Glimpse (Zellie Wells, #1)

Mar 22, 2011 Dani rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Glimpse was a book that I wanted to like, but just couldn’t seem to get into. The beginning of the book is well thought out and well written, but once I reached the point of Zellie’s 16th birthday party, the writing starts unraveling for me. Events seem rushed, the characters aren’t developed enough and seem one dimensional, the dialogue is awkward at times, and the romance evolves unbelievably fast. This novel carries some pretty emotional, heavy themes but I felt like the gravity of those situ...more

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Dec 01, 2010 TheBookVixen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2010, c-b

4 and 1/2 stars

Why I Read this Book: I really enjoy reading YA novels, especially those with unique paranormal elements, so when I first heard about Glimpse I was intrigued. I was anxious for this book to reach the top of my reading pile and I’m happy to say that it didn’t disappoint.

What I Liked: The story held my interest from the start. This is the kind of book where you find that you’re not constantly looking to see what page you’re on. I was in the zone and the pages were just turning thems...more

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Apr 24, 2012 Margaret Metz rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I happen to like YA fiction. Part of that is that I think the writers are so creative and they are willing to go places that other authors aren't. I like good stories - no matter who they're written for.

This has an interesting premise. Where it kind of fell flat for me is the . . . intensity and reactions of the characters to what was going on. The visions and supernatural activity in the book is pretty intense and, at times, dark. Yet the friends and loved ones react to it all as if they just t...more

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Nov 07, 2011 Becca rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: i-books, free-read, ya-gen-sci-fi, 2010-release, indie-author, debut-bks, 2011-reads

I found Glimpse through two methods: 1) Goodreads new auto-recommending system brought it up based on my 5star shelf. 2) ibooks had it as one of their top 100 free ebook listing. Seemed prudent of me to read such a book - so I did. What I found was a book that contained equal parts of beautifully captured moments that exist in every teens life, a potentially original premise and some really crazy, mixed-up, disgusting non-sense.

GR summary: "Zellie Wells has a devastating crush on Avery Adams, th...more I found Glimpse through two methods: 1) Goodreads new auto-recommending system brought it up based on my 5star shelf. 2) ibooks had it as one of their top 100 free ebook listing. Seemed prudent of me to read such a book - so I did. What I found was a book that contained equal parts of beautifully captured moments that exist in every teens life, a potentially original premise and some really crazy, mixed-up, disgusting non-sense.

GR summary: "Zellie Wells has a devastating crush on Avery Adams, the son of her mom’s high school sweetheart. At her sixteenth birthday party, held in the basement of her dad’s church, she finally finds the courage to talk to him. Turns out, the devastating crush is mutual. As Avery takes her hand and leads her out onto the makeshift dance floor, Zellie is overwhelmed by her first vision of his death; shocking because not only are they both covered in his blood, but they’re old, like 35, and she is pregnant. Afraid to tell anyone about the vision, (she’d just be labeled a freaky black magic witch, right?) Zellie keeps the knowledge of Avery’s future to herself and tries to act like any other teenager in love. When they get caught on their way to a secret rendezvous by her mom and his dad, they are forbidden to see each other. Convinced that their parents are freaking out unnecessarily, Avery and Zellie vow to be together no matter what. They continue their relationship in secret until Zellie learns that their parents are just trying to prevent her and Avery from suffering like they did. The visions are hereditary, they’re dangerous, and if they stay together the visions will come true. Now Zellie must choose between severing all ties with Avery, like her mom did to prevent his father’s death, and finding a way to change Avery’s future."

My impressions: I liked Zellie's story. It was original and quite captivating. The writing flowed nicely through her voice. What broke down was the surrounding plot lines. Her mom went through this situation herself, but instead of having any kind of sympathetic discussions, support or empathy, the mom goes way off the deep end throughout the story. The cover of this book screams grade school library book but the content is NOT. I can't bring myself to (NOT)recommend this book. Hey, I gave it 3 stars indicating a likability to the book but it should come with a warning something like....be prepared to suspend belief and look past the parents for the second half of the book. Focus on Zellie, her sister, the originality of idea regarding her family's talents and maybe you'll find the joy that is hidden inside this book.(less)

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Aug 27, 2010 Michelle rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ghosts-n-psychics, paranormal, ya-teen, romance, reviewed, supernatural-powers, ipbr-recommended-read, 4-and-5-star

When I started to read this book I wasn’t sure what to expect. What started out as an unassuming, though enjoyable, YA romance with a light clairvoyant theme suddenly took me by surprise (and kept doing so throughout the book) and ended up being quite an engaging read.

