This book was very interesting and although I tried to like it a lot I only liked it a bit. I know for some that may make little sense and I found that I struggled at portions of the story because it was an interesting story but not something that I will be running to read the next book. I loved Cat and her friends and I loved parts of the story I just felt like it lost me as it was trying to get to the climax and I wish it would have happened a whole lot sooner. ( )

Fair warning: I'm going to pick out parts of this book in this review, so SPOILERS AHEAD! Also my review is long due to this.

This book revolved around a high school girl named Catherine or Cat for short. She's already had one odd thing happen to her already, one eye has changed colors, making her have to wear a colored contact. Now in this book some other strange things begin to happen to her, and she doesn't know why or what is going on.

I got this book at a book festival from the authors. They were really kind people and obviously loved their work. I wanted to love this book, truly. But there were problems I encountered along the way that bothered me.

1. Repeated information. One person would think something and then the POV would shift into person B and would think the same or similar thing back.
Example 1:
She had never talked that way to her brother before, but from somewhere deep, this other part of her had lashed out.
Issac sat looking into the rearview mirror, his hands grinding on the steering wheel. Did she really just talk to me like that?
Example 2:
Cat received the book as a birthday gift and broke down and read it, thus breaking the pact the five had made when Craven's first movie had been released.
"I can't believe you broke our pact, Cat!" Amanda groaned while trying to take the book away from Matt.

I think these scenes should have been redone somehow so I don't keep experiencing déjà vu.

2. Cat's parents seem unsure how to ground their children, and don't even know the word grounded. So her parents use the wrong word when it comes up. I'm sure it was meant to give them a quirk or be humorous, but for me it was a believability factor. I couldn't get myself past it.

3. The majority or all of the adults know what Cat really is but won't tell her. I couldn't find any motivation behind it other than people perhaps feeling like they didn't want to tell her yet. *Sighs.* Here the poor girl starts developing 'symptoms' aka abilities and Cat starts freaking out, and they still can't come to tell her what's going on. Cat is just given some medicine in hope that it will help out with her physical symptoms.

4. A famous author in this book finds out that Cat is reading his books and is one of his fans. So he decides to write his books for her, to tell her of her past and warn her of her future. So even this famous author knows what Cat is? A heck of a lot of people seem to know Cat's secret and are managing to keep that secret away from those who would harm Cat for what she is.

5: Scene shifts without breaks. There were times in the book that the setting/scene would suddenly change at the beginning of a new paragraph. There were no breaks of line or indication of a shift. It threw me every time until I realized, "Oh we're someplace else now." At least the start of the description of the new scene would have helped eased the transition.

6: Cat seems to develop various powers or abilities in the book, but they aren't expanded upon as the story progresses. They seem to be touched on, and then vanish. I wanted to see how Cat would grow to learn and cope with them. Maybe that's in book 2, but I really would have loved to have more of it here.

I just craved more out of this book than I got. If there's a good concept I'm usually willing to stick it out. And if the authors expanded on Cat's abilities like I described in #6 I would have liked the book better. Maybe it's just a slow start. I do have the second book and maybe things get explained better and expanded upon more there. Again I just wished it was here in this book. ( )

The Childe is the first book in a fantasy series from mother/son team Carol and Adam Kunz (hence, CA Kunz). In The Childe, we meet Cat Colvin, a seemingly normal girl in an everyday world. Cat is just like every other teenage girl out there, trying to blend in and fit in.

The Childe is filled with a lot of fun, likeable characters. Cat and her friends, Julie, Amanda, Matt, Elle; they all are fun, relatable and realistic. Cat's parents, Sam and Rachel, are endearing. Her brother, Taylor is a typical older brother. He is snide and sarcastic with Cat, but if anyone messes with her, they'll have to get through him first. Ryan is the dreamboat star athlete who obviously is smitten with Cat, and obviously has some secrets of his own. Cat's "nemesis", Isaac, is an infuriating jerk, and more than a little scary. There are a lot of peripheral characters who add more to the mix, and I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of them in the next book in the series.

The book begins with a seemingly evil and powerful woman proclaiming the coming of The Childe. The book contains a lot of foreshadowing. There is definitely much going on that Cat, and the reader, do not know about. A lot of the characters discussing the "goings on" behind closed doors.The mystery continually built throughout the book, leaving more questions than answers. Normally, this drives me insane, and it did a little with this book. But, I will let it slide because I have a feeling a lot will be answered or elaborated on in the sequel.

All in all, I would say that The Childe is a fun, easy read. Perfectly enjoyable for the summer ahead. ( )