Elixir.

So in attempts to further procrastinate and avoid studying for exams I began (and finished) reading Hilary Duff's book Elixir earlier this week.

The story is about a girl named Clea who is a photo journalist and has spent a great deal of her life in the spotlight, what with her mother being a famous politician and all. Her father (a well-known surgeon) disappears whilst on a humanitarian trip, and Clea begins to notice shadowy images of a mysterious man in all of her photos. Whilst on an assignment, Clea is brought together with this mystery man by some underlying powerful connection. Together they work together to unravel the mystery of their past, and attempt to find her father.

The story for the most part was well written, and is typical of the style adopted by most books in the current, and popular genre of young adult paranormal/romance fiction. I must admit I was skeptical to read it - as much as I adore Hilary Duff I didn't know what to expect of her foray into the world of authorship. The book, while containing paranormal elements that reminded me other books, such as Lauren Kate's Fallen, it was surprisingly interesting and refreshing - in the sense that it did not contain vampires, werewolves or fallen angels. Instead there are magical forces at work, but it centres around the age-old tale of an "elixir of life" and the idea of past lives/reincarnation.

As I was reading the book I noticed I was fast approaching the end and there was so much yet to be resolved - something that really annoys me when I watch a movie or read a book. It makes me wonder if they are going to rush some sort of resolve and bring the story to a crashing end. Well, it turns out Ms. Hilary Duff is working on a sequel, which explains the cliff-hanger-like ending where some answers are given to readers but not all.

All in all, not a bad read.