Review ~ Premonition series by Amy Bartol

Reviewed by Donna ~ 5 Stars

Another author recommended this series to me, at the time, I did not know it was a paranormal. Because I trust this author implicitly, I downloaded all 4 books, agreeing that we would buddy read the 4th book. Anyone who knows me, knows I do not read paranormal. I have never quite been able to get into this genre. A few series have caught my attention and I have read them but not to the degree that Amy Bartol did.

To say I loved this series is a serious understatement because I absolutely adore this series. I was captivated from the start and read all 4 books in 3 days, I seriously could not put them down and as soon as one was finished I opened up the next and just carried on.

Book 1 ~ Inescapable

This book is really the foundation to the whole series. It really sets the scene well and you cannot help but connect to all the characters. Evie, I loved this girl, she never really had a sense of belonging, never knew her father and her mother died when she was born so her care was entrusted to her uncle, who was young at the time. As she got older, she more or less became the parent, looking after him and mothering him, but their relationship was close and extremely special. It broke her heart to leave him to come to college. When she arrives at college she knows no-one except a guy that she met once when she visited campus, he sort of takes her under his wing. But is this a good wing or a bad wing?

It is not long before she meets Reed and Russell, yes this is a love triangle of sorts but not your usual, Evie is extremely attracted to Reed, she can sense when he is near, he gives her butterflies but he seems to hate her. It turns out Reed is just extremely conflicted but we do find out why and goes someway to explain his rather erratic behaviour. Russell is extremely attracted to Evie, but she only ever sees him as a friend, but their friendship is intense.

“I wanted to destroy you,” he says, and a shiver goes through me, “and I wanted to take you in my arms and love you, and I wanted to tear you apart, and I wanted to crush you anything that would harm you, all at the same time.” – see very conflicted!!

Amy Bartol, sucks you in to this story hook, line and sinker. It soon becomes apparent that Evie is not all that she seems. The trouble is that Evie has no idea what is happening to her, luckily for her Reed is there for her and they soon work through their differences and once things are explained and are out in the open, they both give in to their mutual attraction and they become a couple.

“I want those thousand years with you, Evie, you have no idea how much I want them. I want a thousand years, and then I want a hundred thousand more.”

All the characters in this book are written so well that they come to life, I totally adore Zee, Buns and Brownie too. I just hope that the good conquer the evil!

I absolutely loved Reed, in the beginning it was hard to understand where he was coming from, but once I was aware I was TEAM REED. If anyone comes between these two, I will kill them, seriously!! I was glad that Evie never really entered into the whole Love Triangle thing with Russell. The lines were set between them early on. I must admit the soul mate bit was a bit hard to take and left me with ill feeling as I was so Team Reed and was worried that at some point this may come between my cute and happy couple. We will see where this goes going forward. I am diving in right now!!

“Evie, you are the only thing that makes me want to live. If you leave here, if you ascend to Paradise, or even if you are cast into the abyss, or taken there by the Fallen…I will have to follow you, no matter where you go. Even if I have to pursue you into the dark…if you cease to be, then so will I. You are my sin and my redemption.”

Book 2 ~ Intuition 

This book carries on from where Inescapable finished, Amy Bartol takes us on an amazing journey in this book. No matter how you thought this story was going to go at the end of Inescapable you would have been wrong, I have learned to expect the unexpected when it comes to Amy Bartol’s writing.

It is so refreshing to read about a heroine that isn’t frightened to take matters into her own hands. Even though she has a lot of muscle to hide behind, she is one ballsy Angel and takes matters into her own hands, much to Reed and Russell’s dismay. But Reed and Russell soon realise that Evie is not one to shy away and no matter what she will do what she feels needs to be done whether they agree or not.

Reed also evolves a lot in this book and it made me fall for him all the more. He realises that although he has had a long long life, he hasn’t had a real life. He has never “felt” before and now that he has had a taste, no matter what, he is not willing to let it go. We see a lot more of his personality and he is far more expressive and you cannot help but will him and Evie along.

“I was telling you that I have waited for you to come to me for an eternity. You set me free and I would wait for you forever because there is nothing about you that I would change. You are perfect.”

Amy throws in another character in this book called Brennus who is a leader of the Gancanagh an Irish Faerie/Vampire mix tribe, so now we have a type of love square going on…although Evie remains true to Reed, but Brennus uses all of his Faerie magic to try and give Evie other ideas. Brennus has it bad and it seems that Evie has some magnetism that makes any man or beast crumble and fall hopelessly, head over heels in love with her. Brennus talks like an Irish man and Amy has taken to writing as he speaks, this can be a struggle to understand, but it is hilarious as I found myself talking out loud in a rather excruciatingly painful crap Irish accent.

Russell really comes into his own in this book, he takes a more pivotal role in the line up and we are treated to some chapters from his POV. He really is a funny character and his one liners inject some humour into what is otherwise a serious storyline.

Evie really evolves in this book, as she comes to terms with her situation and her powers. She is reluctant to leave the human side of herself behind and really tries to remain true to herself and her beliefs. She is extremely powerful and Amy Bartol has done a fantastic job with her character. Where she could have turned into some whiny woman, Evie takes her “new self” by the scruff of the neck and deals, she really surprises everyone around her.

“Doubt thou the stars are fire;

Doubt that the sun doth move;

Doubt truth to be a liar;

But never doubt I love…I love thee best, O most best, believe it.”

This book is packed to the gills with a seriously amazing plot, full of suspense, that will keep you on the edge of your seat. You cannot see where the story is going until you have gone. The twists and turns will keep you stuck in your seat, kindle firmly in hand, with a growl emanating from you if anyone dares to interrupt. Seriously, it was that good. Now I am off to read book 3.

