In her debut novel, Painfully Ordinary, Stephanie Amox conjures up an enchanting tale with fascinating characters who will hook, exasperate, and entertain all readers of the supernatural world. When seventeen-year-old Caitlin drags herself out of bed and gets ready for school, she believes that she is about to begin another ordinary day in her painfully ordinary life. On the contrary, today Caitlin's life is about to switch from the ordinary to the extraordinary.Leah, Caitlin's best friend, is bursting with news. It seems the school has two new transfer students: Talon Raikaa and Jace Adair. No one knows where Talon and Jace come from. Caitlin and Leah soon discover that the gorgeous mystery boys are in the same classes -- is it a coincidence? Hmmm... nothing just happens. Immediately, Talon is drawn to Caitlin, Jace is drawn to Leah, and the attraction is mutual. Their relationships quickly deepen. In addition, the bonds grow stronger by the minute. Later, at a bonfire gathering a crisis occurs where evil reveals itself and an attempt is made on Caitlin's life. Talon and Jace act quickly to remove the girls from the situation; however, the dark powers have no intention of ever giving up on Caitlin.Painfully Ordinary is told from Caitlin's perspective. The story flows smoothly and the dialogue is easy to read. There are a few scenes that could benefit from a bit of editing polish, but they do not detract from the story in the least. I believe Miss Amox did a tremendous job in creating relatable characters, developing good plot lines and unexpected twists. Each trial is accompanied by fascinating puzzles for the reader to solve along with the heroines, Caitlin and Leah, and their fearless protectors, Talon and Jace.This intriguing novel includes a lot of material of interest: friendship, romance, betrayal, danger, fun, mystery, magic, etc., all cleverly interwoven in a tale where our main character, Caitlin, must embrace her birthright and trust her friends or she will risk losing them all.I would highly recommend this book to those who would love to read a new take on the fae, vampire, and shape shifter lore. I can't wait to see what Miss Amox has in store for book 2, Family Secrets. I'm sure it will not disappoint!Review written byGina (Gigi) LupoMember Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team I would give this book a 3.5 stars. I really liked the story but had some problems with the plot editing and explainations. Caitlin and Leah are best friends but try to be invisible at school. One day 2 new hot guys show up and suddenly start hanging out with them and dating them. Every girl's fantasy basically. But Caitlin and Leah turn out to be Pixie and Talon is basically a vampire and Jace is a shape shifter. The guys are gaurding them from the Accendi. What bothered me was that many of the peripheral characters seemed flat and I wanted more description and background. Also, It is never explained why the girl's are so special and why they need to be protected or what the accendi wants with them. I really liked the idea of their powers and how the weather and sparkles appear depending on Caitlin's moods. I also loved the relationship with Talon and Caitlin although it was really close to being over the top. Caitlin's personally seemed to change from the beginning of the book and it just seemed a little weird that she was so kind of invisble and becomes a magnetic personally. The other plot problem I had was with the dream that Caitlin had of the 3 women. She meets one of the women in the sanctury that she finds out is related to her. In later chapters, Caitlin is describing the dream at the beginning of the book as though she never met any of them. This was very inconsistant. I think with a little more detail and fixing of the plot problems and this would be excellent. I will read the next book because I did enjoy it and I hope the next book is more detailed and connected.
What do You think about Painfully Ordinary (2010)?
Awesome book! I had a hard time putting it down. Will definately read more Stephanie Amox books.
—Lynzie
Couldn't enjoy this, moved so fast that it didn't really build up the suspense. Predictable
—booknut
This could be an addictive series based on book one!
—zmagellan