The point-of-view switches back and forth between Zellie (first person) and Avery (third person). Though I really liked seeing both perspectives, at times it was a little confusing since the switch often happens from one paragraph...more When I started to read this book I wasn’t sure what to expect. What started out as an unassuming, though enjoyable, YA romance with a light clairvoyant theme suddenly took me by surprise (and kept doing so throughout the book) and ended up being quite an engaging read.

The point-of-view switches back and forth between Zellie (first person) and Avery (third person). Though I really liked seeing both perspectives, at times it was a little confusing since the switch often happens from one paragraph to another. With that said, I got used to it and it didn’t deter from my enjoyment of the story. The author’s “teenage” voice was fantastic and it was so easy to fall into this story.

Glimpse starts with Zellie totally crushing on Avery, not realizing that Avery feels the same way about her. When they are finally coerced by their friends to step it up, the story really starts to get interesting. I lurved this scene and was absolutely hooked at this point:

We loitered in awkward silence for what seemed like forever. I finally turned towards him to espouse some more of my wisdom, when a strong gust of wind blew past us, unleashing my crazy hair from my ponytail, and blowing it right into his face. I rushed to smooth it back again, but Avery grasped my wrist.

"It's cool. It's not bothering me." He rubbed his thumb up along the inside of my palm. "Your hair is really soft. It's nice."

Commence heavy sigh and warm fuzzies!

Zellie and Avery are so likable you can’t help but root for them. In fact, all the characters in this book are well rounded and interesting. The plotting was very good with unpredictable twists that kept me guessing which way the story would go next. The climactic scene comes earlier than expected and reveals something quite intriguing about Zellie that sets up the remainder of the story. By the end of the book a new mysterious character will be introduced as well.

As I approached the end of this book I was sure there was going to be a huge cliffhanger. I was wrong! Again! The author did a great job of wrapping up the story for this short novel and was even able to create a satisfactory HEA (at least for this book) while still creating a wee bit of a cliffhanger to make you eager for the next book in the series, Glimmer, due to be released November 2010. Yay!

http://indieparanormalbooksreviews.bl...(less)

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May 30, 2012 AbbyJoy rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Nobody....

I hate writing these kinds of reviews, but I'm really not sure what to say that wouldn't be negative. Which is sad, because when I picked this book up off Amazon it looked interesting and I had high hopes for it. I'm afraid this book fell short of my expectations.

One of the things I was really disappointed about was the relationship between Zellie and (oh bother, I forgot what the dude's name is :O That says a lot doesn't it :P. *goes to check*) Avery. I felt like their entire relationship is pr...more

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Oct 15, 2010 Kelli (I'd So Rather Be Reading) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Thank you to The Book Vixen for recommending this book to me and to Stacey Benefiel for providing me with a copy for review!

I really enjoyed this sweet story about a preacher's daughter falling in love and discovering hidden truths about herself and the people around her. Zellie (short for Hazel) is a perky young girl with a huge crush on Avery Adams. She stares at him in church and at school and dreams of having the nerve to talk to him. Little does she know that he secretly feels the same way...more

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Nov 01, 2010 Lacy♪ ♫Movements of a Demigod ♪ ♫ rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: paranormal ya lovers

Shelves: ya-books, paranormal-romance, kindle, 2010, indie-books

This book truly makes you think about if you could see a glimpse into the future would you attempt to change it. Would you be better off not knowing what your future holds. The book begins with Zellie crushing on Avery during church service. You think that this is going to be a typical YA book where boy meets girl and end up with a happily every after, but Zellie and Avery's romance hits a bump in the road before it even really begins. As soon as the sparks start flying between Zellie and Avery,...more

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Oct 12, 2012 Rita rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 50-book-challenge-2012, a-to-z-reading-challenge-2012

I first heard about this book when I read "Jenny Pox". There was an excerpt at the end of it. I looked it up on GoodReads and it sounded not too bad and when I saw that it was free for the Kindle, I just got. Because who doesn't love some free books?

