Review and Giveaway: The Athena Effect by Derrolyn Anderson

Book: The Athena Effect
By: Derrolyn Anderson
Published: August 30, 2012
Published by: Self Published

Description: Country girl Cal has been kept a secret her entire life, raised in isolation by two very troubled people. Despite her parent’s disturbing fits, Cal is perfectly content, living at one with the nature that surrounds her, and finding adventure inside the pages of her beloved books. When an awful tragedy tears her away from her remote cabin in the woods, nothing she’s ever read has prepared her for a world that she knows very little about.


Girls and motorcycles are what bad-boy Cal’s life is all about. Brought up in a raucous party house by his biker brother, he’s free to do as he pleases, going through the motions on his final days of high school. Aimless, Cal stopped thinking about his future a long time ago.

Attacked by a gang of thugs while running an errand for his brother, Cal is in serious trouble until a fierce girl appears out of nowhere to intervene. She chases off three grown men, sparing Cal a brutal beating before disappearing into the night like a spirit. He can’t stop thinking about his mysterious rescuer, and when she turns out to be the weird new girl at school who goes out of her way to avoid him, he can’t contain his curiosity.

He’s never met anyone like her before, and the more he learns about the unusual girl who shares his nickname, the more he wants to know. Cal can’t help falling for Cal, but can he keep her from falling victim to a dangerous enemy from her parent’s tragic past?

My Thoughts: When I got an email from Derrolyn Anderson requesting for me to review her book I was ecstatic. I mean, I was TOTALLY in love with the Marina's Tales Series and any book from Derrolyn has me sold. Luckily The Athena Effect did not disappoint.

We start off this book with Cal (the girl Cal, not the boy. It's easier to call her Cali as the book discusses since it'll be hard to discern between Cal and Cal, the boy) as she's wandering the woods, and when she returns to her home, she finds that her parents have died. Her parent's have kept her hidden in the middle of the woods for 17 years and now that they have died, she has to go to the next of kin, her aunt Angie.

Her aunt is nice, and so Cali is okay living there, until she notices the intense predatory aura around her aunts boyfriend while her aunt's away from work. Yep, you heard that right, Cali can see auras. Beyond that, she can project feelings onto other people and animals when she looks into their eyes. Not quite grasping the extent of her powers, Cali takes to the streets, preferring to live among nature while her Aunt is away to keep the boyfriend from harming her. Prowling the streets is how she comes to save a ridiculous and infuriating boy from a gang.

Cal (the boy) is all about women and alcohol and money. That's it. He's a bad boy who rides motorcycles and lives with his brother who goes to jail every other second. Cal pretty much has nothing going for himself, except perhaps the fact that he's insanely attractive. After he is saved by the weird girl in school, Cal finds himself wanting to know more about her, and feeling things he never knew he would.

Unfortunately, Cali's past comes back to haunt her, and we are left wondering if Cal can even protect her, or whether she's going to receive the very same fate her parents hid her away from.

I loved this story. As most of Derrolyn's books are, they're all warm with intense love between teenagers that seems way too intense to actually be real. I love it though. I like the soul shattering, intense, nothing can touch me, love Derrolyn creates and i love when it hits people who never thought they'd feel it. Because Cali has grown up separate from everything, she's like a child when she enters the world. Kind of like a wild animal pulled into captivity. She has to learn everything (and I do mean everything...she's never experienced electricity, indoor plumbing, computers, restaurants, nothing! she has read about them though.). It's because of her differences that Cal is drawn to Cali and wants to protect her.

The book was sweet and nice with some intense moments. Cali is a fighter despite what her calm demeanor shows and I love it. I would have liked to see Cali get a bit drunk off her power and begin to misuse it at some point. Sometimes I think she was a little to nice and sweet and perfect. There's always the next book though.

I give The Athena Effect 4 stars.

To go along with this new book, Derrolyn had the idea of a  giveaway of both the ebook and a necklace that represents Cali's ability to see auras. The picture of the necklace is below.

Unfortunately, the necklace is only available for those who live in the USA. Therefore, the necklace and 1 eBook will go to a US resident. DON'T FRET MY INTERNATIONAL READERS!!! Derrolyn loves you too and one eBook will be given to an International reader as well.

The giveaway ends starts now and ends Saturday September 15 at 12:01 EST. Please enter using the rafflecopter.
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