Bookfever: Review: Christabel by Suzanne Sullivan

Title: Christabel
Author: Suzanne Sullivan
Series: Soul Seekers #1
Publication: January 14th 2013
Genre: Young Adult ~ Paranormal Romance
Format: e-book, 216 pages
Cover Rating: 4/5
Overall Rating: 5/5

Copy received from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Sixteen-year-old Christabel Baron has always been close with the single father that raised her, until he decides she needs a live-in math tutor. As if being a teenager with a babysitter isn’t bad enough, Christabel’s new houseguest is beautiful but terrifying Geraldine Giroux, a redhead with a dark past who possesses an eerie ability to control Christabel’s father.

Soon Geraldine snakes her way into every aspect of Christabel’s world in an attempt to destroy it. If Christabel can’t get everyone else to see Geraldine for the soul-sucking succubus that she is, her life might be over--literally.

~My thoughts:

And what, if in a world of sin
(O sorrow and shame should this be true!)
Such giddiness of heart and brain
Comes seldom save and pain...

Christabel Baron lives with her loving single father who rasied her when her mother passed away giving birth to Christabel. Everything seems to go great for the both of them. Until Geraldine Giroux creeps her way into their lives. WHen she gains more and more control over Christabel's father, Christabel must do everything she can to reveal Geraldine for what she truly is. Before it's tpo late.

Starting this book last night I only meant to just read the first chapter to get a feel of it. I ended up reading until 4am because I simply could not stop reading. So I finished this book in less than a day. It was that good!

There are so many reason why I loved this book:

1. It's based on the poem Christabel by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. I love books that are based on poems, old stories or anything like that so I read this poem beforehand and I would suggest everyone to read it before they start this book. I really got intrigued by it and because of that I accept this book for review.

2. I really liked the characters. Well, maybe not Geraldine because she totally freaked me out. But I did like reading about her because she was so evil and scary. But I especially liked Christabel, the main character. It's so hard to find really great heroines in YA lately but Christabel was very likable and I cared for what was happening with and all around her.
Sam! How I loved him! He was incredibly cute with his DIMPLES (*squeeeee*) and how he made poems about Christabel. New book boyfriend: check! His situation with his mother is really sad. But I felt that Christabel brought back joy into his life. I can't express enough how much I liked him. Books needs more guys like him. Also, I wonder if Sam's name points to Samuel Taylor Coleridge...
I also liked Christabel's friend Lily. She seemed like a great friend, although everything happening made cause their friendship to go downhill for a bit. I felt really bad for everything that happened with Christabel's father. In the beginning he really seemed like a loving father but when Geraldine shows up and messes everything up you see him changing drastically. Very sad.
And probably one of my favorite characters in the book was Christebel's dog Annabel. Such a good, happy, loving dog. I want to have a dog like her. I was CRUSHED with everything bad happening with her because of Geraldine. When characters get hurt in books, that I can handle. But dogs? NO WAY JOSE!

3. The writing style! At the first look it doesn't seem all that different from other writing styles and it wasn't that different but something about it appealed to me a great deal. One of the reason's why I couldn't stop reading it. It flowed!

4. The unexpected plot turns. Oh my gosh! Some things I definitely hadn't expected. Especially not that ending!

5. The romance was so sweet and cute and *gush gush* :D I liked how Christabel had a crush on the new boy, Sam and how he lived really close to her and how she kind of watches him without know. Sorry for the spoilers but there you go. I would love to watch Sam write away in his notebook. I don't care it makes me look crazy! Sam does that to you. Anyway... the romance was very well build. I didn't think it was too fast at all. Christabel and Sam have a connection. And that's that. They belong together.

Overal I thought this book was beyond amazing and I'm so glad I got the chance to read it. The demon/succubus part of it was all very exciting. Especially this unexpected twist...
I'm pretty sure everyone will more than enjoy this debut book by Suzanne Sullivan. I feel like we could expect great things from her to come. I for sure want to read more. More of this story and more of Suzanne's fantastic writing.

Christabel is an admirable, beautifully written book that's an amazing and breathtaking read. Completely unputdownable!

~Quotes:

When evil approaches, when it's really coming for you, it doesn't make a single sound. There's no reason to fear the noises in the night because honest-to-goodness evil has the power to be completely silent.

Emily Dickinson once wrote, 'hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul,' and she was right, but she forgot to mention that despair is the thing with claws that tears out your heart. Kind of a major oversight there, Em.

~About the author:

Suzanne Sullivan lives in Birmingham, Alabama with her husband and daughter. Formerly a high school English teacher, she can now be found conducting baking experiments by day and writing stories in the dark by night.

Christabel is Book One in the Soul Seekers trilogy she has written.