3,5 stars

What a fun ride! An enjoyable debut novel with lovable characters and an interesting plot. I really liked our main protagonist Lainey, she is smart and precious. I LOVED her friendship with Maggie, Maggie is such a hoot and also a comic geek!

The secondary characters pale in comparison to Lainey, though, I hope that in a possible future sequel they will be more developed. The insta love also bugged me in this book, I'm just so not a fan of that.

But that ending! GAAHHHH, I need more!

This book is what I like to call a "slow burn". It started off at a steady pace and continued at a steady pace until the end where it exploded into an awesome end.

The book starts off introducing the Lainey and her "sidekick" which is referred to often in the book, and who I personally adore - I don't know what it is with me and the side characters in books but damn she's just so awesome I can't help myself.

The book progresses into learning about the Lainey's past and her role as being the Keeper of the Grimoire - reminded me truly of Charmed and their protection of the Book of Shadows and that's one of my favourite shows of all time - and then we learn about all the twists and turns of Lainey's past (spoilers upon spoilers so no mention here) but some twists, some turns, some predictable spots but overall exciting.

The one liners in this book are epic - by one liners I mean solid laugh out loud lines that I just had to re-read multiple times for more chuckles before I moved on because they were that entertaining. I did not think this book would have that much humor in it and I absolutely adored that! SUPER AWESOME.

I definitely recommend this book - I don't read much about witches, etc. this had a plethora of supernatural beings in it which is exciting and I definitely think it's set up for another book - at least I hope so, I'd read more of this world.

How would you react if you went from being a normal high school kid with a plan for your future to seeing ghosts, finding out the paranormal is real, and everything you thought you knew about your family was wrong? These are the challenges Lainey faces in this book.

Lainey is almost 17. She is a straight A student, with a plan for her life. Then she starts seeing a ghost, which sets events into motion. With her best friend, and a cute guy she just met to help her figure out what's going on. Then the help of her Uncle and his girlfriend Lainey tackles struggles bigger than any high schooler should have to handle.

This book was amazing. It had me on the edge of my seat, grinning from ear to ear and crying at times. I would highly recommend it. With a few minor kissing scenes and a couple of violent scenes I would say it is still appropriate for kids over the age of 13.

I really loved this book. It was so fast-paced and incredibly action-packed. The characters and their relationships were so great and incredibly relatable. I loved the story-line and how there were two storylines that almost paralleled and crossed over each other at times. One of the things I loved the most was how the story was grounded in reality with all the pop-culture and comic book references; it made it so much more real.

Keeper, the debut novel by Kim Chance, is a coming of story. Keeper is the story of Lainey Styles. She is your typical everyday overachiever. She wants to leave her little sleepy town for college. Lainey has a quirky best friend, Maggie, who is into comic books and tries to keep her active in social life. While at a party she really doesn't want to be at, Lainey meets a guy named Ty. But she also gets a fright when she sees a ghostly image that calls her by name and then she blacks out. As if this isn't bad enough, her world is about to get flipped upside down when she learns her family secret. Together, with her Uncle, her Uncle's gf, her best friend, and this new guy, Lainey ventures down memory lane to figure out how all these pieces fit together.

I really enjoyed this book. It was well written and entertaining throughout. The book left me wanting more of the story. I am looking forward to book 2.

I received a copy of this book thru NetGalley in return for my honest review.

First off, I wanted to thank Net Galley for my ARC copy of this book. I'm beginning to love the reviewing world, even though I'm still a "Newb".

I don't honestly have much to say other than I truly loved this book. I needed a book that was geared to YA to refresh my mind, and bring me back to pace after a very rough end of the school year. It was pleasant, and Chance kept me guessing. I would think I know what's going on, then she would switch it up. This series, whether it be two books or more, has great potential. If you love witches, magic, fantasy and strong female characters this book is for you.

The writing in this book is geared towards younger ages, however, I'm not one of those that has a problem with that. After all, I've said before: When reviewing books it's important to remember who actually tried and successfully wrote and published the book and who is just reviewing. This writer will do well I think, and I for one am looking forward to any of her future books!

