Review: Swoon

Swoon by Nina Malkin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Once again…not sure what I was expecting…but this was not even close to my realm of expectation!

Pulled out of NYC, Candice (AKA “Dice”) and moved to the town of Swoon, CT. She lives across the street from her Aunt, Uncle, and cousins…but her folks still work in NYC so she is basically unsupervised during the week and some weekends when her parents can’t make it home. Which leaves lots of time for trouble and her cousin Pen (Penelope) is usually the one finding it…including when she nearly dies from falling out of a tree. But the knock on her allows a ghost, Sinclair, in, and he has a mission. Sin is gonna need Dice’s help.

Here I assumed that “Swoon” was a reference to that back of the hand on the forehead, about to faint, type of thing…and it’s actually the name of the Conneticut town where the story takes place. LOL – I don’t think I could live in a town called Swoon! I’d be too tempted to actually swoon!

I don’t want to give away major plot points, because they will really drive you to keep reading…so what can I say? That’s the question.

First the storyline was very inventive. A little ghost story, a little time travel, a little “Witches of Eastwick”…at one point during the story I had jotted down that comment…although it total it was nothing like “Witches”. There is a bit of a triangle, but not the kind of triangle you would expect. There is a lot of revenge and good vs. evil. There was a lot going on but it all melded together beautifully and was not confusing or formulaic.

I really like Dice…she was smart, snarky, and yet typically self-conscious. Malkin didn’t pull any punches which I appreciated. Dice smoked pot and has a history of exploring anything and everything…she is probably most like a “human” teen than a lot of YA heroines. She’s been abandoned, for all intents, by her NYC editor Mom and character actor Dad. Dice lives in a house across the street from her Aunt, and her parents try to get home on the weekends…but aren’t always successful. Which explains Dice’s proclivities in a number of ways.

Sin, aka Sinclaire, had a complex story. I loved him at first, so charming! Then I hated him for being manipulative, then I kind of liked him again, then hated him with a passion, then loved him again…he really ran the gamut.

This was a tough one to put down! Because it was so different and so good, I hesitate to read the next book, “Swear” for fear it won’t measure up. Is that awful of me? I think I will read a few other books first and then get into “Swear” when “Swoon” isn’t so fresh in my mind.



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