Wickedly Misunderstood: Valhaven Island Trilogy: Book One

by Chasity Nicole

Valhaven Island is a strange island located in the middle of absolutely nowhere. The island is completely ran by robots, and the only inhabitants are eight young adults, and the two adults that brought them here (Jun and Mr. Snake). Both are very shady individuals, but they are not the only shady people on the island. There's me, Ember, the fiery hot-head (literally), Elecktra the eccentric bubbly one (and her own light source), Harleigh the promiscuous one, Thirteen the energetic child (or monkey we have yet to figure that out), and that's only the girls. Of the boy's, Blade is seriously mysterious and no one likes him, Sage thinks he's all that, Dante the with-drawn emo kid (but he's really, really reliable, he saved my life), and Kai the super-genius, or super annoying smarty-pants depending on how you take what comes out of his mouth. To sum everything up, someone has two-near death experiences, a few fall in-love, one is the Devil's son (yep that's right we live on an uncharted island with the Spawn of Satan), someone is kidnapped by the Devil and dragged to Hell. And to make the situation all the more awesome, three new teens arrive and one is a purple-dragon girl. Seriously she's freaking purple, and can turn into a dragon, how flipping awesome is that!

Contains original character artwork as well as a special look into in Ember's thoughts at the end of the book.

270 pages, Paperback

First published February 10, 2014

About the author

Writing became a big part of my life in 2005 when a friend (Author Misti Dawn) and I began writing stories with one another. I was still in high school at the time and we would write just for the fun and pure joy we experienced through writing. My writing took a bit of a hiatus when I finished high school and started college to earn my degree in Criminal Justice. That didn't last very long, because a few months after starting college I was diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome in 2009. Months later I found out the only thing that helped keep my ticks at bay was writing, and I picked the art back up. Wickedly Misunderstood was the first novel I began writing after my diagnosis and it all started with a dream. My advice to everyone is to find something that you love doing and do it. Don't let anyone tell you can't do it, because if you love it enough you'll succeed. Do what you love, and love what you do. You never know what your dreams can lead you to accomplish.

Reviews

[SheReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was way different than I was expected - which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

So, here's the gist - a group of teenagers have lived as misfits in their various hometowns due to special powers they have. Each of them have different abilities that have created various problems in their lives. In was Jun and Mr. Sparks. Two adults who seemingly have all the answers. They have an island that is completely run by robots, that they want to take these kids in order to study them. They want to help them- or so they say.

So, right then, you are thinking that the story is going to be about these teens using their powers to save the world or something like that. That's where the story veered off and became something unexpected. It really wasn't about their powers at all.

Ember is the main character and she's great, even if she's annoying at times. She is a psychic-pyro who has suspicions about the island from the moment she sets foot on it. When things seem too good to be true, they usually are.

My issues with the book also had to do with Ember. She talks to herself a lot and it makes the dialogue confusing. Sometimes I didn't know if she there was someone else in the room at not. That coupled with the changing first person POV - without making it clear right away whos mind we were in - made me have to go back a reread quite a bit.

I always review on story though - and this one was as original and imaginative as you can get. I love it when what I think I know in a story is questioned and turned upside down. This one sure did that a lot.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. It's a great book for everyone to read no matter if you're a young adult or adult. Everyone who reads it will like it. We're introduced to Ember. She is one of those characters you will love to read about as she deals with the situations she is thrown into along the way. I would highly recommend it to others.

[Misti Vanhoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book started off slow in the beginning and didn't pick up really good until halfway through. It was a little dry to start with, but the characters are very relatable despite their special abilities. There were a ton of grammatical errors that almost killed it for me. Wrong use of their/there/they're, missing punctuation, and missing quotations when people are speaking. ***ETA: the author has informed me since my review that the grammatical issues have been fixed. Rating moved from 4* to 5*!****
However, the further into it I got the better it was. The plot is amazing and I can already tell that Calico is going to be a favorite of mine. The author was very descriptive and tortured the readers with Sage and Harleigh. It felt like she ripped my heart out with Sage's betrayal just when I was starting to like him.
My recommendation for the author is to get someone who is great at editing grammatical issues so that the next books will be AMAZING. It'll look more professional and read a lot better with a little more help than what she was given with this first one.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

My issue with this book was two things: Ember (the main character) and the multiple people story telling. For me, I couldn't connect with the character. She talked out loud a lot (even though there was a legit reason for it) and I found her to be a bit annoying. The first few chapters are in Emma's point of view (POV) so I was expecting the story to stay in her POV. But it didn't. 8 other characters are introduced rather quickly, 6 of which tell the story in their POV. Without a chapter title informing the reader that a POV is switching, I found it very confusing to tell who was speaking. I couldn't keep straight in my mind who was who and what super powers each of the characters possessed.

[Ginnie Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

A more interesting motley crew of characters in an unusual and diverse setting you won't find anywhere. while Ember has such an unusual gift and finds herself in an extraordinary situation she's perfectly real and relatable and the type of girl you can't help but want as a best friend. and sage? can't help but love him, then hate him then love to hate him. Enough plot twists to keep you guessing. an anxiously awaiting book two. all fans of harry potter, Mortal instruments and the Xmen series should read this series!