I’ve been following Kim Chance over on her authortube channel since last October, and when I saw her debut book available to request on Netgalley, I jumped at the chance to read it. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped. This YA urban fantasy is heavier on the romance and angst than is my taste. I found many parts of the plot to be cliche and predictable, and the ending was far from satisfying – it was more a set up for the next book, which was VERY frustrating. There are readers who will enjoy this book, but it wasn’t for me. However, I think fans of the Percy Jackson series or the Mortal Instruments series might enjoy this.

This book was slow to start but when it picked up, it picked up quickly!!!

Had a great time on the emotional roller coaster with main character Lainey. Witches, magic, and relatable characters make this a fantastic read.

I received a free copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was a decent book, but it was a little slow and meh at times. The learning of the magic was interesting but a little sparse. The characters were interesting although I didn't feel a strong connection to them.

The setting was good, would have liked a little more about the town but it was nice. I do think the friendship between Mags and Lainey was good, but I am a little sick of the geeky best friend trope.

The ending was a little off for me, it felt forced and very out of nowhere, there was no groundwork built up for one part of the storyline, I am still not sure it's not a bluff but I will see if I read the next book.

3 out of 5 stars

I just could not get into this. It was boring and I did not like the writing, nor did I like the character. I will not be writing a review.

When a 200-year-old witch attacks her, Lainey Styles is determined to find a logical explanation. Even with the impossible staring her in the face, Lainey refuses to believe it—until she finds a photograph linking the witch to her dead mother. Lainey discovers that she, like her mother, is a Keeper: a witch with the ability to unlockthe Grimoire. But there’s a problem. The Grimoire has been stolen by a malevolent warlock who is desperate for a spell locked inside it—a spell that would allow him to siphon away the world’s magic. With the help of her best friend and a street fighter, Lainey must leave her life of college prep and studying behind to prepare for the biggest test of all: stealing back the book.

Keeper
| Amazon | Waterstones |
Keeper
Kim Chance

Keeper wasn’t an awful book, but it often felt way too familiar and had a few problems with the actual writing of the book. My main issue was how repetitive it got. Here’s some examples:

Ty says ‘You ready for this, Styles?’ Twice in one page.
Repeats ‘as if she couldn’t even see him’ in the body of the text and then Lainey whispers it to herself literally in the next line.
‘The thought of being alone and on my own both terrified and thrilled me’ – alone and on my own mean the same thing..
I think I stopped counting this about 20% in (I read an ebook) so this is just too much. You can really clearly see that this is a debut novel, I hope the author will do better for the rest of the series.

It also felt extremely familiar in a way that I know the author has read and watched a lot of fantasy. Lainey was a very typical MC who found out she has powers when she comes ‘of age’. She actually calls herself Styles, which just immediately reminded me of Stiles in Teen Wolf. Someone literally says ‘You’re a witch, Lainey’, which seems like its pulled straight from Harry Potter. And just the majority of the plot line felt unoriginal. Even with Maggie spouting superhero info felt like the author was showing off her own knowledge of comic books.

On the topic of Maggie, she was an amazing secondary character and best friend. She was faithful and helpful to Lainey and I live for great female friendships shown in books. I also love that she wasn’t shoehorned off when the romance subplot came about and she will definitely be in the next book. What I didn’t like was the romance subplot (yes I know I say this about every book but I just don’t enjoy unnecessary romance plots okay???). Ty was the cliched protector of Lainey, who was kind of brooding and hot and just an all round stereotype love interest. And I hated him.

The book really picked up its pace towards the end of the book, but it did feel like this was because Lainey took too long to develop into our heroine. Because of this pick up however I found the final part really exciting and intriguing. There were some great plot twists and I would probably pick up the sequel because of them. But this is more of a ‘I’ll pick it up if I see it’ rather than a run to pre-order kind of interest.

POSITIVES
+ Female friendships

+ Plot twists and pick up near end

NEGATIVES
– Repetitive writing

– Romance sub plot was boring

– Unoriginal

I received Keeper by Kim Chance from the publisher via Netgalley. This is an unbiased and honest review.

"All great wars are fought over power."

While I really wanted to love this book, I just couldn't find it in me to rate it any higher than three stars. The first 20% sucked me in. Lainey is the typical, everyday girl that is completely unsuspecting. Her observant but sassy character was refreshing and captivating to begin with. Then, the weird and rather creepy encounter between her and the witch takes place, and the plot's individuality and pacing goes downhill from there.

One of the biggest issues I had with this book was that Lainey persistently believed that she needed to handle these supernatural situations alone--when she lives with her uncle and his obviously "witchy" girlfriend. (view spoiler) If you live with someone who speaks about your energy regularly, and practices rituals religiously, I'd think that would be a great resource to confide in after an experience like Lainey had with encountering the dead woman. I get that some people might think you are crazy for saying these things, but that's not the case here. It's simply too obvious of a solution.

