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Serissa #1

Serissa

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Singing beautifully is more than a defining talent, it's Serissa Moore’s destiny, but fame comes with a high price and a responsibility – a price that means questioning everything about life, and a responsibility no human is capable of.

Seventeen-year-old Serissa leaves home after graduation to follow around a new band with her friends. Only she already knows the lead singer, Gabe Livingston, who requests her to sing a duet. Scared of performing, and unsure about trusting the guy who once threw pebbles at her on the playground, she knows she should walk away. But in exchange for one song he promises to explain how she was the only one who saw him glowing during the first show of the tour, and why the polished stone he gifts her soon after transports her into a world she knows too well for having never visited.

Insistent on answers to accumulating odd events, Gabe explains her voice has an unique ability and her musical commitment involves her life, not one song. She also learns her recently acquired boyfriend isn’t who he says he is. Over the summer Serissa will have to overcome stage fright, elude her crazy soon-to-be ex, and hopefully, after figuring out where she is really from, have time to change everything about life as we know it.

249 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 8, 2013

2 people are currently reading
46 people want to read

About the author

M. Cundy

5 books5 followers
M. Cundy spent most of her life writing before it became a passion. After attending a performance art high school majoring in vocal music and later training in private, it came time to combine writing with her first love.

Her first book Serissa was quickly born. After much encouragement from her readers Serissa was made available to the public, followed by Serissa’s Song. Serissa’s Storm will make its debut spring 2017 completing the first series in The Untangled Skies collection, a collective created with co-author A. Scott.

M. Cundy is married and has two kids. Aside from writing some of her hobbies includes music, singing, reading, binge watching favorite movies and TV shows, and cooking. She loves her animals and has rescued many cats and dogs over the years. She hopes to be able to do more in the future to help animals.

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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
Profile Image for Mitsy.
415 reviews19 followers
October 4, 2014
For all of us YA/fantasy/paranormal/music lovers, this is the start of an exciting new series by M. Cundy. Sara is an insecure, 17-year-old, singer who spends the summer following a local band with her two best friends, Amber and Rose. The lead singer is her former crush, Gabe. There are some funny moments as Sara and Gabe eventually reconnect. Gabe tries to help Sara get over her stage fright so she will sing a duet with him. Ha! Funny. Oh, and why is he the only person who calls her Serissa? Gabe and Serissa have the most unusual, heartbreaking, confusing, sad, relationship until the very end. Then we get some, but not nearly all, answers. The ending is a teaser that made me start book two right away.

Excellent characters, writing, plot twists, mysteries, romantic suspense and just different enough a story to keep the most jaded reader hooked. I love it!

Book two is among the very best book twos I've ever read. Neither disappoints in any way.

Can not WAIT for book 3!

Recommended for everyone 12-up.

Received an ARC in exchange for an honest review for the group Lovers of Paranormal.
Profile Image for Amanda Munes.
76 reviews2 followers
October 25, 2013
***ARC EXCHANGED FOR HONEST REVIEW W/GROUP LOP*** ((((spoiler alert))))

OMG this book was AMAZING! I loved every single part of this book. I did not like Kyle from the beginning so i was soooo happy she didn't pick him! I was sad to see Rose go back with them, i was hoping she could switch and get redeemed somehow. I am hoping there is more for this series and we see more of Gabes two best friends.

Ok, so Gabe... I think he became a book boyfriend of mine! He picked her in the end!!!!! I was a little upset that he waited like it was a fail safe plan, so if she picked him from the beginning he was willing to loose her? From the beginning i liked him even when she didn't and i was rooting him along!

Now on to Sara... She got on my nerves 85% of the time. Poor pitiful me, nobody loves me so i will pick the dark side. Really? I mean sure it would suck but would you want to be with someone evil and i mean you know for a fact because they admit to it that they have killed? HELL no you run for the hills regardless of the reason to stay.

I simply cannot wait to read more from this series, but is she ever gets with kyle in the next book, im done... putting the book down done. i want some gabe/sara babies and her in their world living among them after she does her music or let her float between realms hell.

I would recommend this book to EVERYONE!!!!

Happy Reading :)
Profile Image for Catherine Thorpe.
Author 1 book2 followers
October 20, 2013
I received this book for free from LOP in return for an honest review.

We are plunged into a seemingly normal life of a teenage girl who's past is quite shady her future uncertain and her current state in tatters. Serissa is your typical troubled teenager who is very detached from reality. She is a social recluse which immediately sets her apart from the others. However for a 17 year old she is very realistic in terms if her future. “Is it necessary to belong to something so artificial.” As this is a stepping stone in life she doesn’t see the point in making friends. It is ironic that she finds the normal day to day life a fantasy but finds the mysterious Gabe her real reason for existence. Reading this now you would think that this is your average mediocre teenage novel of the typical girl meets boy scenario, girl falls in love, she gets the guy etc...Well, some of those elements are there, just a little less cliché and dotted around the edges with vague magical happenings. In fact if you were even to get half way through this book you would not be delving into the fantastical world that labels this book a fantasy novel, in fact the plot is very ordinary at the start. Things only really start to happen in the last third giving promise for a second book...?
There is a big emphasis on music and Serissa’s philosophical thoughts reflect this. “Good music is like a good book you can only hear at a certain point in time”. I can connect with this statement as it can be applied to my conditions for reading; I can be in any sort of mood to read books but I have to be in a particular mood to read a certain genre.
Overall it is not overly supernatural which is very refreshing. It keeps you grounded to the realities of life while still allowing you a glimpse into another interpretation of a supernatural world.
Profile Image for Desislava Pavlova.
43 reviews43 followers
May 20, 2017
I got this e-book free in exchange of an honest review(Lovers of Paranormal).
The following review may contain spoilers.

