Review: Mystique by Shari Arnold

Title: Mystique

Author: Shari Arnold

Series: Standalone

Publication: November 17th, 2015

Goodreads / Amazon

Summary: Only Bauer Grant can pull off gorgeous while dead. But staying dead is another thing entirely. When he wakes up at his own funeral, the town of Mystique calls it a miracle, until it happens again. Something is bringing the residents of Mystique back to life, but what? Presley Caine finds herself caught up in the mystery when Bauer asks her to visit him. Presley can’t figure out why the most popular guy in school is so drawn to her. And when Bauer is kidnapped soon after, she looks to Bauer’s brooding best friend Sam, whose dad works for the powerful Mystique military base, for answers. In her quest to discover the truth, Presley’s relationship with Sam deepens, her feelings for Bauer are tested, and it becomes clear that her own mysterious past is somehow connected to these strange events. But is she strong enough to handle the truth when it is finally revealed?

Mystique is definitely a unique novel; the story concept is one I’ve never read before and I quite enjoyed it. First off, the cover is lovely. When you begin to read the story, you quickly realize that the story is not as bright as its cover. This novel becomes darker and more mysterious.

I’ll say my quick summary of the book (minus the spoilers of course). The main character is a young female named Presley (lovely name by the way!) and she’s working at her part-time job one day at the funeral home. The funeral she has to work at is for one of her classmates, Bauer, and Presley has had a small crush on him from afar. But he’s dead, however in the middle of the funeral, he awakens well and alive. Everyone freaks out. I would, too! Soon, everyone who dies is popping back from the dead. So the chaos begins! Throughout the novel, she, Bauer, and their friend Sam (Sam is male) try to figure what the heck is going on. Things get only weirder as the story progresses.

When I read Presley as a character, I first thought she was me, hahaha! That’s how real of a person she felt. Since she is new to the town of Mystique, she is a bit awkward and anti-social (like me); she doesn’t want to go out of her way to attract to her attention, and that to me, is a very realistic aspect that most people have. She has a great, sarcastic sense of humor, too, which made me like her even more. If she were real, we would be friends, I can feel it! To all of that is happening around her, Presley reacts in realistic ways. She questions everything and persists for answers and solutions that no one knows how to find. Even when she keeps getting repeatedly shut down for asking too many questions, she is determined to not give up on the people around her.

Moving onto the other characters, I don’t have too much to say about them. Bauer and Sam are nice and likable. Yes, there is a love triangle, but it is conducted slightly differently from other love triangles I have read before. It did bother me at times to read, because I wanted to forego the tension between Sam and Presley (she already established a connection with Bauer before Sam). I saw the romantic tension between Sam and Presley coming; I mean no one can miss it of course, but the story would have been even more enjoyable if there were fewer sentences dedicated to creating the tense moments between them. I believe the reader could do without all of the accidental brushing of the body parts, which always leads to longing gazes and thoughts, et cetera. I ended up skimming those bits of the book because it just sounded just as cheesy as the last time their arms or hands or legs touched. That’s precisely why I cannot give Mystique the novel a fifth crown rating.

What I like about Bauer is how he so realistically reacts to everything that happens to him. He came back from the dead, and he is followed everywhere he goes. People want answers and he knows as much as they do (which is barely anything). He does not know why this has happened to him, or how he can help others who are returning from the dead as well. The pressure really takes a toll on him, and Shari Arnold portrays the depth of his internal struggles very well. I truly felt sorry for Bauer and understood his emotional responses.

Sam was so supportive and protective of Bauer and Presley. He is a good friend and listener. That is all I can say about him. He is sweet, but I haven’t seen a flaw from him yet, which makes me judge the “realness” of his character.

Mystique is not an action book, but that doesn’t stop it from being fast-paced. No slow parts exist in this book. Every part of the book is important, which is what I love. Sometimes when I read a book, I have to struggle to pay to attention to the smallest details because I can’t help but wonder if I actually need to. With Mystique, I didn’t ever worry about feeling bored by the details.

The novel is about zombies, but the concept of zombies did not even cross my mind when I was reading it. Only until after finished the book, I realized zombies is exactly what the story brings forth. I am glad that the author did not heavily focus on the zombie concept and settled on a more realistic touch with the plot.

The writing is simple and easy to understand. One thing that did irk me was how many times the characters moved around. Let me give an example without giving anything away. Presley is at her house, then Sam picks her up and drives her away, then they go back to her house—all happens in a short amount of time. That is what I mean by the characters moving around too much. They move around a lot and only to return to the same place most of the times. Maybe it was a way to keep up the pace. At times, it was understandable for the characters to move around to search for clues or find certain people. However, sometimes, I couldn’t keep up with all the moving around; I had to reread parts over and over to figure out where they ended up.

I recommend reading Mystique. There is only light humor, in order to fit a more serious plot, but when it’s there, I chuckled hard. If you are looking for something suspenseful and thrilling, I’d say go for it!

*I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

#shariarnold #mystique #4cr #ya