I have to say that I liked it and that I want to check out book two and three.

What made me gag was that Zellie and Avery made out once(!) and then they already referred to themselves as girlfriend/boyfriend. They haven't talked about it or anything,...more

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May 14, 2013 Stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 10th-grade-books-reviewed

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 27, 2013 Joy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle-freebie, paranormal, short-novella

****spoilery****

200 pages
Book 1 of 3
kindle freebie

Teen reads are definitely not my thing but the swinging reviews grabbed my interest.

A bit of teen angst, a large dose of paranormal, friendships, hormones and young love.

I laughed so hard at Zellies antics and her thoughts, my eyes watered. Ah to be a teen again.

When Zellie finally lays a hand on Avery, her wanna be boyfriend, she's confronted with a terrifying glimpse of their future and the crap is about to hit the proverbial fan.

Zellie’s a se...more

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Apr 20, 2013 Abbie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebooks, paranormal-fantasy

I'm a little disappointed with the development of this book. The plot is very interesting and I enjoyed the first few pages but it didn't captivate me at all. But there were bits and pieces that I liked and the protagonist wasn't completely hopeless so I rate this book 3 stars.

In summary, the book is about two star-crossed lovers -- Zellie and Avery; their lives doomed if they continued to be with each other because of a hereditary curse that allows Zellie to see visions of their future. Pretty...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Stephanie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own-ebook, paranormal, possible-review, romance, self-bought, series, y-a, read-in-2013

This book was an awesome quickish read! I finished it all in one setting, I couldn't put it down. I'm going to regret it later when I have to go to work on little sleep but getting to know Zellie and Avery is well worth it! I loved how they were very much aware of each other, but not so much to each other. And when they finally got together I was cheering them on.

Zellie is a preacher's daughter who feels she has a really good read on people, but she learns it's so much more than that. I loved th...more

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Mar 01, 2013 Alicia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Zellie Wells has a devastating crush on Avery Adams, the son of her mom’s high school sweetheart. At her sixteenth birthday party, held in the basement of her dad’s church, she finally finds the courage to talk to him. Turns out, the devastating crush is mutual.

As Avery takes her hand and leads her out onto the makeshift dance floor, Zellie is overwhelmed by her first vision of his death; shocking because not only are they both covered in his blood, but they’re old, like thirty-five, and she is...more

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Feb 24, 2013 Charlotte Massacre rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: cool-heroine, not-finishing, series, weird

Is it bad that I felt bad for the mom? I mean, can you imagine losing the guy of your dreams and then having him die? Everyone seemed to forget that they were lovers first, but then the mom was able to somewhat walk away. I feel that Zellie should at least try and talk it out with her mom (mostly because I want to) and see what's going on with her. She has been holding back on being with the guy of her dreams and then loses it for one night/day/whatever and has a baby! And then he dies! I feel f...more

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Dec 01, 2012 Rachel rated it 2 of 5 stars

Oh boy. Okay, to be fair I downloaded this for free to read on my iPhone when I had some free moments throughout my day. I wasn't expecting anything amazing, but I thought the premise of this book sounded like enough to hold my interest in a "I will read this in a few hours" kind of way.

Problems: stereotypical characters, stereotypical love story, every little thing was melodramatic to the extreme, and the things that were actually dramatic were completely overwritten in terms of emotion and un...more

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Nov 22, 2012 Sarah Law rated it 1 of 5 stars

