Heven & Hell Series, #0.5
by Cambria Hebert
Published November 18, 2011
First published by Otherworld Publications
(now published by Cambria)
Format Reviewed: eBook (purchased)
Synopsis:
What if your life was charmed and everything in it was perfect…
Before.
This is the story of my past. Of what things were like for me when everything was normal. Of what every teenager’s life is like. Clothes. Parties. Boys and summer vacation. What’s so wrong with that? I liked it. I was happy.
Until things changed. I changed.
I didn’t know that lies and secrets were about to take over my existence. I didn’t know there was someone out there, someone meant just for me. I didn’t know that I was about to go on a journey, a journey that would lead me to the girl I am today.
This is the beginning of the worst year of my life. Would I go back and change things? Erase everything that has happened to go back into these moments?
Not a chance.
This is a story of before.
My Thoughts:
Reading Before is like going to a really fancy French restaurant. You order an appetizer and it comes and it is super tiny. You think, "Is this really all there is?" But when you taste it, you realized that it is so rich that it was really all you needed. Before is a short story prequel to Masquerade, barely 40 pages total, but yet it grabbed me and made me want to read more.
Heven is your All-American girl. Poised to become cheer captain; Heven is pretty, popular, has friends and a possible new boyfriend, and is happy. Sam however, lurks in the shadows...watching. He doesn't want to bring her any harm, but he has to see her again. But he isn't the only one watching Heven. The monster lays in wait; seething hate. Then one night after a late studying session at the library, Heven is alone and the monster makes its move. And then... a scream.
Before is written beautifully from a shifting first person point of view. I like that we get to see into the head of not only Heven and Sam, but into the evil mind of the monster. The ending is a cliffhanger - it is only a prequel after all, but it gives readers a connection to the characters that are fully brought to life in Masquerade, which I purchased seconds after finishing Before.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
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Character Spotlight:
Heven
Heven is a great character. I love that she continues to learn to love herself despite her scars - both physical and emotional. She stands for what she believes and protects those she loves even if it comes at a price. I fell in love with her strength and conviction, especially throughout the times she had to deal with her mother. What are your thoughts on Heven? Is she your favorite character?
16 -year- old Heven is blond, blue eyed and used to be the most beautiful girl in school. Then one night everything changed. A night she can’t remember but bears the marks of something awful. Ever since the accident that turned her into a freak, all Heven does is try to make it through the day. But as secrets come out Heven learns there’s a lot more to her than she ever imagined.
Heven’s STATS:
Favorite drink: Coffee (Bubble tea is a close second)
Food she dislikes most: Chicken
Favorite color: Gold
Hobby: Riding her horse Jasper
Favorite place: her Gran’s house
Interesting facts about Heven:
I can’t tell you the most interesting things…. It will give it away!
Some quotes by Heven:
“I loved this boy. More than myself. More than life. More than anything. Tears leaked from beneath my lids because my feelings were so intense that they had nowhere else to go, there just wasn’t room in a single body for how I felt for him.” ~ Heven
"I wasn’t afraid of the dark but I was afraid that when day arrived and the sun came out it would shine light into all the shadows from the night before, revealing all that the darkness had hidden." ~ Heven
“… all the way back to last year when I was injured (I didn’t think of it as disfigured anymore because I wasn’t disfigured. There had been nothing wrong with the way I looked. The problem had been with the way I felt.)” ~ Heven
Heven’s STATS:
Favorite drink: Coffee (Bubble tea is a close second)
Food she dislikes most: Chicken
Favorite color: Gold
Hobby: Riding her horse Jasper
Favorite place: her Gran’s house
Interesting facts about Heven:
I can’t tell you the most interesting things…. It will give it away!
Some quotes by Heven:
“I loved this boy. More than myself. More than life. More than anything. Tears leaked from beneath my lids because my feelings were so intense that they had nowhere else to go, there just wasn’t room in a single body for how I felt for him.” ~ Heven
"I wasn’t afraid of the dark but I was afraid that when day arrived and the sun came out it would shine light into all the shadows from the night before, revealing all that the darkness had hidden." ~ Heven
“… all the way back to last year when I was injured (I didn’t think of it as disfigured anymore because I wasn’t disfigured. There had been nothing wrong with the way I looked. The problem had been with the way I felt.)” ~ Heven
I love that heven pic!!!
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