Chasing Power {Review}

Review by Valerie

CHASING POWER
by Sarah Beth Durst
Hardcover: 376 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens (October 14, 2014)
Language: English
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Sixteen-year-old Kayla was born with the ability to move things with her mind-things like credit cards and buttons on cash registers-and she has become a master shoplifter. She steals to build up enough money for her and her mom to be able to flee if her dad finds them again . . . which would mean grave danger for them both.

When she's caught stealing by a boy named Daniel-a boy with the ability to teleport-he needs her help and is willing to blackmail her to get it. Together, they embark on a quest to find and steal an ancient incantation, written on three indestructible stones and hidden millennia ago, all to rescue Daniel's kidnapped mother. But Kayla has no idea that this rescue mission will lead back to her own family-and to betrayals that she may not be able to forgive . . . or survive.

Chasing Power was a solid 3.5-3.75 star read for me; the characters were hilarious though a tad exaggerated, the plot was thoroughly interesting, and there were plenty of twists that I didn’t see coming. I did have my problems with this book but overall, it left me feeling satisfied.

First up, this book is all about a motley bunch of weirdoes which appealed to my weirdo loving heart from the start; our main character is Kayla, a telekinetic who secretly uses her powers behind her mom’s back. Next up is Selena, Kayla’s best friend, who is loud and proud and awesome, she is the computer of the operation. Daniel is the mysterious boy who shows up and maybe sort of blackmails Kayla into helping him; he is also “special” with the gift of teleportation. Finally, there’s Moonbeam, good old mom with a few secrets up her magical sleeves. All of these characters are on the exaggerated sidewhich I enjoyed (I wouldn’t have enjoyed this in a contemporary but I enjoyed it for this book) but then the unthinkable happens…. The characters did things that were… out of character. Oh my heart! I just need for characters to be well-developed and then to stick to whom the author made them to be and that wasn’t always the case for Chasing Power. My heart still hurts a little.

The plot was probably my favorite part of this book; it started off right away and there was plenty to keep me hooked. Daniel’s mother is kidnapped and the only way to retrieve her is to collect two stones located in various places around the world. You know what that vaguely sounds like? People, it sounds like National Treasure! I LOVE National Treasure! It was a really fun journey to find the stone and a few extras along the way. I honestly didn’t see over half of the plot twists coming and that’s my favorite way to read a book, I had to put it down and freak out a few times. This plot was on point!

​Aside from the things that I liked, there were some things that I didn’t love so much (like the characters acting out of character). The weirdest thing about this book is that it’s written in third person when it shouldn’t be, it made everything confusing and it made the book difficult to read at times. It is also possible that people could think that this book is boring and drags on, I didn’t think that until the ending… I barely got through it.

​Overall, I really enjoyed this book though it had some bumps along the way. Thanks for letting me read it, Andye!

 Valerie