Elixir - Hilary Duff

When I think Hilary Duff, there's still this part of me that can only remember her from my childhood as Lizzie, or occasionally, by her voice on my first ipod played several million times. As a kid, I loved her. I had most of her music, the Lizzie McGuire movie was my favorite for months, and I just liked her. That being said, there was a part of me that resisted the idea of looking into what one of my favorite childhood stars has been up to, because, let's be honest, my favorite childhood stars don't have a good track record. How many times has Lohan been locked up?

At the same time, though, this cover is gorgeous and I've been hearing some good things. I figured I'd jump on it when I had the chance.

Elixir is about Clea Raymond, the daughter of a famous politician mother and an archeologist father. After her father and she bonded over photographs before he died, Clea has always loved taking them, and goes nowhere without her favorite camera. But after a trip spanning several countries with her best friend ends, Clea looks at the photos she's taken and notices something strange: in a number of the pictures, the same guy can be seen in the background. In fact, in one picture this guy is seen floating in midair. He's the man of her dreams, and that's a literal fact: Clea has drempt about him dozens of time, always with her in the role of one of several women throughout history. Except, and here's the thing...those dreams always end with the horrifying and gruesome deaths of the women.

I honestly wasn't expecting much from Elixir, so I was happy to realize I was enjoying the book. The story is interesting, if a little simple, and some of the characters are amazing. I loved Clea's best friend, Rayna, and her fascination with the idea that every guy might be her soul mate. Clea herself was actually a pretty cool character, one that I thought was interesting and decently fleshed out. I loved her photographer persona, and felt that was a really cool point to add.

The story is fast paced, something new always happening and dragging me along so fast that, when I hit the last page, I kept waiting for more story to show up. Needless to say, there's definite room for a sequel, one I hear came out pretty recently and that I'll probably grab when I get the chance.

I will say that this book isn't fantastically perfect; the romance is a little lacking and rushed, as is much of the plot. I feel that, had the book been longer and had more room for everything to develop, it would have been ten times better. It also would have probably read like a stand alone book, rather than give off the strong 'I'm a set up for a series" vibe that Elixir gives. But even with the slight rush, I still think Elixir is a good book, certainly worth reading.

When I think about Elixir, the books that come to mind in comparison, for some reason, are Evermore and the other books in The Immortal's series by Alison Noël, and I think that the books have a lot in common. So if you liked Noël's books, you should give Elixir a try. And if you were a Duff fan so many years ago, and want to see what she's up to now, there's also no shame in grabbing Elixir just because of the author.

And remember, if you like Elixir, the sequel is already out and titled Devoted! I'll be getting my hands on that book as well, and I'll share my opinion soon!