REVIEW ~ CAPTIVATED (AN AFFLICTION NOVEL, #1) BY DEB APODACA

"I stood close to the edge looking down at what I thought was my death. Then, I somehow ignored the water and only saw him. He looked like a dark angel on a cloud of mist holding his arms out to me. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. Then I jumped." Mindy

After Mindy's childhood best friend, Dean Aiken, shuts her and everyone else out of his life, she learns to move on. Years pass and she gets used to the fact that he's no longer a part of her life, but things begin to change

Mindy's new best friend, Markus Medina, witnesses Dean kill two people behind a club. Mindy has a hard time believing him, especially when he mentions that the bodies disappear. Poof! Into thin air. Markus decides he has to follow Dean around in order to get evidence that he's been killing people, so he doesn't sound like a nut to the police.

Despite Marcus' crazy theories about the possibility of Dean not being human. And not to mention the fact that he's dangerous. Mindy can't help that she may be falling in love with him. Even after hiding their feelings for each other from the world. Dean and Mindy being together stirs up dangers that neither of them could ever imagine. When she finds out about what Dean really is and the world he tried to keep her away from...it's already too late. ~From GoodReads

Captivated is the story of Mindy, a normal teenage girl surrounded by abnormal occurrences. First, she loses her best friend Dean when his parents are murdered and he becomes withdrawn. Then, years later, as she is still missing Dean, another mysterious guy, Shane, comes to town. There is clear animosity between Dean and Shane, and Mindy and her friend Markus want to know what is going on. When Markus thinks he has witnessed Dean murdering several people, Mindy thinks he's crazy. But is he? Mindy quickly becomes involved in a dangerous web of events, and she may not make it out alive.

Alright. I had major mixed feelings about Captivated. There were moments I felt myself being pulled into the story, and I liked I was reading. But also, there were a few issues I had with the story, one major. So let me get started with the aspects that I liked.

In general, I liked the story. I don't want to get into the details, for fear of spoilers, but the mystery surrounding Dean and Shane was intriguing. I had a good idea as to what was going on, at least with Shane, but I didn't know for sure. So for that reason, I must give props to the author.

I liked the character of Dean. But honestly, that's a no-brainer because I'm a huge Supernatural fan and yeah...I love Dean on the show. So she basically had me the first time his name was mentioned. But then again, I was distracted by the name because I wanted to go watch a few episodes instead of reading. I digress. Dean is definitely the strong silent type, letting his actions or laser beam glares do his talking. He is super buff, has tattoos and makes all the girls in school drool when he's around. But as quiet and dangerous as Dean is, he has a soft spot where Mindy is concerned.

As for Mindy, I wanted to like her, I really did. She was fun and lighthearted, a real sweetie. But the girl spent almost all of her time ogling and drooling, I mean a lot of time. Even as really weird events were occurring, she was more focused on Dean and his rock hard muscles. Which leads me to the part of the book in which I jumped off board.

I'm not trying to spoil the story for anyone, and honestly, this subject isn't a big deal in the story, and that makes this a HUGE deal for me. Fairly early on, Mindy is almost raped by a guy she's been dating. Before that can happen, she is rescued by a mystery guy she is never able to see. He saves her, covers her up and leaves before she comes to. Afterwards, instead of completely freaking out over nearly being raped, she is upset because she didn't see her rescuer. She daydreams about the guy, wants to see him again, even dressing up when she goes out the next night in hopes of seeing him. When she sees her would-be rapist, and she confronts him, Mindy is only upset because he'll never tell her who saved her.

So...where do I begin. I don't want to make this personal, but I think I must. As a female in general, and someone who was almost assaulted in the same way described, I am more than a little offended. It sends a horrible message to young readers. The way it was written makes light of a subject that deserves be treated carefully. You can say that Mindy is a teenager, and not everyone reacts in the same manner. However, I was the same age as Mindy when that happened to me, and I know how I reacted. No, there wasn't a mystery dude to save me, I saved myself with a lot of screaming and a typewriter (long story), but I can tell you that even if there had been a guy, I wouldn't have cared less if he was a hottie. I was too busy crying, trying to get myself together and wanting to kill the jerk who tried to hurt me. Mindy's reaction is so off the wall, I just don't get it. I tried to get over it, get over myself, but then a line like this comes along:

 "Well, you're the only girl I've heard of that can handle almost being raped with a smile."

Yeah. I'm not going to say any more about this subject.

Truthfully, I had a lot more to say in my review, more about the other parts of the book, but writing that last bit took a lot of the wind out of my sails. So I'll be brief.

The pacing of the story was slow for me, but did pick up in the last quarter of the book. The huge questions raised throughout a lot of the book were answered. The action was intense and lightning quick. Captivated left off with a huge, frustating, but very intriguing cliffhanger. The kind that will make your jaw drop and sets up book two perfectly. If you loved Captivated, you would be positively dying for book two. Obviously, I'm not.

For an alternate point of view, here is a positive review of Captivated.
Favorite Quote:

"He slowly swam towards me. Eyes focused. He looked like a shark coming at me, as if I were the prey" (ebook, 48%)

Paperback, 375 pages

Published June 10th 2011 by Eminent Books

Purchase Captivated at Amazon.

* I received a copy of Captivated from the author, in exchange for an honest review. *