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Oct 30, 2014BostonPL_JordanD rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Mystic City by Theo Lawrence (publication date: October 2012) Read by: Anna/Copley Teen Room Originally posted to the BPL Teen Blog on 8/31/2012. Mystics are people who hold a magic power within their bodies. They have been held responsible for attempting to kill the normal people who live in the Aries, high above the Depths where mystics live in poor conditions, and are forced to undergo power draining sessions that nearly kill them. Mystic City is the story of a rich girl born to parents who are heavy in the political scene. In a futuristic Manhattan, that is. Aria Rose, is set to marry Thomas Foster, the son of the Foster family who rules half of the city while her family rules the other half. The families have been enemies since the dawn of time, but now, with the marriage set to unit them against the growing powers of the mystics, things are changing, and not for the best. Aria can’t remember what happened before she supposedly overdosed on Stic, a drug made from excess mystic energy. But her time spent in the Depths with one mystic in particular could help her to see the truth behind the lies that surround her life. If only she could remember her past. This was a fun, quick read, though I found a lot of it to be predictable. I kept wondering why Aria wasn’t putting the obvious puzzle pieces together sooner and why she wasn’t using available resources to help her in her cause. The author likes to “tell” rather than “show” a lot, which means he has Aria (as this is told in first person point of view through Aria) tell the reader about things that have happened, when it would have been better for the reader to see it happening, to see the action unfold. As it is, there are a few things she tells us that I didn’t fully believe, such as her close friendship with her servant, Davida. Davida is hardly in the book for the first half, yet we’re lead to believe they had a very close relationship that was almost considered too friendly for a rich girl and her servant. I didn’t see anything like that between them until the end. Aside from those few things, I did enjoy the book and there were a few scenes that took me by surprise, throwing in some twists to the plot I wasn’t expecting. Over all, it was good, but my inner editor just wouldn’t stay quiet about those things that bothered me. I have a feeling others might have a vastly different experience with this book, so I’d like to see what others have to say after reading it. BTW, I LOVE the cover!