Elixir

Author: Hilary Duff
Series: Elixir, #1
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's
Release Date: July 1, 2011

Clea Raymond is a talented photojournalist and the daughter of high-profile parents. Usually she's in total control of her camera, but after Clea's father disappears while on a humanitarian mission, eerie, shadowy images of a strange and handsome young man begin to appear in Clea's photos—a man she has never seen in her life. When Clea suddenly encounters this man in person she is stunned—and feels an immediate and powerful connection. As they grow closer, they are drawn deep into the mystery behind her father's disappearance and discover the centuries-old truth behind their intense bond. Torn by a dangerous love triangle and haunted by a powerful secret that holds their fate, together they race against time to unravel their past in order to save their future—and their lives.

Hate spoilers or rant-y reviews? Feel free to stop reading!

Never ever, ever, ever, ever will I read a book written by a celebrity again. Ever. Not even if it has a cheesy but cute cover. Not even if I feel sympathy for the celebrity writers that have been getting bad reception. Not even if it's written by a childhood favorite actress. I learned my lesson, dammit!

So Ever Lucy Lily I'm sorry, Clea is an outsider who is "different" from the usual teenage crowd. All that money and wealth, plus having uber-popular, rich, influential, and loving parents and friends who support her dreams isn't enough to keep her happy. Her assessment is reassured when something dastardly happens and leads her to meet a mysterious man. It's love at first sight, people, and she can't take her mind off the man who sparked warm feelings she never felt before. Turns out that he's actually much more than he seems, and their encounter starts a chain of events that change their lives forever.

Gasp! Shock! I'll spoil the surprise right here: Clea is actually a reincarnated soul and, lucky her, mysterious dude is her soulmate! He really, really wants to finally be with her forever this time. Unfortunately their last encounters have always ended on a bad note—Clea lying dead. Totally original, amirite?

Although they have very similar plots, Clea from Elixer beats Ever from Evermore. While Ever has only made idiotic decisions in every single book of the Immortals series, Clea has no sense of self-preservation, can barely put together a puzzle with only two pieces, and has the memory of a goldfish (the three second memory has been disproved but that's beside the point). She is suffering from a serious condition of being Too Stupid To Live. Not to mention that she has some messed up priorities that need to be straightened out! What happened to her missing-and-possibly-dead dad? The all-important Elixir?

All attempts that Hilary Duff tried to make the only love interest (there is no love triangle, as the summary claims) Sage romantic failed. Instead, I am very much afraid and creeped out by him. Really, he brought a condom and expected to give Clea her first time when they only met a few days ago. Clea actually agrees to do this in her best friend's car, right after seeing his various paintings of her dead body and suspecting that he is a serial killer.

Who would name their son Sage during the time of the Ancient Greeks? Who would think about their entire life so far while pushing through a crowd inside a bar? Why would Clea's soul have an entirely new talent that always gets her into stardom in every lifetime? How did Clea understand her visions of her past lives when they spoke in different languages? We will never know.