Review: Insight by Jamie Magee

Title: Insight (#1)

Author: Jamie Magee

Published: November 1, 2011

Pages: 314

Source: purchase

Good to know: first installment in the 'Insight' series (followed by 'Embody' and 'Image')

Amazon Summary: Some say that dreams are the doorway to the soul. Willow Haywood is no stranger to that doorway. Each night she shares a blissful, silent dream with a stunning blue-eyed boy. With each new moon she is haunted by a painful nightmare shared with a different boy, who’s always hidden by the shadows.

In her waking hours she must battle her sixth sense. The one that allows her to feel others emotions as if they were her own. This insight is exhausting and frustrating causing her to draw inward, only trusting her family and few close friends. Oddly, this sense also attracts ghostly images that seem to appear out of nowhere. With a touch, they take her to wherever they may be, allowing her to change their emotion. This alone would cause most to go insane, but Willow filters her aggression by painting, capturing the emotion she changed.

One August night a nightmare came days after the new moon. In this dream the shadowed boy marked her wrist with star, leaving her father no choice but to share a family secret that would tie all of the odd attributes of Willow’s life together. Now, she has no choice but to outrun the fate that is closing in around her.

In an attempt to lure her, the shadowed figure captures her closest friends. In order to save them, she must weave through broken myths, half truths, and the undeniable power of the Zodiac. With each step she takes Willow comes to realize that she has lived before, her path is one that she chose, and this trial is simply the beginning.

**REVIEW**

My first thoughts as I got into 'Insight' was that it was a bit familiar and I did make a few minor comparisons, though, excluding the obvious elements you may or may not have read somewhere before, I do recognize the effort Magee put into creating her own world.

A lot was going on and you had to always be at attention to follow the story which I eventually failed to do as my interest to it went uneven at times.

There were a few things I'd hoped to turn out differently than it did. We meet Dane -Willow's good friend - at the start of the book and Magee portrays a close friendship in which Dane is the only one who knows about Willow's ability.

I really liked Dane and got the feeling he would have a higher purpose further along in the story but instead he faded into the back and I just felt there were unfinished business with him.

And then we have the mysterious blue-eyed boy Willow has repeatedly dreamed of. Personally, when thinking of the "blue-eyed boy" and then "Landon" who he appeared to be, I think of two totally different people.

The blue-eyed boy was mysterious and so intriguing whilst Landon appeared to be the most accessible guy ever. Mystery all poof and gone.

That they were meant to be and instantly loved each other did not help matters, at all. There were a tad too many "I love yous" and love-doveyness between the soul mates and I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes.

Whom I did love was Libby - cutest thing ever! Astonishingly enough I also loved her ability and thought it was a clever add to keep the story rolling in the right direction.

There were a whole lot of side characters in 'Insight' and I found that it was hard to keep track of them. Someone would appear to be important and I wouldn't be able to recall who they were.

A major thing I felt about 'Insight' was that conflicts would work itself out so perfectly, every obstacle would be won over really smoothly and you knew it would. Nothing took me off guard and suspense never got the chance to even knock me on my shoulder, because before you knew it the sort-of-but-not-really-dangerous situations the characters found themselves in they would get out of.

I'm someone who normally don't go seeking out a fantasy read. From my point of view 'Insight' was decent but if you're into soul mates and such you might just love it.

(3/5)