As Lainey continues to deny the fact that she's seeing a ghost that is trying to communicate with her, the plot drags on for the first half of the book. Lainey meets a mysterious character named Ty, who is of the tall, dark, and handsome sorts. He instantly becomes a love-interest for Lainey, although she tries to deny that as well. Lucky for her, Ty knows more about this world she is encountering than she.

As Lainey uncovers the secret behind these odd encounters with the woman, she realizes she's very unprepared to deal with the responsibility that has been set in her lap. Too many times these types of characters become overly-capable in an unrealistic time-frame. A crash course in self-defense turns people into super-heroes, which is what happened here. I would have liked to see more of a progression in Lainey's abilities rather than the instantaneous progression that happened.

Despite its short-comings, this was an entertaining read. It wasn't as in-depth, or original as I was hoping. However, its characters were likable, had some depth, and the main topic was unique. It simply needed more focus on its uniqueness in order to help it gain some distinguishability.

Vulgarity: Moderate - 64 words counted.
Sexual Content: Minimal.
Violence: Moderate.

My Rating: ★★★

Mini review:

This book was a lot of fun! I especially loved Lainey and Maggie’s friendship. The comic book references were fun. I also liked Gareth and Serena. I didnt mind Ty. And would definitely like to see where his story will go in the next book.

Would recommend.

I didn't realize I'd had this one sitting on my Kindle for so long, and I'm disappointed I waited so long to read it.

This was a solid, fun paranormal adventure. Lainey is an ordinary girl thrust into an extraordinary world, embracing her destiny and the trials that come with it. I enjoyed her character backstory of trying to finish school early to go out in the world and make her own adventures, but I thought it got a little lost in the main story, as these things tend to do. I really loved the little bits of magic in the beginning, before she realizes what she is. They were well timed, cleverly done and made me smile. I do wish the beginning had picked up a little sooner because it took until about halfway through before I had a big picture. It might have worked I think if the book was a little longer.

The ghost angle was neat. It was the right touch of spook and mystery that really helped the book along. Also, female hereditary legacy? Yes please! I love stories with that kind of history behind them.

The romance that builds up was good. A little cheesy, as these tend to be, with first meetings and that why do I feel so connected to you? trope. That said, typical or not, I rooted for it. I knew there was a secondary purpose behind Ty's presence in town, and it wasn't exactly hidden.

Now this is just personal preference, but I really despise it when a character, main or secondary, has one overriding hobby in their life and it spills out in almost every line of dialogue. This title goes to Maggie, Lainey's best friend and lover of comic books. The references to radioactive spiders and X-Men and the Avengers got old so dang fast. And that's why I don't like those kinds of characters. It's gets so overdone and feels unrealistic. Any chance to show off a parallel to a superhero was taken advantage of and it made Maggie very annoying and childish. And I love Marvel as much as the next girl, just like I love other things to the core. But I have never, nor do I know anyone else in any circle other than tv, movies and books, try to cram in something about Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings every sentence that exits my mouth.

And this is a bit of a spoiler, so beware, but the big climax scene kind of irked me. How did no one catch on to the fact that by transforming someone's appearance to look like another doesn't mean you smell like them too? You can twist and paint and shift someone's outward appearance to look like someone else, but you will still have your own individual smell. Using the idea that by making Maggie look like Lainey to confuse someone who uses scent to find someone is preposterous, and really wrecked the logic of the book for me. And the fact that it worked in the book when that logic is staring you right in the face and proving it all wrong is almost insulting. Also, the whole Ty being on the other team felt weak. If anyone was following his words and actions, it was clear he was against the Master, tattoo or no. He was trying to save Maggie, and only revealed himself to make it work. I didn't understand how no one could see that, especially Lainey. It made for a disappointing end to a fun book.

4.5 Stars

I received an arc of this via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Maybe it's me, maybe I haven't read a lot of witchy YA books, but I found this plot to be original and fun to discover. I quite enjoyed the storyline and I LOVED the characters.

I liked Kim's writing style, it was easy to follow and fun to read. I feel like there will probably be another book after this one, to bring the story full circle, and I would definitely read it.

Lainey is over analytical and scientific but it works for her. She has some MAJOR freak outs but honestly, I can't blame the girl, I would too.

Maggie. A++ to Maggie! She's obsessed with comic books and she's a best friend who actually stays around for the duration of the book. That doesn't happen a lot in YA. Usually, the best friend gets pushed away as other characters get introduced but Maggie makes her place in Lainey's world well known.

Ty. Ty is around too conveniently for my taste.

