Book Review: Shattered Dreams by Ellie James

Shattered Dreams
Author: Ellie James
Series: A Midnight Dragonfly Novel (Book 1)
Publication: St. Martin's Griffin; 1 edition (December 6, 2011)

Description: Sixteen-year-old Trinity Monsour wants nothing more than to live a normal life. But that isn't as easy as it seems. Trinity is different. She is special. She sees visions, and for those she's seen, it's already too late.

Trinity arrives on her aunt's doorstep in New Orleans with virtually no knowledge of her mysterious heritage. She begins settling into life at a new school and even starts making friends. But all too quickly her dreams accelerate; twisted, terrifying visions of a girl locked in a dark room. And when the head cheerleader, Jessica, goes missing, Trinity knows she has no choice but to step forward with what she's seen.

But people believe that Trinity has information about Jessica's disappearance not because of a dream, but because she is involved. She is kind-of dating Jessica's ex-boyfriend, Chase, and Jessica did pull a nasty prank on Trinity. Revenge seems like the likeliest scenario.

Nothing prepares Trinity for the dark odyssey that ensues while searching for Jessica, including the surprising romance she finds with Chase, or the shocking truths she learns, not just about the girl who has gone missing, but the past that has been hidden from her.

My Thoughts: Trinity Monsour has recently come to New Orleans to live after the death of her grandmother. The story begins with her going along with a group of kids to a haunted house. Among the group are Chase who is her chemistry lab partner and crush and Jessica who is Chase's former girlfriend who doesn't see herself as an ex. Trinity isn't eager to go into the house because she is sensitive to spirits and has had visions since she was a child. However, she wants to fit in with her new crowd and decides to go inside. She doesn't know that Jessica and her henchwoman Amber are set to play a prank on her. She finds herself locked in a small dark room where visions overtake her. When she is rescued, she decides that Chance knew about the prank and was complicit. She is angry, decides to write him out of her life, and goes home.

She can't avoid Chance completely because they are in classes together but she can certainly try to ignore him. When Jessica "apologizes" by using the "it was only a joke" excuse, she decides to write her off too. So, when Jessica disappears, Trinity is surprised to have visions about her. She isn't sure what to do about them because her grandmother raised her to keep the visions secret. She has to tell her aunt about them who encourages her to go to the police. The problem is that it is just as likely in the mind of the police that Trinity was the one who got rid of Jessica.

As the visions escalate and the police suspicions grow, Chance and Jessica try to track down Trinity's deceased parents. What happened to them is a big mystery in her life and each revelation about them raises as many questions as it answers.

I enjoyed this thriller. It was a bit dated with Jessica's reliance on her BlackBerry and the rebuilding efforts after Katrina not being very far along but the suspense was great and Trinity's struggles with her psychic gifts intriguing.

Favorite Quote:

I wanted to go there, go home. But I no longer knew where home was. Wasn't sure I had one. The only home I'd ever known was among the pine and aspen, in the mountains of Colorado. In New Orleans I was a guest, a visitor, someone unknown drifting through lives that had not asked for the interruption. 

I bought this one Dec. 9, 2011. You can buy your copy here.