I cannot fathom why so many people rated this book four or five stars. It was a waste of time to read, almost as if the author wrote it as a NaNoWriMo project and never bothered to edit it before publishing. The pacing was the biggest problem- it dragged so much that I kept thinking "when is this going to be over?" which was weird because the actual story raced through things so quickly it was like reading a book on fast forward. It's like the author only wanted to write the fun, romantic bits,...more I cannot fathom why so many people rated this book four or five stars. It was a waste of time to read, almost as if the author wrote it as a NaNoWriMo project and never bothered to edit it before publishing. The pacing was the biggest problem- it dragged so much that I kept thinking "when is this going to be over?" which was weird because the actual story raced through things so quickly it was like reading a book on fast forward. It's like the author only wanted to write the fun, romantic bits, but needed to tie it all together with a plot, so she would have the kissing love story scenes and then fill in everything else as fast as she could so she could get back to the romance.
I think the reason why it felt so slow to read was because of the poor, amateurish writing style. You've heard that writers should "show, not tell"? Well, every single word in this book is telling. There is no show, no feeling in any of it. When the characters are upset or angry, the author literally has to explain why because it is impossible for the reader to empathize with them. And that's my third complaint about this book: the characters.
There is not a single person in the story who is developed, realistic, or even remotely likeable. She has them reacting to events in ways that make no sense and only frustrate and annoy you. They are like really bad puppets that the author pushes and pulls around, making them do what she wants them to do in order to give her story a good plot. A high quality novel has the characters direct the story, not the other way around. An author should be so familiar with their characters' personalities that they can put them in a situation and setting and then watch things unfold without having to force it. This writer wanted certain things to happen in the plot, so she would have her characters react in whichever way was most convenient for the story. It was ridiculous. One second they're in love, destined to be together; five minutes later he is acting like she disgusts him; ten minutes after that he forgives her and yearns to be with her. And the mom! SO unlikeable! Worst parent ever! Worst WIFE ever!
Don't waste your time or money on this book. Even if it's free, it doesn't deserve to take up space on your kindle. There are better books out there. God help us.(less)

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Aug 30, 2012 Patricia D. rated it 3 of 5 stars

Gave it 3 because I can't give 2.5, I sort of liked it.

I read the description and was excited for the story. I thought it had the potential to be great, but was just ok for me. I didn't enjoy reading it, but liked the story enough to want to know what happens next.

2 things bothered me the most.

First, the dialogue. None of it felt natural to me. This is what I mean:

When Avery spoke it sounded like what a teenage girl would want to hear a guy say. When Zellie and the other teens spoke, it was...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Jan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, fantasy-sci-fi

This is another of the free books that I got from iBooks. It is about a young woman who discovers that she possesses extraordinary powers, including the ability to "glimpse" a snippet of other people's futures.

The book had a lot of interesting concepts. I thought it was pretty fresh and original. The writing was good. I also thought that many of the characters' reactions to various circumstances were true to life. My one major criticism is that, as the book wore on and more complex concepts were...more

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Jul 01, 2012 Megan rated it 1 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't get into it. I ended up more frustrate than entertained when I finished. The premise for Glimpse was a good idea, although it never really pans out and I was left feeling cheated. The pacing of the story was all off a lot of thing dragged and when there was a big event they were rushed and the climax come way to early in the story and everything else feels like filler.
The character have no depth at all, I just could not bring myself to care about...more

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Jun 19, 2012 Resa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Glimpse” is another young adult, supernatural-romance hybrid, but refreshingly enough it does not involve vampires and the heroine is less than helpless. Zellie Wells finds herself the next in a line of gifted Wells women, who have visions about the future…among other things that are revealed later in the book. The plot itself is fairly simple, she has a vision of something terrible and tries to stop it while dealing with a vision detailing the death of the man she loves, and a few other normal...more Glimpse” is another young adult, supernatural-romance hybrid, but refreshingly enough it does not involve vampires and the heroine is less than helpless. Zellie Wells finds herself the next in a line of gifted Wells women, who have visions about the future…among other things that are revealed later in the book. The plot itself is fairly simple, she has a vision of something terrible and tries to stop it while dealing with a vision detailing the death of the man she loves, and a few other normal teenage-romance issues and lovingly dysfunctional family. Even with the simplicity of the plot, Benefiel does manage to make it unique, bringing an interesting take on clairvoyance and a few plot points that obviously lead into the other two books of the trilogy. While “Glimpse” might not be the kind of book you have to sit down and think about when you’re finished, it’s an easy read to sit back and finish in one day. It does start slowly, and as this is a short book that can be a bit of a red flag, but once Zellie starts to have her visions things pick up fairly quickly.

