ARC Book Review: Runes by Ednah Walters

Title: Runes
Author: Ednah Walters
Publisher: Firetrail Publishing
Expected Date of Publication: May 20, 2013
Source: e-ARC via NetGalley
Links to Buy: Amazon| Barnes & Noble | 
Challenge: YA Mythology 2013
*I received this book in exchange for my honest review of it.*

Book Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Raine Cooper has enough on her plate dealing with her father’s disappearance, her mother’s erratic behavior and the possibility of her boyfriend relocating. The last thing she needs is Torin St. James—a mysterious new neighbor with a wicked smile and uncanny way of reading her.
Raine is drawn to Torin’s dark sexiness against her better judgment, until he saves her life with weird marks and she realizes he is different. But by healing her, Torin changes something inside Raine. Now she can’t stop thinking about him. Half the time, she’s not sure whether to fall into his arms or run.
Scared, she sets out to find out what Torin is. But the closer she gets to the truth the more she uncovers something sinister about Torin. What Torin is goes back to an ancient mythology and Raine is somehow part of it. Not only are she and her friends in danger, she must choose a side, but the wrong choice will cost Raine her life.
via Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Just the other day I was commenting to my husband how I really wanted to read more and more books that were centered around mythology, but not just Greek or Roman mythology.  Then I received this e-ARC from NetGalley and I found out this has something to do with Norse mythos.
Score!!

When I first started reading Runes, I did have a hard time getting into it.  I had a hard time connecting to Raine, our female protagonist.  She seemed hyped up on hormones, especially when it came to the sexy new neighbor that moves in next door.  It seemed like for a whole page she discussed how gorgeous Torin was and how he got her all hot and bothered but of course she couldn't stand him either.
That was somewhat typical YA romance, which doesn't really bother me but I did get tired of hearing the same thing repeated a bunch of times.
But just as I thought I wasn't going to like Runes, it started to pick up for me and I found myself completely hooked into it, staying up late at night reading just one more page.  I really enjoyed the different characters that know just enough to create this air of mystery around Torin, Raine, and the other newcomers that join the swim team.
We find out that these new guys are different than everyone else and they seemed fixated on Raine as well as her friends.  Just as Raine is trying to figure out who these people really are, she seems to be getting along with Torin easily now.
This is where some emotions really run high.  I love a story that can get me so mixed up with my feelings that I feel like I am experiencing everything right along with the lead characters.

Runes definitely had some surprises in store that I wasn't expecting.  And the ending was a true cliffhanger in every sense of the word.  I remember getting at the end and literally screaming at my Kindle, "WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!?!"  I feel like my world has been turned upside down and I feel like I had been through a hurricane.

So in the end, I did really enjoy Runes.  This was my first Ednah Walters book I ever read but I really dig her writing style.  I think I will be checking out some more of her books and definitely will pick up book 2 of the Runes series when it comes.
I give Runes four hearts.

Connect with Ednah Walters:
| Goodreads | Website | Blog |