The 52nd by Dela
Publisher: Wise Ink Creative Publishing
Release Date: October 27, 2014
Book Format: ARC
# of Pages: 461
Synopsis: Not one of the sacrifices chosen over the long history had survived--until now.
On
the tip of the Yucatan peninsula, the immortal Castillo family gathers
in Tulum. Weary and haunted, they receive the names of fifty-two human
sacrifices chosen once every fifty-two years for the Underworld, a
tradition thought to have disappeared with the fall of the Aztec and
Mayan empires.
Driving home one night, college freshman Zara Moss
swerves to avoid hitting a ghastly figure in the road. Lucas Castillo
witnesses the car crash, but when it comes time to supervise her
abduction from the wreckage, he intervenes. Something is different about
Zara: Lucas has been having dreams of her arrival for five hundred
years.
As Lucas and Zara come together to put an end to the
bloody sacrifices, they discover that the ancient tradition isn't so
easily broken. The gods are angry, and they have until the Winter
Solstice to drag Zara to the Underworld.
Meet The Author (Taken From Goodreads)
My first novel, THE 52ND, will
be published October 27, 2014. Lover of tacos, neon lights, and
snowboarding. Being a Vegas veteran is awesome.
My Review:
I received The 52nd by Dela from the author herself for review, and these are my honest thoughts compiled into a review.
The premise of this story is an extremely interesting concept. An attractive god and his mysterious family suddenly walk into the life of a young college student dead set on saving her from being the 52nd sacrifice. You will have to read the book to understand what a sacrifice is and why there are 52 but I must say this story has a very unique plot. We are introduced to Lucas and his family first which I like because, normally books introduce the character that will have more presence in the book first. But I believe Lucas being introduced first was necessary for the plot and it fit perfectly.
My first thought while reading was that I liked how Dela mixed the names up. There were normal names for the people we heard from the most, but also some odd and hard to pronounce names. It was difficult at first with the ones I could not figure out how to pronounce, but by the end I believe it added to the experience of the story. The description of Lucas and his family was an enticing part of the story. It happened quickly and came along with action by the end of chapter 2 which was entertaining.
The characters all fit together like puzzle pieces of a perfect family. The favorite had to be Zara, her attitude from the beginning was priceless. I enjoyed watching her thoughts and feelings towards Lucas change throughout the whole book. She was an entirely new person by the last page in a good way. Many authors tend to use insta love in their books but in The 52nd there was no trace of this. Zara started off being confused about Lucas and it took awhile for him to change her mind. The only thing that did not really fit into the story was the small love triangle that included Zara, Jett, and Lucas. I felt that Jett was randomly thrown into the mix maybe to add a little drama. But with everything else going on every chapter had enough action and drama that Jett’s love was not needed although it did make for a sweet ending.
Overall I loved this book, while reading I could not put it down and when I did it was not for long before I started missing the characters and wanted them back in my life. I am not sure if this is a standalone or not but I sincerely hope that it is not because I have fallen in love with this world and the characters!
Favorite Quotes:
“My fingers went stone cold as I stared at the sheet between them. “You did our report?” (95)
“My sweater and pants sailed at my face.” (243)
“His smile broadened as if he was going to laugh, but he didn’t, and then he leaned in and took a deep breath. “This is my someday.” (359)
“And then I leaned in to kiss my prince.” (461)