The four main characters of the book are Zellie, Avery (the love interest), Claire (the best friend), and Melody (the little sister). Each of them does have a unique role to play in the book, but I was disappointed in how the characters were depicted. The dialogue, as well as Zellie’s inner monologue is littered with likes, sos, totallys, oh my gods, words with -tastic tacked on, and countless other tween speak stereotypes. While a few of these sprinkled within YA dialogue can fit, the sheer number of these within the book cause the characters to sound false. Instead of giving them unique and individual personalities, it causes the characters to sound like stereotypes, and a few times throughout the book it just made me think of my teen years and when my mom would pretend to talk like a teenager. It also makes the characters sound a lot younger than they’re supposed to be, and I had to remind myself Zellie, Avery, and Claire were supposed to 16 and not 12 or 13, and the characters just seem a lot more true and unique in the few passages where they talk like normal people. Other than the dialogue though, Benefiel does a good job of recreating those emotions of youth such as finding your first love, relying on your best friend, and struggling to understand your parents. All of these emotions ring true and it helps redeem the characters from their immature dialogue.

Benefiel’s writing style is very fluid and well put together throughout most of the book. She does an excellent job writing from the first person perspective of Zellie, but her style slips a little when she transitions into her third person descriptions of Avery (which only occur 3-4 times throughout the book) and these sections seem a little less detailed and not quite as put together. Her descriptions of visions, set apart by italic text, are also done well, creating vivid pictures and flowing smoothly back into the regular text which makes the book easy to read and follow. I would also like to congratulate Benefiel on her obvious ability to proofread. I’ve read multiple books over the past few months, some of which were put out by major publishing houses, which were lacking proper proofing and editing. Benefiel’s book is free of typos, spelling errors, and major grammar mistakes. It was a pleasant surprise.

Overall, this is the kind of book you should sit down and read all at once. While the tween dialogue does becoming increasingly annoying the further into the book you get, it is possible to get past it for the sake of an interesting, if a little simplistic, plot. The book reads quickly and Benefiel does do an excellent job of recreating certain emotions and feelings of being a teenager. I don’t think this book would hold up quite as well if it was a stand alone novel, but as the first in a trilogy it does its job well. There are parts of this book that seem to exist for the sole purpose of setting up the reader for the next book in the series (I won’t tell you what they are because that would give away a few secrets) but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, and even these sections are integrated into the current plot well enough that they don’t seem bizarre or out of place. They will leave you with unanswered questions at the end, so if you’re someone who can’t stand a book that leaves plot threads untied you won’t be too pleased. I was pleasantly surprised with Benefiel as a whole, and I think she’s created an interesting heroine in Zellie Wells. I wouldn’t put the next two books at the top of my reading list, but I won’t leave them off entirely either
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Jun 18, 2012 Sherry rated it 2 of 5 stars

So I read it for free on my iPod on iBooks, and I had some pretty high expectations because this is a published book (it's self published, but whatever).

Anyways, the cover and description sounded good (plus it was pretty popular) so I figured it must have been a good read. To be honest by the time I started the book I forgot what the description was and just started reading with no idea what this book was about (for some reason I can't find the description of books after I've downloaded them?)....more So I read it for free on my iPod on iBooks, and I had some pretty high expectations because this is a published book (it's self published, but whatever).

Anyways, the cover and description sounded good (plus it was pretty popular) so I figured it must have been a good read. To be honest by the time I started the book I forgot what the description was and just started reading with no idea what this book was about (for some reason I can't find the description of books after I've downloaded them?).

It started off pretty good, the romance was a bit fast, but it didn't really bother me. After all these kids had pined after each other for a long time. I just kind of wish she extended the awkwardness before she went straight to the 'oh my god he's so hot let's make out some more' stuff. Most of the side characters were flat, like REALLY flat. I feel like the best friend, the sister, the aunt, the grandmother, the father, Avery... basically just everyone had no real purpose in this story and weren't really their own person, and all they did was help the MC along (I forgot her name :/).

I didn't really like how the author switched POV's randomly. That only works if you're consistent with it, like two chapters in one character, two chapters in the next, etc etc. Or like every few chapters... But this was written mostly in the MC's POV and then like once in blue moon it would just randomly switch to Avery. It kind of annoyed me.