I really enjoyed reading Keeper! It took so many turns I hadn't expected, which kept me reading more! I got attached to all the characters and thought the plot was solid. I am really a fan of Kim's writing style, the kind of no-nonsense writing where there's the perfect amount of description, dialogue, and prose. I can't wait for the sequel!

Lainey Styles has her life planned out and it doesn't involve staying in Lothbrook , Georgia where Superhero Saturday at the comic book store is a major event. While her best friend Maggie is busy flirting with the other "super-nerds", she is trying to study for her SAT's. Lainey is rescued from an obnoxious "Thor" when the handsome new guy in town, Ty, pretends to be her boyfriend. Later that night when she steps outside Lainey hears a woman screaming her name; she is covered in blood...only nobody else can see her.
Lainey soon learns that she is linked to this woman, Josephine DuCarmont, who was a powerful witch, a Keeper. She was murdered by an evil Warlock who stole the Grimoire in order to siphon its power. Lainey must steal back the Grimoire and hide it before the Warlock's henchmen find her and hurt those she loves.

Overall this novel had a good storyline that might appeal more to the younger end of the YA scale. The story line felt unfinished and I am not sure if there is a plan for a second book to tie up loose ends. The novel takes a while to explain what is happening to Lainey and you don't really get a chance to explore the mythological and magical aspect of the novel before it ends. Overall this YA fantasy has a good storyline that could be well developed as a series or at least second novel.

I really enjoyed this book, the pacing is fast, it's a total page turner and the paranormal elements are delivered and built at just the right speed to draw the reader in. The dialogue between Lainey and Maggie works really well, it's bubbly and girly and makes the MC very likeable.
The paranormal elements were so very intriguing, I didn't know if I would like a paranormal book, but I've changed my mind! I really felt that the author's imagination came alive with the paranormal world building and I feel like there's so much more to be explored in a sequel.

Despite this book having a very young adult feel to it, mainly due to the writing and the dialogues, I was positively surprised by how much I ended up enjoying it.

Things that really worked for me:
• Those great, lovable characters
• That adorable and precious friendship between the protagonist and her BFF
• The intriguing plot and world building
• The action sequences
• The tragedies
• The ending

Things I didn't love:
• Sometimes drawn-out writing
• The flashbacks (though that's just me - I don't like flashbacks, no matter how important they are for the storyline)

This was exciting and original. Can't wait to get my hands on the sequel.

This was a wonderful title with magic, romance, humor, and suspense. I enjoyed Lainey’s character from the beginning. She was highly relatable and easy to understand. Her reluctance to believe was quite believable and her eventual acceptance was kept to nice pace. Maggie’s character was a little harder for me to embrace. Her constant comic book references were annoying at first, yet became bearable as the book went on. These references can become confusing to those not in the know, yet are seen that way through Lainey’s eyes, which does help. I feel that these references, and some about pop culture (minions t-shirt), may date the book and keep it from the test of time.

The story moved along very nicely, with continuing action abound. The beginning chapters seemed to drag on a little bit, but I was quickly sucked in. The romance was played out uniquely and with lots of heart and sweetness. There was an unexpected twist towards the end that keeps the reader guessing, and hoping, long after the book is finished. The book was left with plenty of room for a series to follow, and one that will be eagerly waited for.

the link goes likes on the blog on January 21st 2018.

The cover for this book is absolutely stunning. I love the green colour and after reading this book I can tell you the girl on the cover is exactly how I pictured the MC, Lainey. The blurb definitely has that, I need to know more vibe.

To begin, I want to start with the bad points. I found the pacing of this novel really hard as it was super slow. Normally it takes me about ten days to read a book on my kindle as I aim for 10% each evening that I read. But this book was so slow it made my brain hurt. Things definitely picked up again towards the end of the book which was amazing. It gave me the same vibe as Zoe Sugg's book Girl Online where it was clearly written for a younger audience. 