Gareth and Serena. I love these two. They are very well rounded "side" characters. I love what they bring to the story.

The Master. Honestly, all I could think about when I was reading about the Master was the Magister from The Infernal Devices series by Cassie Clare.

All in all, if you like Paranormal YA books you will most likely enjoy this one!

Lainey is an endearing protagonist who is genuine shock at finding there is another hidden layer of her life that she knows nothing about had me immediately on her side. The inevitable loss of pace as she struggles to come to terms with what is happening to her is nicely mitigated by her loyal, geeky friend who and watches scads of supernatural/superhero stories and is beside herself with excitement to find that her life is suddenly mirroring those of her heroes. Chance is deft with the humour while keeping up the pace and tension. And indeed, the pace never truly lets up as Lainey is confronted with one disturbing truth after another, as the situation becomes ever more desperate. For she is confronted with a truly horrible antagonist. I very much like the fact that despite never leaving Lainey’s viewpoint, we become fully aware of just what a nasty piece of work The Master is. We are also very clear as to why he is so strongly motivated to get hold of her and while she is ‘the chosen one’ that rapidly becomes far more of a life-shortening burden as Chance relentlessly continues to ramp up stakes. This book became quite difficult to put down once we reached a certain stage.

The inevitable romance was well handled, though I was intrigued when Lainey’s ear tips kept getting hot every time she was too close to her heartthrob. I was pleased to see that the romance stayed firmly within the bounds of the YA genre and didn’t stray into New Adult territory. As ever in a successful fantasy adventure, the supporting characters were also key to providing a rounded, entertaining story that kept the pages turning. And just when I thought I knew where this one was headed, it took off into another direction.

At present, it is being presented as a stand-alone, however, I really would like to see what happens next, and I am hoping this story is sufficiently successful that the publishers will request another book. I, for one, want to read more about Lainey and that grimoire…
8/10

DNF. I didn't finish this book because it wasn't really what I expected.

Lainey Styles is a high school student who pretty much has her life planned out. She wants nothing more than to be able to leave her small town life behind and explore the world around her.
However, all her meticulous plans come crashing down around her when she discovers most of what she knows about herself is a lie.
Thrust into a world of magic and the impossible, Lainey must learn how to navigate in this new world while facing enemies who are after her unique gift.
Lainey is not alone, as she is aided by her best friend Maggie, and new-to-school Ty. Together, they try to help Lainey discover her family's history and her true self.
Keeper is filled with magical creatures such as witches and werewolves. Lainey must learn who she can trust, and who is working for the enemy.
Initially, I wasn't too enthused but as the story moved on and the pace quickened, I began to enjoy reading to find out what happens next to Lainey. The ending is a bit abrupt in my opinion, leaving off as a teaser for the next book in the series.
Keeper is a story aimed at teenagers and young adults, especially those who enjoy fantasy elements mixed with a hint of romance.

This eARC was provided to me via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC copy of this title from the wonderful publisher, Flux Books, in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve been following Kim Chance’s writing journey online and through her Youtube platform for over 2 years now. I was beyond excited that Keeper was going to be published and for Kim to realize her dreams. So when I got a chance to review an ARC copy of Keeper, I was over the moon.

First off. This book was my last read of 2017. I read it one day. There is no way I could have picked a better book to end off a year of exceptional reading.

Secondly, HOLY CRAPKITTENS!

First let’s talk about the characters. The main character, Lainey Styles, is an extremely lovable, strong, relatable character reminiscent of the beloved, Hermoine Granger in a lot of ways. Throughout the story she is definitely put through some major trials and emotional turmoil (kudos Kim). I rooted for Lainey throughout the entire novel, her entire arc felt believable, engaging and full. Her best friend, Maggie, is just an amazing character. I could have read a whole story just focused on her.

The friendship the girls have with each other is beautiful, organic and you can truly feel the connection between the two of them. The subtle nuances the author used add depth to the characters and the wonderful pop culture references enhance the humour within the story. Who doesn’t love a Supernatural reference anyway? The girls have an undying support for each other. A literary friendship that the YA genre can always use to mirror a healthy supportive relationship for young individuals.

The pacing of the novel was on point throughout. I was never left feeling like the story lagged, or was pushing forward so fast that as a reader I couldn’t catch my “breathe”. It was well balanced between the action and hooks to get to more information. Every chapter I was lead to something new and organic to the story. Lainey was a constant, accepting her fate, yet never feeling forced, but very natural for her character. As a reader, it's a breathe of fresh air to read a character like that.