Book 3 ~ Indebted

Wow, things are definitely heating up in this instalment. The world has gone mad and every bad being in the whole world is after Evie. There is nothing they will do to be stopped and different beings are coordinating themselves to get a better shot at taking Evie down.

“You can either live above this mess or you can live under it. Embrace destiny or be buried by it.”

Evie can be annoying at times I will say, her persistent need to sacrifice herself for others is becoming a tad annoying especially as it always ends up putting them in more danger. Does she not realise by now that they will do ANYTHING to protect her!! I know she is half Seraphim and so has this incessant need to protect but please Evie, listen to the others for once. They have thousands of years of experience!! Argggghhhhh! But, because of this trait of Evie’s the situations that everyone finds themselves in, leads to a great story that has twists and turns that you will never see coming.

The scenes in this book have you glued to the book, I could not put it down. Every character is extremely well developed, even the bad ones and sometimes I even had a harbouring of love for Brennus and that takes some doing. I am still Team Reed in this series though, nothing and no-one I hope will come between this couple despite their best efforts.

“I would be here without any of that. I’m here because every time she smiles, its like Paradise opening up to shine upon me. I’m here because of the way she loves me with no reservations. She doesn’t hold anything back, but gives it all to me as if there was no one else like me in the universe. She has no idea that she alone is the unique being.”

Evie and Russell’s powers are evolving to something out of the ordinary and they are becoming a formidable foe, especially with Reed, Zee, Buns and Brownie in tow. It seriously takes all of this angel power though to navigate through this story. Together as a unit they are extremely powerful, but they are extremely outnumbered. Amy Bartol continues to take you on a journey that for me has never tired. I am totally and utterly hooked into this series and I cannot wait to get stuck into book 4. Now I am worried though as this is the last book that is out and I know that I am going to be wanton and needy at the end.

“I don’t know which is more difficult: going on alone to an unknown destination, or having to remain behind to watch the one you love leave. Those of us who have had to remain behind, we know that it’s a cut that never heals…it just continues to bleed – to burn inside of you.”

Book 4 ~ Incendiary

OMG the last one out and I am reading with anticipation and dread. I don’t want to finish yet I want to know, no need to know what happens. I am going to have to read v e r y s l o w l y, yet I know that will be an impossibility. As with this whole series, it has been like a drug and I cannot get enough.

Everything has heated up, the world has gone mad, Brennus won’t take no for an answer either and ramps up his efforts to have his Genevieve. One good thing though is that we have lost one love interest…yayyyy!!! Russell, has finally given up the ghost in his pursuit and I am so pleased that he finally has his own love interest and she to is one kick ass awesome character, she is powerful and she is a throne. However, my happiness was short lived as we now have another Angel thrown into the mix for Evie’s affections called Xavier. I must admit, after learning all the details of their back story in this book, I do sort of feel sorry for him, but as you know above, I am Team Reed all the way and I just want him to leave them be. Somehow though I do not think this will be the case in book 5.

Russell, is fast becoming the most powerful Angel ever and is totally living up to his new found powers. He trains, he develops and he has turned into one awesome character, especially now he is no longer pining over Evie. He really comes into his own in this book.

Reed, I am still hopelessly in love with him, he still will do anything and everything to protect Evie even if that means putting himself in grave danger. He is selfless when it comes to Evie. We are also introduced to Evie’s real father in this book and that leads to some very interesting situations and conversations. It was great though to hear how Evie came about and what really happened.

Evie Evie Evie, seriously girl, you need to sort yourself out. As much as I love you, I could have killed you myself in this book. Seriously, listen to the people that know! At least try and live for once! This self-sacrifice, is beginning to annoy me to some extent because it always puts everyone else in danger, I would have thought she would have wised up to this by now, but on the other hand we would never get such an intense and interesting plot if she wasn’t this way.

Reed, my fingers are crossed for you. I really hope that you and Evie end up together, I don’t think your poor heart could cope if you were suddenly tossed aside. I must admit, the more complex her “love life” gets the more worried I get for poor Reed. He has been totally and utterly devoted to Evie and yet she seems to “love” everyone. Al though when they are together, it is intense as always, Evie’s incessant need to love and be loved by everyone worries me, especially for Reed’s life, love and sanity. If anything does happen in that regard though, I volunteer myself to put Reed’s heart back together. I adore this Angel., I adore this book and I totally and utterly adore this series!

“Don’t take her from me… please,” … “and if that is too much to ask, then…take me, too. Forever is too long…”

On that note, I will leave you with a brief summation. In short, this series is brilliant, amazing, fabulous, addictive and totally captivating. A story line that will keep you guessing, you can never assume anything as Amy Bartol will totally sneak up and bit you the bum. The twists and turns and plot curve balls will have you on the edge of seat, gripping the sides wondering where you are going next.

I want to see this series on the big screen, seriously, this series was made for the big screen. I often found myself at times picturing how a scene would play out on film in bright technicolour. The way Amy Bartol describes scenes in this book has your senses on hyper drive and your imagination running wild. In all seriousness, this would seriously kick some ass in the movies. It needs to be done and more importantly deserves to be done.

Amy Bartol, all I can say is you seriously ROCK! I have loved every second reading this series, never thought I would see the day where I love a Paranormal read, but this series did and has a firm place in my heart. I will be re-reading this series for sure.

I cannot highly recommend this series enough, for both paranormal lovers and those who have not tried or think they don’t like this genre. Be next in line to be converted, you will hopefully fall in love with this series as much as I have. Totally and utterly adored it!