This is the story of an ongoing battle between "good vs. evil" concerning magickal creatures, specifically witches, and two high-school seniors that just come into their powers and have to deal with both sides wanting them.
Tessa, the heroin, is being sought out by people from both of the sides of witches. She has to decide who to trust and join, finding out more about the mysteries of her family history along the way. She is likable right from the beginning because she isn't the annoying popular girl, she isn't vain, she is responsible, and mostly she doesn't have that extremely annoying attitude that most teenage girls have. She also takes very good care of her younger sister, Bree, as her parents couldn't care less about their kids.
Hayden, the hero, is a delinquent who was given the job to "protect" Tessa as they were told that someone was was out to get her. He is not a bad person at heart, but he had a lot left to be desired for most of the books. He is a "man-whore" who is part of the douche-bag crowd at school. He has been abused by his step-father for the longest while. Hayden had major character development and atleast the author didn't make him the way other YA other do. His narration was slightly different than Tessa's. He wasn't all in touch with his emotions and pondering about the beauty of Tessa the way that no actual guy would do but most YA authors seem to love making their male characters do. (Why do other YA authors do that? And more importantly, why do the readers actually buy that crap?)
The best thing about these two characters are that they don't really judge by appearance. They are just like, "Yeah, that person is gorgeous. Moving on, how is he/she actually like as a person? " They weren't vain. Ofcourse they each thought that the other was physically attractive but in a normal thought-process way. Hayden gets up from his chair and walks away. Tess glances at him and observes that he has a nice butt. That's it. Nothing mushy-gushy. No page long descriptions of how the sun brightened hair and made it shine, giving off an angelic halo. Basically, no bullshit.
I was very surprised that this book was as good as it was. The author is definitely a good writer. There is mystery in this book and let me tell you, it wasn't predictable. I seriously didn't expect any of what occurred. Absolutely nothing. Well, except that the book would end with the heroin being happy, but that was pretty much bound to happen.
The whole "good vs. evil" thing wasn't overly done. The author didn't delve so deeply into the topic and the magic world that you feel completely lost because the the beginning of the book is nothing like the ending. This was done very nicely. For example, it was mentioned that other supernatural characters existed, but none showed up and made the plot ugly. Also, the book didn't suddenly turn all shadowy with all the danger-lurking-about feeling.
I only have one teensy complaint about the book, the reason that it's not on my "loved-6-stars" shelf. I really didn't like thing about Hayden being a previous man-whore. Why couldn't he be just another smart, but not completely nice guy? Why does the hero of all YA books have to be a reformed man-whore? Come on people! It's called creativity, realism, and originality! Character development would have been slightly more challenging, but being able to pull that off would have made the author more creative and genius. No more man-whore reformer books for me. I dislike them.
Overall: This was very good book. Realistic, nonirritating, and grounded characters are the best part of the story. The plot will draw you in without sucking you into that supernatural vortex that can be too horribly overwhelming. Read this book and you will not be reading the annoying teenage angst, constant pining over significant other, or any giant paragraphs that nobody wants to read.
I would recommend this book to readers who like reading YA books but doesn't like the usual petty high-school drama. This book is perfect for you. :D