Review: Sleight - Jennifer Sommersby

• Paperback:
 328 pages

• Publisher:
 CreateSpace (March 30, 2011)

• Language:
 English

Her mom is dead.Ghosts follow her around.Her best friend is an elephant.And she’s about to meet the biggest game changer of all: a boy. With a secret.
When circus-dwelling Gemma Flannery learns she will be attending public school for the first time in her seventeen years, little does she know that fitting in with her 12th-grade classmates will be the least of her concerns. A pro at hiding her knack for seeing the dead (“shades”), Gemma is grieving the recent suicide of her mentally ill mother, a process eased by the introduction of her first real love interest, the charming and painfully handsome Henry Dmitri, who is harboring his own collection of dangerous secrets. Together, they will be presented with a frightening challenge: to assume their roles as heirs to a 3000-year-old magical text, the AVRAKEDAVRA, a book the über-rich, sleight-of-being master Lucian Dmitri would do anything to get his hands on. As each terrifying layer in her new reality melts away, Gemma unearths truths that her quiet, nomadic life with the Cinzio Traveling Players is not at all what she’d always cherished. Gemma and Henry must rely on each other to stop Lucian’s diabolical plotting that will bring the world to its tired, scab-riddled knees, and are sent on the flight of their young lives, to save themselves, their families, and the world from the darkest kind of destruction.
Let the chase begin.

My Thoughts...

Wow how have I not read tons of raving reviews for this book? The fact that I really hadn't hear much about this book had me little wary. But WOW! This was an action packed story. Gemma is a newly orphaned circus child. She has spend most of her life with her aunt and 2 uncles at the circus because her mother was mentally ill. We start off at Gemma's mothers funeral, and soon move to Washington where the circus is scheduled to stay for quite a few months which is strange enough since they only spend a week in any one place.  To make things even stranger all the circus kids will start attending public school while the circus is in Washington.  This is an idea that doesn't excite Gemma. She starts school and meets Henry the son of the man who is funding the circuses extended stay in Washington.  From there Gemma and Henry are sent on terrifying, exciting, adventure. There is love, self discovery, shocking revelations, and matters of destiny at play in this adventure. Once the action starts it doesn't let up until the end. Both Gemma and Henry are very enjoyable characters. The back drop of the circus and the circus life really added to this story. I loved it! The secondary characters in Gemma's side of the story were also likable for the most part. I can't say the same for Henry's side of the story. The addition of the magical aspect was pretty cool too. I don't want to really get involved in the story here since there is such an intense story, I don't want to accidentally give something away. I give this one 4 stars and urge all of you to go pick up this book!