Guarding Brecken Shaefer-a dark and dangerous rebel-is harder than it looks. Death was nothing like sixteen-year-old Alisa Callahan thought it would be. Resting on pink, fluffy clouds for eternity with her gram and best friend sounded like a dream come true. After all, enduring one torturous experience after another in her short life deserved some kind of reward, right? Unfortunately, eternal rewards aren’t given out so freely when you take your own life. Required to pay the debt for committing suicide, Alisa must become a guardian. It sounds easy enough, but not when the boy she is forced to protect has a dangerous secret and wants absolutely nothing to do with her. Brecken Shaefer isn’t any normal teenager. He has special gifts that are sure to make Alisa’s afterlife miserable. When feelings develop between them, everything spins out of control. Not only must Alisa face her own demons- but to protect Brecken, she must face an evil so heinous that it threatens to destroy their souls completely. Alisa is tired of hiding from her past. When the easiest thing to do is run, can Brecken give her the strength to stay? (Goodreads)
Hey guys! So, I actually finished this book last night, but it was a little too late to do a review, so I decided to wait until this morning. When I first started reading this book, I was worried that I wasn’t going to enjoy it because I wasn’t gripped by it. I struggled my way through the first part of the book – I found it too easy to put down and do something else. However, as it went on and Alisa started going places and doing things, I found myself wanting to read on and by the end, I was hooked.
The story follows Alisa – a teenager who committed suicide who now has to pay penance and earn her way into Elysium. She does this through being a Guardian to Brecken. What I loved about this story was that this wasn’t an insta love situation here. At the beginning they argued, bickered and generally didn’t like each other. We watched their friendship grow over time which I feel makes the friendship seem more realistic.
What I also liked about this book is the fact that we watch both characters grow together with the help of one another. They both learn valuable lessons from each other throughout the book. I quite liked the twist involving Brecken, which I was a bit surprised about, concerning who he really is! I will say no more…
I was a bit disappointed by the ending. I guess I wanted more out of the story – I wanted a lot of things for the characters that never seemed to happen. I don’t feel that they got the ending that they deserved.
I gave this book 3/5 stars 🙂
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