Book Shelf: Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst

Eve has a new home, a new face, and a new name—but no memories of her past. She’s been told that she's in a witness protection program. That she escaped a dangerous magic-wielding serial killer who still hunts her. The only thing she knows for sure is that there is something horrifying in her memories the people hiding her want to access—and there is nothing they won’t say—or do—to her to get her to remember.

At night she dreams of a tattered carnival tent and buttons being sewn into her skin. But during the day, she shelves books at the local library, trying to not let anyone know that she can do things—things like change the color of her eyes or walk through walls. When she does use her strange powers, she blacks out and is drawn into terrifying visions, returning to find that days or weeks have passed—and she’s lost all short-term memories. Eve must find out who and what she really is before the killer finds her—but the truth may be more dangerous than anyone could have ever imagined.

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Review:

Conjured is a deeply mysterious novel that weaves together surprising magic and even more surprising revelations and will keep readers guessing until the very end.

Conjured follows, and is told through the eyes of Eve, a mysterious teenage girl who has no memory of who she is, or what happened in her past. All Eve knows, is that she’s a witness to some kind of heinous event and is in the custody of an agency hell bent on bringing the perpetrator to justice. Suffering numerous bouts of amnesia every time she uses the magical abilities she seems to have, Eve finds herself loosing time with days and months often lost to her. In Conjured, Eve must rely on her instincts to find out how to stop the killer and to determine just who she can trust.

To be honest, I’m not quite sure how to wrap my head around Conjured. Even now that I’ve finished it. To begin with I was so excited to read this novel seeing how enticing the brief description was and when I received a copy I dived straight in. The mystery surrounding the main character and the constant bouts of amnesia she featured kept me reading, even if not a lot was happening, because I needed to know what it was Eve was being protected from and who she was. The eventual revelation made by Durst at the end basically had me thinking, "HUH!" At the end of the day there’s no way you’ll expect the revelations about who and what Eve is.

Practically everything within this novel is vague and while that isn’t always an issue, I feel Conjured could have benefited by Sarah Beth Durst detailing and explaining the workings of this world a bit more. Durst details the bare minimum and while this helps to keep the mystery and intrigue at its highest it doesn’t help to layer the story, especially at the end when the big reveal is made. I feel like Durst let something down that could have had amazing potential.

I liked Eve, but she didn’t blow me away either. She was sufficient as a main character and gets the job done but I struggled to connect to her at times, especially where Zach was concerned. I thought her relationships with Malcom and Aunt Nicki were sweet, but even they could have been a little deeper. Eve and Zach were sweet and fit within the story, but even then their romance could have been left out of the story and I don’t think it would have made much of a difference.

I did like Conjured; I just felt it had so much more potential. While the big revelation is a shocker, I wish there had been a bit more depth to Durst’s world, or worlds, I should say. A bit more backstory would have made things a lot easier to understand and I think that would have been possible without losing the mystery—it just wasn’t utilized.

Overall Conjured may be worth a read, but be prepared for a surprising ending.

Rating:
Source: Sent for review by Bloomsbury (Thank you guys!)
Format: Paperback
Buy it: Bookworld | The Nile | The Book Depository | Amazon
My Recommendation: If you enjoy unique tales and being kept guessing, this is the novel for you.
Cover: I do like the cover--it's simple, but actually really fitting.
Will I read sequel/continue with series: This is a standalone novel, but I'll keep reading novels by Sarah Beth Durst--I do enjoy her novels.