There's a lot of modern references in this book. As someone who is used to things like comic book stores (thank you Big Bang Theory), this was easy to follow but I feel like younger audiences might get a little confused or have to look up a few things. 

The story brings us Lainey, a teenage girl who knows nothing about the truth of her past. A mysterious boy shows up and a lot of unexpected things start to happen in her life. Lainey's best friend is quirky and I love how she's always willing to help her no matter what the issue is. 

Side note: I also love the fact our villains have the same nickname - The Master.

The story itself isn't too bad. There are lots of twists and turns, along with a whole cast of supernatural characters. Overall, I did enjoy the story, but the pacing kept me from being able to fully immerse myself in it. 

If you like YA then it's definitely a book to try. I loved all the supernatural elements to it.

3.5 stars – This novel deserves more than a generic “like” but I can’t put it with those novels that I “really like”. I enjoy that occasional novel that you don’t have to work too hard at but is still fun and engaging. What isn’t enticing about witches, ghosts and magic? This story succeeded at entertaining me without a lot of insulting fluff. This was all I was really looking for at the time. While the characters and plot were not in-depth, the writing flowed easily and the characterization was good. I really liked Lainey and her best friend Maggie. I am curious about Ty. The dialogue didn’t feel forced, the banter seemed realistic and the story was fast paced.

I am generally annoyed by too many pop references in a story. I don’t read comics so all the super hero references were lost on me. They did seem appropriate for the target age group though. Many novels in this genre seem to have no ending but rather set the reader up to buy another and another book. I always feel cheated by these cliff hanger novels. The author assumes the reader will enjoy the book enough to keep buying them. This is something I expect from chapter books but for an actual novel, this tactic rarely works for me. I was pleased that this book did have an ending but left no doubt that another novel would follow. This will not be (for me) a particularly memorable novel. Still, it was enjoyable and should the next novel come out before it leaves my memory then I am sure I will buy it. If you want a fun, fast read then Keeper fits the bill.

Thank you to Flux and NetGalley for providing a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Kim Chance’s “Keeper” is a refreshing breath of air when it comes to contemporary fantasy, a popular YA genre these days. It has heart, action, a love interest, and a strong female friendship. The cast of characters were developed enough to stand on their own feet and feel real. None of the side characters melted into each other or the background. I enjoyed each of them for their unique personalities and contribution to the plot.

The dialogue flowed and was realistic. Descriptions made me feel as if I was experiencing everything firsthand and drew me into the story. Many scenes were unpredictable and that increased their excitement and my enjoyment of them. The story flowed naturally and no scene felt forced or out of place. There were no filler scenes, each scene contributed to and progressed the plot.

The main character Lainey had a definite character arc, which is more than a lot of books on the market can say. She is smart, and strong in an emotional sense more than a physical sense (though she can kick butt when required!) What I love most about Lainey is her devotion to her family and friends. She would do anything for them. I also enjoy how Lainey deals with every supernatural thing thrown at her in a natural progression of denial to reluctant acceptance, which was refreshingly realistic in contemporary fantasy.

If you’re looking for a book with strong female friendship, this is it. Maggie and Lainey are a true representation of best friends who support and love each other. Whenever one calls, the other comes to her aid immediately. They trust and believe in one another, and Maggie is completely on board with whatever Lainey has planned. I love how Maggie is not only the first person Lainey tells about her ghost encounter, but it’s also the first thing she does after the encounter. Which is such a realistic best friend move. Another minor example of their friendship is how Maggie gives up a date because she promises Lainey she’d help her study, but then Lainey insists she goes on the date. I’d be giving away spoilers to mention the dozens of other instances Maggie and Lainey have each other’s backs. It’s a joy to read their friendship.

Side note: Maggie is an amazing character who loves all things comics and has amazing references to those comics she loves most. It’s fun to read as a fellow super hero nerd.

The magic system is only brushed upon in this book, which makes sense since Lainey is just learning about it and the story is from her point of view. I enjoy how she struggles to control her powers, how they’re tied to her emotions, and how it takes a lot of her energy to use magic. It makes for good realism and a counter balance to magic. You might be powerful and able to do extraordinary magic, but you will be dead dog exhausted after using it. I also loved how it was physically represented as green lightening.

