Abstrus

Planet Abstrus #1

by T.K. Rayford

When 17 year old Lexi Lee's mother disappeared six months ago, her world was turned upside down. Just when she is coming to terms with her new, motherless life, she meets Farah, Ferdinand, and Liza, a strange group of teenagers. She quickly finds out that they are not at all what they seem. Lexi finds that although she is human, that is only one part of what she is and people are after her for it. She has to figure out who she can trust... and fast. She learns that her mother has known the truth all along, but disappeared before she could explain things to her. She believes that she has no hope of survival if she doesn't find her mother, and trusting the wrong person to help her could prove fatal.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Ebooks, Paranormal

376 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2011

About the author

I like: science fiction, slasher movies, my church, hotsauce, the color orange, Hobby Lobby, office supplies, ketchup on my mac and cheese, air conditioning,karate, Gossip Girl, romantic comedies, Pokemon.

I dislike: turkey bacon, horror movies, ghost stories, being told what to do, one-sided conversations, healthy food, politically correct people, bugs, cake, ice cream, pie, tall grass

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if your mom went missing…your dad is pretty much catatonic…you find out that your ½ alien and that there are hunters out to kill you? That is what Lexi is facing. Her mom is from Abstrus, an alien planet and has gone missing. Due to a peace treating no Abstrus person can have children with humans or they all forfeit their lives and that is exactly what Lexi is…a half breed. She is swept into a world she never new existed and doesn’t know who she can trust.

This book had a super original plot, nothing that I’ve read before. Really interesting premise. That being said the story had a very slow start, and the writing style seemed to jump around. I really was on the fence about how much I liked this story until about ½ through and then I realized I was pretty intrigued and by the end I was hooked. 3 1/2 stars...Looking forward to reading next in this series.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

While in the process of still grieving for her mother, Lexi discovers that she is one of two alien species present on Earth. She joins forces with one of them, only to be betrayed. Can she trust anyone else? If so, who? Interesting story.

I do have to ask.... Are there any *real* humans left on Earth? Between wizards, various aliens, djinni, were-creatures, freemasons, etc. there doesn't really seem to be room for actual humans.

[Phaedra Seabolt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Are you interested in reading about aliens living on Earth? That is the overall theme of this story. When I first read the description of this book, I didn't think aliens. I saw paranormal and immediately thought supernatural, i.e. witches, vampires, werewolves, etc. I am perhaps ruining a little of the story by telling you that it is about aliens, but it was something that I was surprised to find out since I don't read these types of stories. That being said, it was a really good story. It's not one of my favorites. The main character Lexi has a rather whiny internal monologue. You know from the description that Lexi's mother disappeared six months before this story is taking place, but you don't really learn anything about why or how until chapter five. That means you have four chapters of wondering, "Did she die? Did she run away? Where did she go if she ran way? Did she just abandon her family to be with a lover?" Questions like these filled my head until I got more information in chapter five and that wasn't much. You don't REALLY learn what happened until about two-thirds of the way through the book. Not that that is a problem. The issue I had was listening to Lexi complain about the raw deal she has been given. She doesn't verbally sound whiny to other people in the story. She is actually very strong in appearance to the other characters in the story. TK Rayford actually does a great job in showing how what someone shows to others may not actually be how they feel on the inside. I felt like I could connect to Lexi in that since I have to be strong on the outside to everyone around me, but on the inside I am normally tearing myself apart emotionally. That personal conflict is wonderfully demonstrated. It is well written and a good story. Well worth reading even if you don't like to read about aliens.

[MeMe Belikova First lady Ivashkov · Rating 4 out of 5]

****Spoiler Alert***
This book was a good read. I liked the main character Lexi, she was pretty funny most times and I really enjoyed her journey finding out who she is and where she came from.


The story is about Lexi, who is just an average teen who just wants to go with the flow of life. Lexi's mother has disappeared and has been rendered dead, which has forced Lexi into quickly becoming the care giver of her father who is suffering from deep depression. But everything changes when Lexi starts hanging around a group of popular kids who are not what they seem. Lexi learns that she is part Alien and Human, and that there are others like her. She also finds out that her mother is still alive and has fled without letting her know that she is being hunted. Lexi must put her trust to the test in order to find her mother and find out who she truly is.

Good story all around but wished that I didn't have to wait to the end for the story to pick up but when it did it was GREAT! But I wish the book had little of her dad interacting when there wasn't really much interacting going on. I felt like it lagged a little not in a bad way but it could of had more action, towards the end of the book it made up for everything but I was left with a lot of questions that I hope the second book covers like....Will we ever find out what her dreams meant and ummm where is here mother?!? She has some explaining to do! And who will Lexi choose? Galagar or Ferdinad? I can't wait to read the second book!

Special thanks to T.K Rayford for giving me the opportunity to review this book :)

[S.E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this novel by Rayford from Smashwords to check it out for my daughter. The first thing I noticed about this book is its refreshingly different premise from the normal paranormal and dystopian novels. Coherent plot, real characters. The first quarter of the book was a little slow and tedious, and Lexi’s feelings about herself, her mother’s death, father’s depression etc took too much page time. I was really glad that the story picked up speed after that and the rest of the book was more happening and interesting.

Does the ending leave me with a happy, satisfied feeling? Quite so, mainly because I did not fully predict what would happen and the author came up with something credible. All in all, this book is not considered a fantastic find, but this is Rayford’s first novel and as first novels go, it’s very well written and I salute her for not jumping onto the bandwagon to produce another run-of-the-mill vampire book! (Exact rating : 3.5)

[Mary]

This was a moderately good book. It started out with a bang,and slowly start dragging. A good ending.

[Wendy C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abstrus was a very enjoyable read. I can't wait to see were this story goes. Highly recommended.