal. I couldn't relate to her and didn't find her to be all that likable for most of the book, because of how badly she treated her mom to her stubborn and ignorant attitude toward her new life, so for most of the novel, I was trying my best to not let this all affect my liking but it did unfortunately. Though, as luck would have it, Krystal actually made a great turn around at the end of the novel, leaving her to finally understand everything and gain a better opinion towards her life, and for me to finally give her chance because, as truth be told, I was starting to like her after all. I was quite found of the other characters for most of the novel. One of my favorites was Ricky, the ghostly spirt needing Krystal's help. He was funny, sweet, and a good friend to Krystal. Also, I liked the other Mystyx teens, Jake and Sasha.

One of my favorite parts of this novel was learning the history behind the Mystyx, as well as more about their supernatural powers. It was interesting and pretty original, but I would have liked more development and explanation for some of the plot holes that kept popping up. This is a series, though, so hopefully more will be explained in the next additions.

Artist's writing was decent, not the worst nor best but she did make the novel move in a fast pace, giving great development to the characters and some of the conflicts.

In all, while Manifest was not the best coming to age tale  or supernatural read I've read, it still was one I did enjoy for the most part. And the biggest question of all: Will I be reading the sequel? I'm not really sure. There's part of me that doesn't want to back to this series but another that wants to know what's going to happen next after that crazy cliff-hanger ending.

Grade: C

Manifest will be released August 1, 2010.

Source: OnlinePublicist. Thanks, Lisa!