The emotional rawness of the book was fantastic. Getting those big moments to build up, only to satisfy the reader the way it did… Fantastic!! … I’m still looking at you Tyler and Gareth…

The book left off with a cliffhanger in many respects. I appreciated that ALOT. It felt like the loose ends were “just” tied up enough to not feel like the story missed its climactic mark, but only left me as a reader wanting to immediately dive into the second book (kudos, again Kim.)

As a debut novel, for Kim Chance I am immediately hooked on her writing style. Her voice as an author comes through like a melodic dance. Dare I say reminiscent of J.K. Rowling, her voice echoed throughout the book, while the characters perfectly fit the story.

As the tagline of the book says, “Magic always leaves a Mark”… Keeper certainly did that. I was moved, I laughed, I cried, I felt engaged in the characters and I can’t wait to carry on with their journey on book 2. This book I am sure will be an instant classic.

I found this book enjoyable although it was easy for me to put down and walk away from. I thought that the author set up the world really well. Kim Chance was able to use the classic main character doesn't know anything so we as readers get to learn along side of her when things are explained to her. I appreciated that the author also lets the reader learn about Keepers/witches through other means as well. I can't say how she does this because I don't want to reveal anything but it was my favorite aspect of the story.
I felt like all of my questions were answered over the course of the book except for maybe one but I can guess what the answer is to that one. I loved the run-ins with the "200-year-old witch" that Lainey has. They were both informative and interesting. I feel like they kept the story moving along
The whole reason I struggled with whether to rate this book a 2.5 or 3 was due to the characters and their development. I began the book liking Lainey and her Uncle but that changed as the book progressed. Lainey seemed to have a good head on her shoulders but only believed in things that she could see scientific proof of in the world. I do find myself pulled more into books wherein the characters are not easily swayed into believing supernatural elements too easily. I got annoyed with how she seemed to have no regard for her safety and being more concerned about boys than bigger issues at hand. Her uncle was the only character that I loved the entire time even though he is not a main character. Initially, I liked Lainey's best friend but after a little while it felt as if the author was shoving it in my face how much she liked comics. I felt like every sentence out of her mouth was a comic reference.
I think that I would like to read the next book in the series because it seems as if Lainey has a change of heart at the end. I'm hoping that she is more bad@$$ in the sequel and with the events that took place towards the end of the book it seems as if the next one will be even more action packed than this one.

Keeper was a fun and entertaining paranormal romance that took me back to the days when I first discovered this genre. This book transported me back to middle school Miranda who was obsessed with all YA paranormal romances. Reading this book felt like a fun getaway.

One of the best things about this book was the characters. The author did a wonderful job at making each character feel so realistic. The characters genuinely felt like real teenagers. None of the characters felt forced or too adult to be a teenager. I felt like I was hanging out with my best friends! Each character was lovable, hilarious, and unique in their own way. I WANT TO HUG THEM AND LOVE THEM FOREVER.

The female friendships in this book were AMAZING. I loved how this author didn't forget how important female friendships are in books. The female friendships warmed my heart and brought many smiles to my face. The romance in this book was predictable, however, I was totally into it. The romance had so many swoony and sweet moments! My inner middle school self was squealing with happiness. I SHIP IT.

Even though a majority of this book was predictable and had many YA tropes, the author still introduced surprising plot points. The paranormal element of this story was interesting and presented some exciting plot development. The last chapters of the book were action-packed and full of twists and turns! I blew through those chapters! I am excited to see if the author will write a sequel because there are so many things that can be explored in this world!

If you are someone who use to be obsessed with YA paranormal romances and want to be taken back to that time, then I definitely would recommend checking this book out!

3. 5 / 5 Fangs

*This ebook was given to me in exchange for an honest review. *

Great debut book. Keeper is a adrenaline filled read, that kept me turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next. It is well written, with a great plot and characters. Amazing world building as well. I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Netgalley.

If you are a regular reader of YA and fantasy you will quickly see where this book is going. However, along the way there a many unexpected turns, giving the book that little something extra that keep you interested all the way through. As for the characters I especially liked Maggie, the geeky comicon-loving sidekick who would absolutely love becoming a supernatural being!

Lainey's biggest concern is to study and ace the SAT's. Or so she thought until she runs into a ghost who starts following her. The spirit knows her name and is continuously sending her visions trying to warn her. As Lainey begins to piece things together, she realizes that the ghost is connected to her in a way she never thought possible and not only that but Lainey is a witch. Family secrets are brought to the forefront, and she must learn to control her powers to protect herself and the ones she loves from people that will stop at nothing to possess them.

I liked this story a lot. It did take a while to get into the meat of the story and for the action to kick in. But the last 30-40% of the story was the best part when all the puzzle pieces came together and then it started getting really good. I feel like this book set up for future ones and that's why it took a little for the book to get into a good rhythm. I enjoyed the characters especially her best friend and her constant superhero references.