Human Blend by Lori Pescatore

Title: Human Blend
Author: Lori Pescatore
Series: Human Blend #1 
Source: From author
Format: Digital Edition
Genre: Speculative Fiction

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Marion, Virginia seemed like a nice place to live a normal life, but she is not a normal girl. Laney has special abilities that keep her looking over her shoulder as she makes her escape from the men who had kidnapped her. A young doctor's interest is piqued when he witnesses her ability. Laney's budding relationship with a local boy puts both of them in danger when the men she was hiding from find her. All of their lives will change forever as ancient secrets become unearthed.

A runaway with special abilities. A young girl with a difficult life. An unfortunate child with a dark, mysterious past. This is a story of a girl named Laney, who arrives at a small town in Virginia, bearing a new identity as “Julie Miller”, in hope that she will stand a chance to start a brand new life and experience some levels of normalcy. Despite her own fear that everything she feels will just be temporary, she cannot help being attracted to a local college student, Austin Dorsett, and their relationship blooms almost instantly. Her new job as a volunteer in a local hospital attracts the attention of Dr. Eli Elsworth, a doctor who bears huge secrets of his own and also the only one who witnessed the thing that Julie is capable of doing. As Julie starts enjoying her new life, troubles seek her again, though with them come several revelations that may shatter her own beliefs. Can she handle the truth, knowing that she is not the person she always thinks she is?

Human Blend may seem like many other paranormal books out there but there is a little something about this book that makes it unique. The author, Lori Pescatore, has brought forward new types of paranormal and mysterious species, adding on something rather refreshing into the paranormal world that she created. However, I do believe that readers would benefit more if she explains in a much greater detail about these creatures and the mythology in this book rather than making us wait for the next chapter in the series. Nonetheless, the special abilities possess by each of them are indeed intriguing and I find myself being quite curious as to what else that they are capable of doing.

The characters that the author introduced in this book all come with distinct personalities. I have to admit that I did not feel much towards Julie despite every hardship that she had went through. She is described as a strong-willed, independent person but the way she reacts tells me otherwise. While I can understand that she was badly affected by her past, I cannot fathom the way she suddenly gets panicked and has the desire to runaway a few times and then can be immediately calm down after a word or two from the guys she is with. This shows that she actually needs others to hold her through the ordeals that she is dealing with or else she is going to break. The supporting characters seem to capture my interest more in this book like Eli, the protective doctor, and a mysterious, manipulative character named Percone. Hope that these two characters will be explored even more in the next instalment in the series.

All in all, Human Blend is a good enough read that it keeps me reading till the final page. However, I have to say that I did not feel really attach to the characters nor the storyline of this book and I strongly feel that more concrete explanation and details are needed to make it interesting. There are also some technical and editing issues that I came across while reading the book like typos and the transition from one character's viewpoint to the next that is not being done swiftly. Though if you are not picky about these, I don’t think it’ll prohibit you from enjoying the book. Like I said earlier on, Human Blend does have a unique and interesting concept. So as a new author, Lori Pescatore deserves a round of applause for her effort in bringing something new to the community.

If you're interested to read some more positive reviews on this book, you may check these reviews: Review by Kit from Reading Teen and Donna from The Happy Booker.

Favourite Quote: Sure you can take care of yourself. That's why we all spent the last two days chasing after you and that crazy-ass thug with a death wish. Face it, Julie, your life screams 'damsel in distress' - Marcus

This book was a good read for me but it didn't totally absorb me in. I seriously wish that there are more mythological details being explain regarding the two species being introduced in this series.. However, I have no doubt that paranormal readers will love this book as there are quite a few unique stuffs to be looked forward to.