Manifest by Artist Arthur

Title:  Manifest

Author:  Artist Arthur

Genre:  Young Adult

Publisher:  Harlequin  

Publication Date: 1st August 2010

ISBN:  9780373831968

Stand alone or series:  Series

Pages:  250

Book Received from:  Net Galley

First Lines: "I can't hear you, I can't hear you," I repeat, talking to myself.  Maybe if I keep saying it the voice will go away.

Synopsis
When fifteen-year-old Krystal Bentley moves to Lincoln, Connecticut, her mom's hometown, she assumes her biggest drama will be adjusting to the burbs after living in New York City.

But Lincoln is nothing like Krystal imagined. The weirdness begins when Ricky Watson starts confiding in her. He's cute, funny, a good listener—and everything she'd ever want—except that he was killed nearly a year ago. Krystal's ghost-whispering talents soon lead other "freaks" to her door—Sasha, a rich girl who can literally disappear, and Jake, who moves objects with his mind. All three share a distinctive birthmark in the shape of an M and, fittingly, call themselves the Mystyx. They set out to learn what really happened to Ricky, only to realize that they aren't the only ones with mysterious powers. But if Krystal succeeds in finding out the truth about Ricky's death, will she lose him for good?

My Thoughts

As soon as I'd finished reading the synopsis I thought,"I'd have to get my hands on this!" So when I requested to review this through Net Galley I was stoked when this appeared in my account.

This was a surprisingly quick read for me.  It's written from Krystals point of view in first person, present tense.  I enjoyed reading this right from the get go.  The writing style is simple and kept my attention from start to finish.

At first the story starts off slow, with Krystal dealing with the usual teen stuff like school and coping with a move but it also involves her trying to deal with why (which she doesn't know) her mother left her father in New York and moved out of there and into a house with Gerald her new husband.  It picks up when Ricky makes his appearance and it just keeps getting better from there.

I also like the fact that Krystal isn't alone in the "special powers" department.  I'm not sure how I felt about Sasha throughout the book.  She comes across as hot and cold.  One minute I like her, the next she is a bit distant.  Jake was different though since I liked him as soon as he was brought into the story.  His Grandpa was pretty cool too.  I guess I just have a soft spot for the quirky half there old fella :)

All in all, a great start to the series and I will be looking forward to Mystify (Sasha's story) which will be out in February next year.