Howling Books and Design: Visonary Unleashed Book Tour Review

Visionary Unleashed

Author: N. Dunham

ISBN: 9781624884542

ASIN: B00AMO7O26

Release Date: November 25th 2012

Genre: Fantasy,
Young Adult

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Summary

Sixteen-year-old Aislinn Lee Murphy accidentally unleashes her hidden ability to see things before they happen, making her a Visionary. But little does she know that this amazing gift comes with a severe price. She must never tell a soul or she risks putting herself and her family in great peril.

A Visionary is someone who has been chosen to see the future and has the benefit of having spirit animals to guide and protect them, but there is a secret agency whose sole purpose is to terminate all Visionaries and Aislinn has become their next target.

Excerpt 1

I want to learn about all of the spirit animals. I research Sebastian’s spirit animal and find that it is has a strong connection to the falcon. The falcon is supposedly my spirit animal. This makes sense because I feel so incredibly connected to Sebastian and I hardly know him. When we read that piece together we look at each other and smile. The book states that the falcon and grizzly bear have a have a dual understanding and that their signs are compatible with one another. This reminds me of the daily horoscope that you read on the internet.
Captivated by the content of information that I am uncovering I decide to read aloud, “When the earth sign visionary and air sign visionary combine forces they find that they create a long lasting bond as well as a colossal amount of positive energy. When each spirit animal has reached a higher level of visionary status, they will uncover their destined mission. They will experience an increase in their already heightened awareness and senses and gain the ability to unleash superior powers.”

Excerpt 2
“My eye. I’ve been hit!” I scream as I anxiously rub my eye with one hand trying hard not to fall.
Sebastian nervously responds to my ill worded statement and asks me what I’m talking about and if I’m alright.
“Sorry. I was hit by a bug, I’m fine,” I say trying to correct myself. I was never one for bugs let alone bugs in my eye. Gross.
I focus back on the small, metallic ball. My right palm starts to feel sweaty and I begin to get an electrifying sense of confidence run through my body. I hold up my hand and forcefully throw the metallic ball smack into the center of their windshield. The glass shatters into a million tiny pieces and their car goes into a tailspin before coming to a complete stop.
“Yes!” I squeal in delight.
“Alright!” Sebastian says.

Review

I did enjoy this story quite a bit. The author knows how to describe everything to give you a vivid picture of Aislinn’s past and present. Though I do have to say, never use the word 'lol' in a story. Having a main character talk to herself and use 'lol' doesn't make her seem like someone I can identify with. It just makes me think she’s crazy.

Having the power to see visions of the future is always a great story line. The plot was very interesting, but not so unique. It remind me of “Jumper” (movie/book) with the whole killing something that’s is not meant to be around. It’s a bit slow at the beginning, and does takes time to lead up to the action. Each person has a spirit guide, which I thought was an interesting and different take to everything. If you're a bit of a researcher, I wouldn't advice comparing the symbolism of each spirit guide and the real animal it's based on. For example, the African elephant spirit guide states that it provides a visionary (people who see the future) with the best eyesight their possibly is. In real life, an elephant has very poor eyesight. In one scene, Calab (who has an elephant spirit guide) asks main character Aislinn if she can read a newspaper from the other end of the café, and then reads it for her. Aislinn's spirit guide is a red-tailed hawk, who have the eyesight 5 times better then a human's. So, Aislinn should have been able to read the paper and Calab shouldn't have. It will be interesting to see what her spirit guide power will be, and hints of it are given towards the end of the book. The villains of the book, the "Secret Agency", aren't very pivotal to this book, but some of their gadgets are seen. Their mission is to stop visionaries from having visions.

Aislinn is another one of those flip-flopping female leads. I don't know who keeps telling writers to make their heroines like this, but they really need to stop! She says the gift of seeing visions is a punishment, but just a few seconds before this she was loving it. She was having a blast with being able to see the future. Then she runs into another character, and suddenly she see’s it as a punishment. I don’t get where her change in thought came from, but I guess if a cute guy is saying it’s a gift, and you want him to feel sorry for you… Nah, it's still a confusing change. She's also self centered. After she made plans to go to the mall with her best friend, she then changes her mind to going to get pizza after she gets a call from Sebastian! Who does that?! Who forgets about their best friends in a matter of seconds… Gah! She even starts to avoid her friend instead of settling matters and trying to make up. When she receives a text from her friend asking to talk, Aislinn gets excited and says how they haven’t talked in forever. Um, honey, maybe because you run away from your friend and avoid her when you should have sucked it up and tried to talk to her in person! It's your fault to begin with… She also gets some really stupid ideas. How could she think that when she had a vision of her friend’s father getting a new job in another city, that she should tell her friend this? In real life, I'm sure her friend for one would probably think she’s crazy or a stalker when she finds out that information from her father. Sometimes I wonder what Aislinn is thinking. The one trait I can admire in Aislinn is that she's able to have major visions when she meditates. I know I wouldn’t be able to, because I would get bored so fast.

Sebastian is very thoughtful of everyone around him, unlike a certain girl who only thinks about herself and the boy she likes. He does everything he can to get her use to his world as a visionary. He tells her how it happens and what she may expect. Almost like a teacher of sorts, along with the fact that right away he feels connected to her and falls in love with her. (Can I go to this magical world where you meet a guy and he instantly falls for you? Please, someone, find me a direct flight for this place!)

Calab is someone they met in on a scooping mission at the base of the bad guys. He’s says he was was also there scooping them out. I’m sorry, but I would never trust this guy. Surprisingly, they trust him right away cause he’s a visionary (completely forgetting that some visionaries work for the bad guys) and bring him to their home. Following this logic? Mystery visionary + middle of no where = bring him home. He is a great guy, but maybe a little to strong in the friendly side (according to Aislinn). The way she describes how he's always trying to be around her makes me creeped out towards him. Not sure if the author wanted this, but no matter how good he is, now I just feel creeped out by him.

Anyways, Aislinn and Calab go on their first date, and BAM, they are already kissing. This was just after they first met. Oh, fast romances, how I find you not appealing in any way. She doesn't know if Sebastian likes her... Yeah, he only kisses you A LOT! Why are you even kissing a guy if you're not sure if he likes you or not?! Aislinn acts like your typical teenage girl who has a crush on someone. She gets giggly and wonders what she should wear, and wonders if the guy actually asked her out on a date or not. In a way, it is cute to see how she prepares herself when meeting with Sebastian. This random Calab-Aislinn-Sebastian love triangle doesn't last long, and it's completely useless to the plot.

Rating
3 out of 5 Howling Wolves