There are some really weird and disturbing things going on in this book. I'm not going to say what, but if I was dating a guy and I found that out I would NOT BE OKAY WITH IT. For example, this happened in Gossip Girl. I didn't read the books but I watched like two seasons of the show. The characters are all pretty slutty, but when this happened to Serena and Dan they were NOT OKAY WITH IT. It was too much. It's like nothing really affected the MC at all. She just kind of went along with it. She didn't really have that much emotion, and I didn't really connect well with her. Like if I went through what the MC went through I would be going crazy, I would not just accept it and hope that everything will be better.

And I don't think the character really changed from the beginning to the end. I really think this author had so much potential with this idea, but got too excited and wrote it too fast. Like especially the ending, come on, you could have given us SO MUCH MORE. There is practically no emotion in the ending, and by that time I've practically checked out. There could have been a lot more development and emotion. It ended kind of blegh.

I also felt like all the characters (well not all, but most) were immature. What kind of grown adults do the kinds of things in this book? And there's so many things that the author could have expanded on but decided not to. Anyways, maybe I'm being a bit rude, but come on, if you're self publishing a novel it should be pretty damn amazing, and this just kind of fell flat. I didn't pay attention to grammar and nothing really caught my eye, so that was good, it's just the writing that wasn't... amazing.

I don't think there's really a clear plot, I mean... it kind of goes off the description? A subplot is good, but in the end I feel like they kind of forgot about the whole Avery is supposed to die thing and focused on the subplot...

This book really isn't that memorable. While reading it I had moments where I thought "Hey, this is good..." and "I feel like a teenager on Wattpad wrote this." Because really, sometimes the level of writing felt like that (not that there aren't good writers on Wattpad, it's just... you know, the majority).

Anyways, I guess if you enjoy reading you should read this book, but only if you're a teenager that doesn't really have anything better to do. Which is essentially me. Except I did have better things to do (er, study for my exams), I just didn't want to do them. Really, this book needs some work, but hey, for a free book it definitely wasn't bad. I don't regret reading this, I'm just not happy about it.(less)

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Jun 02, 2012 GW rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle

Received this free on the kindle!

The beginning is really not that good, but it gets better. If you're interested in romance books, then you might like this book. I really do enjoy romance books, but this one was just okay.It was definitely a bit short, and I finished it in a few hours. Not much is explained in this book, and since this is a series - I hope to expect more in book #2, if I do continue reading it.

Okay, I know how some people just hate love triangles. But - I'm sorta sensing one tha...more

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May 05, 2012 Abigail rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle-freebies, reviewed

(Crossposted from Bittersweet Books)

Glimpse was a different take on a paranormal series, and I liked the ideas behind it. I enjoyed Zellie as the narrator. She's a preacher's daughter who is finally finding her way in the world and growing up. She had a very original voice, was funny and sarcastic and teenager-esque. She obsessively crushes on handsome schoolmate Avery, but their initial romance seemed very real. I loved how just completely awkward and adorkable they were together. I also enjoye...more (Crossposted from Bittersweet Books)

Glimpse was a different take on a paranormal series, and I liked the ideas behind it. I enjoyed Zellie as the narrator. She's a preacher's daughter who is finally finding her way in the world and growing up. She had a very original voice, was funny and sarcastic and teenager-esque. She obsessively crushes on handsome schoolmate Avery, but their initial romance seemed very real. I loved how just completely awkward and adorkable they were together. I also enjoyed her friend Claire and her sister Melody, who both showed a lot of growth in the novel. I liked both Zellie and Avery's family dynamics, especially in the first half. Their interactions felt very genuine--sometimes they embarrassed each other, but they always had each other's best interests at heart. Her father is awesome, level-headed and funny. He's one of the most well-rounded characters in the book.

Zellie sees glimpses into the future, but doesn't know how to act on them or what they mean at first. It's a trait that runs in her family. I thought the way the author handled that, and the rest of the supernatural aspects of the book like rewinding time, was really unique and interesting. When Zellie goes and finds out more about her developing powers, she begins to unravel a lot of secrets that have been hiding from not only her but her loved ones as well.

The book is told from Zellie's perspective in first person and alternates with Avery's in third. I thought this was quite original and gave the reader insight into what the love interest's motives were.

