In the Spotlight

The prologue is from the mother's viewpoint and serves to establish that person's character. Ellery is the name of the daughter (and central figure of the book). Monica is the mother and Hoyt the step-father.

The book changes to Ellery's viewpoint. She has been grieving the death of her grandfather and the loss of a potential romantic situation. She begins to feel she is being watched and a couple of guys try to kidnap her. In an excellent move she decides to take a pro-active stance and set up some experiments where she can determine the nature of those following her.

A problem arises in the very next chapter, though, where she is supposed to go and check on a trust fund and does so by herself. I would think that she would have called at least one of her parents to let her know where she was going or, better yet, found someone to go with her, considering her fears of others being interested in her for some reason.

She finds out that her grandfather has left here enough to make her a millionaire. Actually, a multi-millionaire. At school she makes friends with some goth girls, Samantha in particular. As the book proceeds she meets and falls in love with one of her watchers, and falls in love with another person.

The thing to keep in mind with this book is that it is the first in a series of books, so some things that are not cleared up in this book will probably be cleared up in the future ones. For example, the book starts out as a relatively dark, conspiracy-laden book about a young girl who was being watched closely by some unnamed group and an attempted kidnapping by some other group. She becomes pro-active in trying to thwart those watching her, which is good. She proves herself to be resourceful, although not always as careful as she should be.

The vast majority of this book deals with her growing up, with her personal problems, falling in love with two guys, and growing up and maturing in her thinking. The book is successful in this aspect. As far as the conspiracy goes, that's for the future.

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