Savourybooks

DISCLAIMER: I was sent this ARC in return for an honest review. Ryan 2014.

Meet 14-year-old Sean Malone. He has an IQ above 200, a full-ride scholarship to one of the country’s top universities, and more than one million dollars from his winning streak on Jeopardy. However, Sean wishes he could just be normal.

But his life is anything but normal. The US government manipulates him, using him as a codebreaker in pursuit of a drug lord and killing innocent people along the way. 

For reasons related to his personal security, Sean finds himself in Rome, building a new life under a new name, abandoning academics, and hiding his genius from everyone. When he’s 18 he falls in love. The thrills begin again when he learns that his girlfriend is critically ill and it’s up to him to use his intellect to find a cure, a battle pitting him against a multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical company and the demons of his past. 

Elixir is a story about identity, secrets, and above all, love

 

Such a good blurb, seriously, I love it, I fell in love with it.

Sean Malone is a character I have dreamt about over and over again since reading about the first half of the book. Ted Galdi's debut novel is set to be a massive seller in the US and hopefully a big seller over here in the UK.

I loved the main plot and how it develops, Sean and Natasha have a cool little fling that develops and flourishes throughout the book and the scene in Rome just seems too mysterious and exciting. Thrillers aren't usually my type of books but the right one can make me click and read, this was one of them.

The flaws....

It wayyy too slow at the beginning, I wish it would pick up faster just to make it an easier read, also the dialogue in some places feels long winded and long. Furthermore the writing in it wasn't 10/10 it was more like a 7/10 it wasn't great, borderline simple but hey, simplicity can be complexity.

Overall...

Judging that this is Mr. Galdi's first novel I must say it's a well thought story and the plot, character and overall ambiance is great. I can tell that he thought this through that he is a very intelligent man. I'm giving it four stars because I still have pages to read and I'm really hoping I'll enjoy it more to give it a five star recommendation status.

I'll leave you with a quote from moi about this book:

"Now is the best time to be a YA and to read YA..."

Anyways, 

R.