I struggled really, really hard whether to rate this book a 3 or a 4. The first half is well-paced, with good vivid writing, believable characters and dialogue, and a plot that seems to be unfolding organically. Then all of a sudden the mid-point hits, and the book suddenly becomes disjointed. Lots of what should be important scenes are rushed. Character development is shallow. The ending seemed very abrupt, and I actually was surprised that we were suddenly there.

With Avery, I never got a consistent sense of his character. At first, he's a really shy, dorky boy who likes Zellie, which as I said, I loved. So many times, a YA hero will be some buff jerk, but he seemed real. However, later on suddenly he does a 180. I hated the way he treated her after that, and I didn't want her to go back to him. There were definitely circumstances that affected him greatly, but it just seemed off. Even though their initial crushes on each other was really cute and realistic, their actual relationship was all about heavy petting and makeout sessions. I would have liked to have seen more conversations between the two to break up said teenage hormone fests, otherwise it just read as flat and rushed.

I did end up rating this as a 4, because I genuinely enjoyed the book and it was a quick read for me despite the flaws. The story held my interest the entire time, even while jumping around. I'll definitely be continuing the series to see what happens next. I enjoyed pretty much all the characters and the storyline, I just wish there had been a more consistent flow.(less)

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Mar 26, 2012 Beth Martin rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012

Important: DNF

Benefiel's Glimpse is clearly supposed to be some sort of attempt at paranormal YA romance that is "edgy" or at least resembling as such. Let's just nod and go with that. I got just over a third of the way through this and then had to give up in sheer disgust. I would, in fact, be quite happy to give this 0 stars, but as it stands it's more of a 0.5 ~~because I feel sorry for the author~~ because at least the new versions had a pretty cover. Where to start with this...

Basically, the h...more Important: DNF

Benefiel's Glimpse is clearly supposed to be some sort of attempt at paranormal YA romance that is "edgy" or at least resembling as such. Let's just nod and go with that. I got just over a third of the way through this and then had to give up in sheer disgust. I would, in fact, be quite happy to give this 0 stars, but as it stands it's more of a 0.5 ~~because I feel sorry for the author~~ because at least the new versions had a pretty cover. Where to start with this...

Basically, the heroine is a selfish girl more focused on her hormones than those around her. She (along with seemingly everyone else) is insistent on mistaking lust and infatuation based on shallow traits as True Love. The hero is basically just there, being unreasonably buff and intelligent for a fifteen year old, etc. (Also unreasonably horny and obsessed with pinning the heroine to various surfaces while they make out.) The adults are around to dispense 'wisdom' and be party poopers and provide angst. Everyone else just kind of exists, dropping in and out of the story mostly at the author's whim. There is no plot to speak of for at least the first third of the book other than "OMIGAWD, do you think he like, like likes me?!" and ~~torrid~~ tepid make out sessions that are inexplicably not noticed even when they take place in a church basement surrounded by a shitton of people. (Cough.) Then there's the sheer ineptitude Benefiel shows in her writing. Typos abound, formatting is beyond strange, and characters change nicknames more often than normal people go through socks. Nothing sparks or flows or grounds or breathes. It's all stale, lifeless, and utterly lacking in redemptive qualities. Worse than all of this is perhaps that it does not even cross the line to "so bad it's good."

I sound like an awful bitch in this, and perhaps I'm being an awful bitch. But the simple fact is that this eBook, while no doubt holding glimmers of potential, fell so flat it became subterranean. Poorly done, Benefiel. Poorly done. This is not recommended. (That may be the first time I've actually written that.)(less)

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Mar 22, 2012 Tiffany Mahaffy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebook, own

