Jivaja, by Venessa M. Giunta
For as long as she can remember, Mecca has had the power to drain life through the touch of her hand. It’s a family secret—both her “gift” and her mother’s unusual death—because Mecca is not the first. Her power came from her father, who has loved and trained her all her life, trying to help her control what she can do.
But he hasn’t told her everything.
Now, her world has collided with an underground society of life drainers who would do anything to control her, and nothing is safe anymore: not her home, not her father, and definitely not her secrets.
Or his.
I loved everything about this book: the characters, the story, and the world. It doesn’t end on a cliffhanger but definitely sets things up for future episodes. (Yay!) It’s an extremely visual read, and, as a former resident of Atlanta, I can say for a fact that the way Venessa M. Giunta presents the city is spot on. Every location comes alive, so sit back and enjoy it. Watch it unfold before your eyes. (I miss that old coffee shop around the corner so much now!)
The narration is third person, swapping between Mecca and her father, David, and occasionally even providing a supporting character’s viewpoint. It’s a bold choice for a young adult novel to include the father’s perspective so directly, but it worked for me. I always appreciate it when characters aren’t one sided—when the good guys have their issues and the bad guys have their reasons.
It makes them real. It makes Mecca real, and I can’t wait to see everything she becomes!
We received this ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review. Nobody pays us to recommend anything. We just post stuff we like.
