Title: ARIVACA: Guardians of the Light
Author: John Poulsen
Publication Date: Dec. 13, 2014
Genre: YA/NA Sci-fi/Thriller/Adventure/Romance
Jesse Ballard’s life is filled with misfortune. His parents are dead, he’s been convicted of a crime, and a dark secret torments his soul. But when he’s incarcerated on a ranch for troubled teens he discovers his troubles have just begun. A Supreme Power has literally hijacked his life, bringing him to the ranch to make him the guardian of a powerful relic that was hidden away 2600 years ago when Solomon’s Temple was destroyed.
Given superhuman powers, Jesse is suddenly thrust into a strange and perilous world of supernal treasures, killers and demons—battling the dark forces who desperately seek the sacred artifact. Thinking he’s on a one man mission, Jesse is shocked to learn that Cedar Lane, a girl who seriously despises him, may have spiritual gifts essential for keeping the relic safe. Without her help, he’s in jeopardy of losing not just the relic, but his life.
As Jesse unravels this secretive and dangerous world he learns the ups and downs of young love, and both the reward and peril of following his divine call.
My ***3 Star*** Review
When first meeting Jesse, I felt sorry for him. I even wondered if it would be possible for him to have a big turn around in the story. But then I learned Jesse had a different side to him that didn’t quite fit with the stoner bad boy stuff. I’m not even sure that a person exists out in the real world like him, so it threw me off a little. Then couple that with the fact that the beginning of the story seemed to drag and the conversations seemed a little unnatural, and I just wasn’t feeling this story in the beginning. Oh, and the minor characters all fell flat.
But, I did slowly start seeing more depth to Jesse, and a slow change began happening in him. That seemed realistic. The book slowly started gaining appeal.
After 30% in it finally grabbed my attention. A good romance began to slowly build along with sexual tension. Exciting and dangerous adventures began taking place. There were some gruesome and violent situations that I think would appeal to male readers.
The ending is slightly cliffhangerish. You get the end of a storyline, but are still left hanging in many ways.
Summation and final thoughts ~ It took a while for this book to grab my attention, but ultimately it did and I would read the next book. I enjoyed the slow change in Jesse’s character and the slow romance building. However, I found it strange to be enjoying some sexual tension in a book about saving God’s relics. I didn’t feel like there was enough significance placed on the actual items Jesse was meant to protect. Ultimately it felt like you could have swapped out God’s relics for anything and made very little changes to the story and it would have still made sense. That might have been because I would have expected a stronger presence from God and/or a heart change in Jesse towards God, but those were nonissues in this story.
*I received a copy via NetGalley and Folded Corners in exchange for an honest review.*
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