I had read a short story of Stacey's that came from Avery (Zellie's boyfriend) and I loved it!! This book was no different for me. Despite the fact that I learned it was difficult writing Zillie for Stacey at times, you really couldn't tell! This book was written really smoothly as far as I was concerned and gave me quite a few laughs.
To say the least Zellie is rather quirky at times and full of personality. At her 16th borthday party she begins to see things. Not like ghost or any form of dea...more I had read a short story of Stacey's that came from Avery (Zellie's boyfriend) and I loved it!! This book was no different for me. Despite the fact that I learned it was difficult writing Zillie for Stacey at times, you really couldn't tell! This book was written really smoothly as far as I was concerned and gave me quite a few laughs.
To say the least Zellie is rather quirky at times and full of personality. At her 16th borthday party she begins to see things. Not like ghost or any form of dead people but the future. To start it's really a glimpse of what will be a persons end and to say the least it is a shock. Her first thoughts are to tell her BFF Claire but it doesn't quite come as easily as she had hoped it would. She tells her mom before anyone and doesn't like how that turns out really at all. She holds back telling her friend and boyfriend until a certain circumstance forces it out of her and the results are not so awesome. However Claire is AMAZING! I think she is the best BFF/Sidekick (as she likes to call herself) ever! She is so freaking loyal and I don't think there is a bone in her entire body that could be not loyal to Zellie! She even leaves with Zellie and her sister Melody for the summer as to continue to help and support her!
For the first bit of the story you don't get to see/know much about what Zellie and her family can do. It is a lot of character building and getting to know your surroundings. I know that doesn't sound all that great but Stacey actually made it totally rock at the same time. Sometimes I feel authors either take too long or don't outline their characters well enough because of not wanting to drag it out. This was a wonderful surprise that I still wanted to read more and more even without fully knowing exactly where everything was headed and trust me there was so many ways that it could have gone! The way it went was awesome though!!
This book completely met my expectations and was a lot of fun to read!! I would like to leave you with a few humerous Zellie moments that I just can't resist sharing:
Zellie on first kiss with Avery- "...I didn't think the whole "dry hump as a first kiss"
experience was normal."
Melody on Zellie getting ready- "What are you doing in here? It smells like a freaking Bath and Body Works exploded!"
Zellie on Avery Comment- "If I had to get up at five every morning and loofah the bejeezus..."
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Jan 31, 2012 Lucy Swing rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love, love, love this story! My eyes were burning, and still are, but I had to keep on reading, I needed to know what would happen next. The suspense is amazing!
Reading about Zellie totally took me back to my teenage years, and to those school parties where you would hide in the dark corners and make out... what? no one else did that!? Oh, come on!
But best of all was to embark in this amazing journey Zellie found herself in. It wasn't an easy one, either. I mean, how messed up would it be if,...more

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Sep 24, 2011 Vonny rated it 3 of 5 stars

I love the story line and I think this book had great potential, but unfortunately Benefiel didn't really do it much justice. She started out good, but after the first few chapters, it all went downhill. Stacey Wallace proved to be inarticulate in her writing, for lack of a better word. The dialogue was awkward and the jargon was sometimes a bit tenuous. The romance was rushed and focused too much on lust. Zellie and Avery fell in "love" way too fast for my taste. And I say love with quotes beca...more

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Apr 19, 2011 Reading Teen rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was very good and had a great plot/storyline. Zellie was a good character and I liked Avery a lot. The characters were developed at a good pace and I liked Zellie and Avery's chemistry. Avery was a good boyfriend to Zellie and I like the way he was written. He was in love with Zellie from the very beginning. Avery had an innocence, yet manly approach to life, and I liked that. I was surprised to find that my favorite character was Claire, Zellie's best friend. I normally go most for th...more

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Feb 17, 2011 Casey (The Bookish Type) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebook, own

In Glimpse, Stacey Wallace Benefiel paints a very realistic portrait of teenage life. Zellie is a relatable heroine, going through all the awkwardness of first love and growing up. The decision to alternate points-of-view between Zellie and Avery is a nice touch, showing truthfully that everyone feels self-conscious at this age. The alternating perspectives also give some believability to the fast-paced love story, allowing the reader to see how far back the attraction goes and making it impossi...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
YA Golden Book Hunt: June 2013: Glimpse	3	4	Jun 01, 2013 12:25am
Goodreads Librari...: ISBN 001183191X	2	19	May 01, 2013 08:49pm
Zellie and the topic of the heroine with no backbone	7	36	May 14, 2012 07:32pm

title link	preview: Glimpse
avg rating	preview: Glimpse Goodreads rating: 3.58 (2992 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8122052-glimpse?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333585383l/8122052.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8122052-glimpse?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Glimpse by Stacey Wallace Benefiel[/url]

Glimpse (Zellie Wells #1)

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