I found the praetorian bond a little confusing since it wasn’t fully explained (I’m sure it will be explained more in future books) and a tiny bit cheesy, but otherwise I highly enjoyed the range of supernaturals Chance introduced and how she altered even the most familiar supernatural creatures (werewolves and fey) to make them unique in her world.

The big baddie wasn’t really present until the end (except in flashbacks), but he was satisfyingly psychotic and manic and twisted. This book actually brought me to tears at one point (I won’t say which to avoid spoilers) and I physically felt Lainey’s pain.

I was less emotionally connected with Josephine (the ghost of the 200 year old which) and her flashback story, but I did enjoy the information provided during those flashbacks and the use of flashbacks to iron out some background info. It was creatively done on Chance’s part.

There were some recognizable tropes, but they were tropes I enjoyed: meets boy by pretending he’s her boyfriend to ward of unwanted suitor; BFF loves fashion and thrusts it on friend who doesn’t like fashion (especially heels); masquerade ball thrown by antagonist; a tiny bit of insta-connection where she feels instantly drawn to the boy and he feels familiar; Lainey has a habit of babbling which she hates but others find endearing; uses passing out at the end of several chapters (which actually makes sense because magic drains her to the point of passing out at times). As you can tell these are very minor, verging on picky. This is how picky I had to get to find a ‘fault’ with this book and they aren’t even necessarily faults because they didn’t detract from the book at all.

Overall this book was a joy to read and, had I had the time, I would have read it in one sitting. The pacing had me wanting to know what happened next and there were many surprises throughout the book that I didn’t predict. I’d call it a great debut novel, but it’s more than that. It’s a great book on its own, debut or not. I don’t want to limit it’s storytelling to being good ‘for a first novel’ as some people may interpret the phrase ‘great debut novel.’ It’s a fun whirlwind story of magic, family, love, and learning who you are that draws you in from the first scene. I’ll definitely be picking up a physical copy when it hits stores January 30th 2018. Hopefully Kim won’t make us wait too long for the second book!

would like to thank net galley and the publisher for letting me read this amazing book

and what a book it was...full of adventures and magic...the next series to read after harry potter...i cant wait for the next book

it was so entertaining i couldn't put the book down.. so much was going on

<b>WrensReads Review:</b>

This reminds me a lot of Cassandra Clare’s first books. The story is very interesting and something that is unique and will draw you in, but the writing is young and the characters are a little weak. Her writing was aimed for young adults but the way it was written seemed to be towards a younger audience. With that said, I have high hopes for Kim Chance because Cassandra Clare has become such an amazing author and weaver of stories and has become one of my favorite authors to obsess over.

There are a lot of pop-culture references in this book. I’m talking comic book stories, television shows, and literally anything else you can nerd-out about. I’m a professional nerd, so it was easy to breeze through for me; but for some people, it might be confusing.

We have a teenage girl who has unexpected things happen to her and a past she wasn’t aware of. We have a mysterious boy who seems to be a street fighter and somehow involved in all of it. We have a quirky best friend who is willing to do anything and everything to help the main heroine. And we have The Master, who is the big bad and someone <b>you do not want to mess with</b>.

There are a lot of supernatural creatures and humanoids in this, and it was really fun to see how all of that was woven into the story. I really did enjoy this book, but it might have been too young for someone in their mid-twenties. I’ll probably pick up the next book because I see Chance as someone who is just now growing into the writer she is going to be. Plus, if this story is any indicator of the story-teller she is, then I am eager to see what else her brain is holding!

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I received a copy of Keeper from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Keeper is the debut novel by Kim Chance. It’s about a girl whose entire world gets turned upside down after a series of revelations about her heritage. It’s a fast read and is perfect for fans of young adult dystopian novels.

