Review: Emerge by Melissa A. Craven

I received this book via the author, Melissa A. Craven. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

Emerge by Melissa A. Craven
Series: Immortals of Indriell #1
Published by Midnight Hour Studio on 2020-08-20
Length: 368 pages
Reviewing eARC Rating:

They claim she is Immortal.
They say he is her equal, an Immortal who can match her power.
But she's just a normal girl.
Until she isn't.

Allie Carmichael is just your run of the mill, socially awkward redhead with a smart-mouth that gets her into trouble—which it does the morning she literally runs into Aidan McBrien. Her new next door neighbor.

She’s drawn to Aidan in a way she can’t explain. For the first time in her life someone actually gets her.

And then everything Allie thought she knew about herself falls apart.

As a latent immortal power awakens deep inside her, and her first gifts begin to emerge, Allie must learn to adapt to her power before it overwhelms her. But she’s years behind her immortal peers, with precious little time to catch up.

They say it is time to put her mortal life behind her, but she still feels like the normal girl she always thought she was.

But there is nothing normal about Allie Carmichael.

Emerge by Melissa A. Craven is the first book in her series Immortals of Indriell and is a fast-paced adventure I couldn’t put down! Allie Carmichael’s life is about to change forever when her parents move across the globe in the middle of the night. Arriving in a small town in Ohio, Allie never expects to find people who understand her even when she doesn’t understand herself. Emerge follows Allie’s transformation from mortal to immortal and will leave you begging for more. 

What I Enjoyed

I love the cast of characters! It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book with so many different characters. While Allie is the main character, there is an entire family of characters waiting for her in Ohio. Each one has his/her own quality that helps you keep them straight, but I’ll admit it took me well over half the book before I was able to do so without flipping back pages. My favorite character (aside from our two main) is Liam. He shows up midway through so I won’t spoil anything, just know that I love him.

Allie is a force to be reckoned with! She’s more than a little lost when we first meet her. Upset about their move and feeling like an outsider, she keeps to herself, or tries too. Allie is fiery, but also fiercely loyal to those she considers friends, something she’s never really been able to say she has. Now that she does, she has to learn to adapt. But that isn’t the only thing she has to adapt too. She has the strange new power lurking inside, ready to burst out, and when it does, Allie’s friends will be the ones with all the answers. 

Then there is Aiden. I adore this boy! He is the first person Allie meets in Ohio, and he is also the first person to not flinch when she touches them. Allie finds herself drawn to him, and he seems to be just as fascinated with her. Aiden is a complex character, portraying himself as the classic playboy/jock at school, but showing a softer side to Allie and his real friends. Like Allie, I was drawn to Aiden and found myself falling for the shy guy he truly is. 

What Left Me Wanting More

While I love the immersive nature of the story, I needed more. More details, more descriptors, more words, just more. There is little transition between scenes, which led to confusion on my part. Multiple times I thought I’d skipped a page when in reality the story shifted to the next scene without a transition. This made for a choppy read at times, especially in the beginning of the book. As the story progresses and the pace picks up speed, the transitions become seamless. 

Another aspect that distracted from the story for me is the narration. It is told in a limited 3rd person, mostly focusing the story on Allie and her experiences. However I really struggled following the narrator in the beginning. Some of this is due to the transitions I mentioned earlier, but mostly this is related to a “tell” rather than “show” method. There may be a technical term for this, but I don’t know it so let me explain. For example, instead of showing through the characters’ interactions that Aiden and Allie are drawn to one another, the narrator tells us Allie feels a connection to him. This is a personal preference for me as I tend to read mostly first person narration. Once I got used to the writing style though, I flew through the book.  

Final Thoughts

Overall I really enjoyed Emerge. Craven has created a unique world with her Immortals, and I cannot wait to read more! True to the title, the story follows Allie as she awakens as an Immortal. I loved learning about this new world with her. The awe-inspiring abilities that come with her immortality leads me to believe that as the series progresses we are in for a real adventure. Emerge encompasses everything I love about urban fantasy and combines it with a hint of romance and a dash of action. I highly recommend it for anyone that enjoys the genres.

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