Rating 7 of 10

Serissa - 17 year old girl, who doen't know what she wants to do with her life. She surprized me. No, not the fact that she doesn't know what she wants to do for living(honestly I don't think that any teenager actually knows). She surprized me with the way she has to save the world. I was like: "Wow, that's new!". THAT was totally unexpected. And I really like to have things that surprise me in my books.
Another thing that surprized me was, of course, Rose. I would have loved to see more of her backstory in the end. I didn't really get why she was the reason that Sarah and Gabe got together again.
And mentioning Gabe, I will have to say I really loved that character. There was something really charming about him. Still couln't put my finger on what it was but I can easily say he got to be my favorite in the book. The only thing I regret about him is not seeing him interact more with his friends.
I don't really have what to say about Kyle. From the moment he showed up in the book I sort of thought "Too good to be true." and that was pretty much it. I didn't really get any 'feel' about him - I didn't love, nor hate him, I remained pretty much indifferent about him.
The other person I didn't really noticed in the book was Amber. She was like a backgound sound to me.
Altogether, I really liked the book. It has some very original points and consepts. It is easy to read and entertainig. Would love to read the next, thought it's not listed as part of a series, I suspect it is as too many questions remained unanswered.
Profile Image for Alicen.
15 reviews1 follower
October 2, 2013
I read this book being a fan of Twilight and other similar stories. I love supporting new authors so I thought I'd give it a shot. It's well written and the story is different than things I've read before. Reading the description I expected something along the lines of a fan fic type book, but it wasn't that way at all. If you're like me in that you get totally involved in a book this book is for you. You will feel Serissa's emotions the same way she does. Her triumphs and her heartbreaks will make you keep rooting for her and the twists and turns the book takes will keep you guessing up until the end. Several of the twists I never saw coming and I was just as shocked as Serissa was. I don't want to be too detailed and ruin it for anyone but this is not just a fictional love story, it's so much more than that. It makes you wonder what you would do if you were in her situation. It's not every day your bully becomes your Guardian Angel and your boyfriend becomes your enemy. (Literally!) Her entire world as she knows it come crumbling down again and again and she keeps going. Definitely can't wait til the next book is released!!
Profile Image for Sara.
1,520 reviews130 followers
October 23, 2013
I received this book in exchange for an honest review (Lovers of Paranormal).


The beginning was a bit slow for me and it took me a while to really get interested in the story. Serissa started out being a little boring. Then kind of got better as the story unfolded. But still, she wasn't my favorite character.
Well, actually, if I have to be honest, none of the characters was that impressive. But the story was good and kept me hooked.
The story gets a tiny bit more interesting when Kyle enters the picture. He even seems nice at first. getting more and more creepy as the story goes on. Even before we learn who he really is, I didn't like him much. Kind of creepy and sticky. And it was really weird how he never kissed Serissa on the mouth even after one month of dating. I mean, wouldn't you think he's acting weird and that maybe he doesn't like you if a guy doesn't kiss you for weeks? Wouldn't you ask him about it? Wouldn't you think "what if I have bad breath or something"? I would.
The story really, really gets much more interesting and alive when Gabe enters the picture again. He's got charms, alright. And he can be kind of sweet too. But he's also so frustrating and made me want to either beat my head against a wall, or kick his ass instead. Same thing with Serissa though. I wanted to slap her so often that my hands itched. She could be so silly at times. Sigh.
I can't say I liked or disliked Amber. I just haven't figured her out well yet. Some times I liked her, other times I wanted to slap her too.
Rose was just as creepy as Kyle at times, but most of the time, especially during their trip, she was annoying as hell. I got suspicious about her behaviour as she started acting weird about Serissa and Gabe spending time together or Serissa not telling Kyle the truth. I was like "what the hell is your problem, girl?!?" I thought she seemed jealous or something at first. I thought she was weird and I doubted her loyalty, but never thought she was what we discovered she is.
Even Jeff seemed nice at forst but ended up as creepy as all the others.
Colby and Dayton seemed nice guys, though we didn't get to know them all that well.
Anyway, the story was good, although the slow beginning, and the ending was nice and shocking but it seems like it was lacking something. It's like it was rushed.
I'm hoping on a sequel. And hoping on some answers to unsolved questions.
All in all a nice read.
Profile Image for Maria Dodd.
488 reviews15 followers
April 9, 2014
I was given this book as part of the R2R agreement to read the next book Serissa's Song by Lovers of Paranormal.

This was a good read that I was torn between 3 and 4 stars on and settled on 4 rather than go lower. The plot was a good one but was very naive at times. Opportunities that were there seemed to be glossed over - Kyle never kissing Sarah for example. When she finally told her friends neither of them commented on it....really?? She had been seeing him for a month, constantly, and they were all around the 17/18 age. I know this was explained as an important factor in Kyle's hidden reality later but it wouldn't have gone without comments at that earlier point.

The Gabe and Sarah/Serissa plot line was a long time in motion but it was obvious from the beginning that there was more to Gabe so it was worth following.

The characters had enough depth to keep up the interest and I'm hoping for more on some of the others in the next book.
1,678 reviews18 followers
August 29, 2013
It wasn't horrible... But Serissa was a whine ass and depressing. The girl needed Prozac or something. Then this on the fence thing with Gabe, for gods sakes grow up. He doesn't want you, accept it... Move on. I will say the last couple chapters were the best.
Profile Image for Ariella.
1,137 reviews11 followers
April 16, 2014
I was given this book in exchange for an honest review for LoP. I love this book. Sara is not a outgoing person. She has beautiful singing voice. Gabe was the bully in middle school but now a singer. Gabe is Sara guardian angel.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews

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