Spoiler Warning

Warnings first: The villain (and his minions) of this series like the idea of using the threat of rape to get the women in the series to do what they want. Thankfully it never goes beyond threats, but they are still upsetting scenes, especially for some.
I think Keeper had a lot of potential as a series, unfortunately on the whole I just found myself not loving it. It was a decent and quick read though, and if I’m being honest the main reason I didn’t enjoy is more is because I spotted a plot hole early on that I had trouble getting over (more on that later). Otherwise it wasn’t that bad – it’s a perfect example of its genre, which I’m a fan of.
We start out with Lainey, our main character, freaking out studying for the SATs, which for the moment is the biggest concern in her life. Clearly whatever event happens in the novel hasn’t occurred yet, and poor Lainey has no idea what she’s in for. The plot starts rolling pretty quickly, with Lainey having disturbing visions of a dead woman; from there things sort of cascade for our heroine, until she’s in a battle for her life (and more).
Lainey is an interesting character – she’s a bit all over the place at times, but it’s still very clear that she’s truly a good person. Even better, she’s got a supportive best friend to help her through all her turmoil’s (which go way above and beyond standard teenager problems). I actually really enjoyed watching Lainey’s transition; she went from being a girl completely absorbed with SATs and her academic future, to a girl on the run for her life, trying to figure out how to best stop the big bad in her life.
I mentioned earlier that I noticed a plot hole (or two, depending on how to look at it) pretty early on in the book; (spoiler warning) if I’m correct about my assumptions of how the Grimoire works, then there were a few obvious ways to stop the villain from getting what he wants. First, the Grimoire needs to be activated by somebody of DuCarmont blood to unlock it, yes? So instead of worrying about protecting the Grimoire, why not just insure that the line doesn’t continue? I understand that Josephine didn’t plan to continue her line, but presumably this would have occurred to any one of the other women between her and Lainey, surely? I’m going to assume the Grimoire was indestructible as well, because I imagine one of them would have tried that at some point, so I’ll leave out any analyzing about that potential.
On the whole Keeper was a decent read, with a different spin on a coming of age story. I liked Lainey and her best friend, and how together they seemed capable of getting through anything (also, how brave must the best friend be to be a human that stands up against all these monsters?). I’ll be curious to see what Kim Chance comes out with next.

The cover is just so breathtaking! It was the reason I got interested in the book in the first place.

Keeper teels the story of Lainey who discovers that she is a witch: But she is not just any witch. She is the last descandant of a very powerful family of witches and therefore destined to be the Keeper. It allows her to access a very powerful book of magic, called the Grimoire, which was stolen by the evil "Master". He has been trying to get his hands on the book and access a certain spell for generations and no he is after Lainey because she is the only one left who is able to access the Grimoire.

The first third of the book was very promising. I liked the mystery that Chance created, especially around Ty, and I liked that Maggie is such a comic nerd! Well, not only comics. There are also very nice quotes featuring Star Wars. It was just awesome to listen to her talking that way. A very limited number fo my friends knows what I am talking about when I quote such things or talk about them. So I totally understand and adore Maggie! Lainey's shifts in mood where a little bit too much rollercoaster for me and it was so easy to tell what was going to happen that I grew a little disappointed.

I find it good though that there will probably be a second book. I feared at some pint that Chance would try to pack everything in one book. What troubled me was that everything was happening so fast after the first half of the book. The decisions that were made felt as if Lainey just wanted to do something instead of nothing. She thought nothing through and did not see what was happening right in front of her eyes and still does not (if I am correct). But that remains to be seen in the next book (of there is going to be one).

Thank your very much to Netgalley, Flux and Chance for a chance to read and review this arc.

Arc was exchanged for an honest review, I am giving this one 3.5-4 stars. While I found the blurb really interesting and the cover is beautiful I was quite surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did.

I was so happy, this one has everything you want in a paranormal story, action, magic and great characters.

"Magic always leaves a mark"

This story is set in a small southern town, and the authors words captured me. Keeper is written in first person with the main character called Lainey, she is to learn more abut her witch ancestry, The romance is sweet, it dose not have a insta love feel.

I am glad I tried this one, and happy with the outcome and overall story.