Review: Shattered Dreams (Midnight Firefly #1) by Ellie James

Title: Shattered Dreams (Midnight Dragonfly #1)

Author: Ellie James

Published: December 6th 2011 by St. Martin's Griffin

Book Description:

Sixteen-year-old Trinity Monsour wants nothing more than to live a normal life. But that isn’t as easy as it seems. Trinity is different. She is special. She sees visions, and for those she’s seen, it’s already too late.

Trinity arrives on her aunt’s doorstep in New Orleans with virtually no knowledge of her mysterious heritage. She begins settling into life at a new school and even starts making friends. But all too quickly her dreams accelerate; twisted, terrifying visions of a girl locked in a dark room. And when the head cheerleader, Jessica, goes missing, Trinity knows she has no choice but to step forward with what she’s seen.

But people believe that Trinity has information about Jessica’s disappearance not because of a dream, but because she is involved. She is kind-of dating Jessica’s ex-boyfriend, Chase, and Jessica did pull a nasty prank on Trinity. Revenge seems like the likeliest scenario.

Nothing prepares Trinity for the dark odyssey that ensues while searching for Jessica, including the surprising romance she finds with Chase, or the shocking truths she learns, not just about the girl who has gone missing, but the past that has been hidden from her. 

My Thoughts:

She can see visions of death…

                And it’s up to her to stop them from happening

       The book started with a group of friends inside an empty house which is said to be haunted, wherein they started a “harmless” game of Truth or Dare. For everyone, it was just a game, but for Trinity, it’s not. She’s different from any other teenage girls. How so? She can see visions of deaths, and they come true. There she sees an image of one of the girls with her, Jessica, and in that very moment, Trinity knew that it’s not good, thus marking the start of her rather rough life.

                I was hooked when I first started reading this, expecting that I’ll read an awesome ghost story, but I was wrong. Honestly, I thought this is a paranormal novel (which involves ghosts), and it turned out to be a murder/mystery story. I don’t have any problems with that because I also love that genre. But I was still disappointed because there are no ghosts! (boohoo!)

                Anyway, I still enjoyed reading this. It took me to the edge of my seat as I also try to figure out the mystery, and who could be the culprit. There were parts that instead of reading, I ended up skimming them because well, it was a bit boring for me. I was relieved that this didn’t have a love triangle, but I was wrong (again!). Another love interest has appeared I think at 70% of the book? Or was that 80%? I can’t recall it anymore, but I really prefer the new guy, Dylan, than Trinity’s boyfriend, Chase. There’s just something about Dylan that’s interesting that I can’t quite figure out…yet. And even though he didn’t have much exposure in the book, I already like him a lot.

                Overall, this is a fun read for those who love murder/mysteries and to those who enjoyed reading the Blue is for Nightmares series by Laurie Faria Stolarz

I give this book three whales.