The Ultimate Sacrifice by Talia Jager



Gifted Teens #1



The Ultimate Sacrifice
Kassia is a 16-year-old girl just trying to have a normal life. This is somewhat difficult because she has the ability to inflict pain on others with her mind, which is why she was sent to a special institute for kids with various gifts. It is here Kassia met her best friend Mira. Their lives will change forever after Mira is attacked and Kassia finds out her talent is much more powerful when she saves her. Little did she know that this act would attract the attention of demons. Suddenly she is on the run from them with her boyfriend, Mira, and a few of their close friends. Realizing she can't outrun the demons, she seeks the guidance of a shaman. The shaman tells her the heart breaking news that the only way to protect her friends and the institute is through her own death. Join Kassia on her journey of friendship, love, and the conflicts she must face to protect those around her.



Review

This is one of my favorites series, I’ve read this book three or four times already. The synopses really did me in too, but I came to the conclusion that this synopses tells way too much about the book. I expected the things that have been written to happen in the first chapters, but in fact some things happen in about half way in the book. So If you don’t want to know what exactly happens in the book, you should skip it. So my synopses is:
Kassia is a normal girl, if having a extremely dangerous gift could be considered normal, she has her group of friends and study in a school for other gifted teens. Some circumstances make her use this gift for a bad thing and that makes her a target for the demons, and now she and her close friends have to find a way to escape those that want her power for evil things.
This is the most I can tell without giving more info about the book. If you want to read the official synopses scroll down a little bit. ^-^

I love the concept of gifted people going to some special school in order to learn their history and how to control their own gift. And this is one of those books where the main character has some very rare and very powerful gift that should be wisely used, the problem is: Kassia is a very hot-headed person, and she can’t control her gift when people anger her so she is constantly observed by the teachers and even her close friends and need to be controlled when she loses grasp in her own gift. What Kassia doesn’t know is that there’s some prophecy about her and her gift and a lot of people wants her dead or fighting for the good side. She has to flee her school with her friends and boyfriend and find a way to fight the demons.
I love books where we see a lot of characters and that each one is important in their own way, you end up liking all of them, and I also like the romantic relationships. Kassia is a interesting character, her gifted together with her short temper make her seem like a tickling bomb, and only her best friend and boyfriend can actually make her cool down. The other students often show signs of being scared of Kassia, mostly out of fear in angering her and being a target for her gift. She often express her like or dislike of people right away.
Mira is Kassia’s best friend and roommate, she is the only person that seems to stand Kassia’s gift without any problem so she got the “function” of being Kassia’s guardian in order to control any bad situation where Kassia could use her gift. Mira’s gift is very convenient in this case, since she can compel people to do her bidding.
Noe and Auralee are also Kassia’s friends and they live in the some floor in the dorm. Noe is more of a quiet person and she can see the future with her gift, but her visions come and go of their own will. Auralee is a very cheerful girl and she always have some t-shirt with funny sentences, some of them being about what she is feeling like. Her gift is mind reading.
Zane is a very shy and very smart guy that is obviously interested in Mira, but she doesn’t really respond to it. He is scared of Kassia and is embarrassed about his gift which is talking with animals.
Daxton is a new transfer student and Kassia gets his attention right away, and Kassia also gets interested in him, they start to date and soon we discover that Daxton dream landscapes can help Kassia in not using her powers when she is mad.

Narration: This book has a first person narrative and it switch from Kassia to Mira about half way in the book, each chapter begins with the name of who is talking.
Story: Like I said, I love books with special powers and a school for people to learn how to use and control their skills, and I liked the fact that there was some other magical being besides the gifted. The whole prophecy and demons trying to rule the world is a nice theme, and I liked how every character had their own strong and weak points and worked together.
Romance: The romance was really sweet and happened in the beginning for Kassia and Daxton while Mira was still adjusting with what happened to her and if she could get close to Zane. Even though it may have been a little fast how Kassia and Daxton got together, I rather have that than some crazy love triangle. Daxton really helped Kassia and their relationship was really cute to read about.
Cover: The cover could be better, it kind of shows who is in the cover after you read it, but if someone were to pick a book for the cover they would pass right throught it. The cover shows Kassia and how she learned to select her target without hurting her friends.




Author Pages

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