Elixir

#22: Elixir by Hilary Duff (with Elise Allen)

Synopsis via Goodreads:

Clea Raymond lives an extraordinary life. The daughter of renowned surgeon and a prominent Washington DC figure, she has been in the spotlight her entire life. Followed by the paparazzi, she resents the attention that is lavished on her for her looks alone because she has so much more to offer. 

Clea Raymond has a unique gift. A proficient photographer, in all her pictures, there is little something extra, and it's not just a result of her talented eye. There is always an extra photo that she didn't take. And, as she discovered at a young age, those photos always lead to a place where some tragedy is about to occur that Clea can prevent. 

Two years ago, her father disappeared while on a humanitarian mission and is presumed dead, but that doesn't stop Clea and her mother from continuing to do good throughout the world. On one such trip to Columbia, she meets Race, the guide for the trip. She feels a connection to him but cannot explain why. Was it something in their past or possibly in their past lives? Whatever has brought them together is threatning to tear them apart forever. As the mystery of her father's disappearance unravels, Clea discover that she has powers that are bigger than anything she could have anticipated.

Let me begin this "review" (more of a rant) by saying that I like Hilary Duff. I was a Lizzie McGuire fan and I think that Duff has grown into a bright and respectable star unlike what we have seen from Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan. That being said, her book is terrible.

I'm not sure how much of the book Hilary actually wrote herself and how much was written "with Elise Allen", but both of them suck immensely for even being part of the creation of this overly predictable novel. I'm just going to make a little list of the things in this story that made me want to bite a mailman:

1. IDIOT MAIN FEMALE CHARACTER: Clea was so stupid and I am SO tired of seeing stupid leading ladies. She has no personality at all and like idiot Bella from Twilight she is one of those "hopelessly in love" idiot girls who can't think of anyone other than her "soul mate" (whom she barely knows at all" and doesn't realize that her male BFF (CLEARLY the better choice between the two) has been in love with her throughout their entire friendship. STUPID STUPID STUPID. Nothing annoys me more.

2.IDIOT MAIN FEMALE CHARACTER'S IDIOT BEST FRIEND: I can't find myself to *completely* blame everything on Clea, because a girl needs a best gal pal and Clea has probably the crappiest one ever. Rayna is what some people would call a romantic, but what I call a skanky fool. Now, I happen to have a best gal pal who is a romantic. She, however, doesn't go around telling me to "follow my heart" by having sex with a guy I've known for a week in a car. FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS BE STUPID WHORES.

3. TOO FAST AND TOO CONVENIENT ACTION: The first couple of chapters were pretty okay, but once Sage was in the picture all of a sudden the plot was going a mile a minute and every time they had a little "mystery" to solve regarding Clea's missing father it would be solved pretty darn easily and quickly. Do these people really think that YA readers are that stupid?

I have many other smaller issues with this book, but I don;t want my rant to get ridiculously long. Read it if you must, but if you have any sense at all you will accept my warning that it is a huge waste of time. I am so disappointed, Hilary Duff. So disappointed.