Guest Review - Sophie’s Secret – Whispers Book 1

From time to time I like to have people guest post on my blog. Please welcome Alia Gonzales who is an up and comming writer who is working on her book and took some time to shoot me a book review.

Sophie’s Secret – Whispers Book 1 by Tara West
Review by Alia Gonzales

The front cover of “Sophie’s Secret- Whispers, Book 1” had a very pulling quality and made me want to open the book, but I was poorly disappointed. The book was entirely focused on a teenager who was trying to get the cute boy in school to like her. The blurb that was listed next to the book when I purchased it listed it as a paranormal romance, and it didn’t fit that by much. While Sophie did in fact have a paranormal ability to occasionally read minds, it was by no means an important part of the book. Just from reading the clues of what was happening around her it wasn’t really necessary to have the rare moments she did read someone’s mind.

Sophie also has two other friends in the book who are listed as having paranormal abilities, but only rarely was it mentioned. Much like Sophie’s ability, the friends who were mentioned would have been just as important to the book without their abilities. They were only used as random intervals and played no part in the story or what was happening. When the different abilities were used, it felt very much as they were thrown into the story just so it could be categorized as paranormal, and not because it fit into the plot line. There were many different opportunities where it could have been brought more into light, or explained better, and it was left completely unanswered.

As an adult reading this book it really made me want to slap the main character. She was constantly trying to compare things like her having a crush on a boy as being just as important as her sister finding out she was pregnant and losing her husband. While I understand this book is geared towards teenagers it really felt like it made it hard to connect to what was happening in the book, and I felt absolutely no empathy for Sophie at all.

The book read very much as though I was simply reading a teenage girls diary. There wasn’t enough narrative to make me feel like I cared about any of the characters, and beyond wanting to complete the book; I felt no draw to really see what happened next. That being said, this could be a fantastic book for teenagers, primarily high school girls who may feel they’re going through the same hormonal and physical changes that are taking place in their lives. As a young adult book it can likely do a fantastic job of connecting with the young audiences and draw them into things like the dances and different classes the students are taking.

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