Enthralled

This collection surprised me. I like a certain genre of books for a specific reason and these short stories by some of my favorite authors really reminded me why I enjoy Paranormal stories. The tales all had one common theme, Journey. That word has many interpretations soem of which I relate most with such as journey of identity, a literal journey like a road trip or a new destination, a journey of honesty and trust, a journey of hope, and most of all a journey to fall in love. Of course that is many topics for such a term, but each of them has a special meaning. I feel like I have learned a valuable lesson from this book, I was reading a story in this book and realized that I wanted to be each character. I wanted to just jump right in and be the leading role, to take the risks, to discover pain, to have that special moment, to be the "perfect" person, I had never thought about it until I read this book. I have two favorite stories out of all nineteen in the book, Scenic Route, and Giovanni's Farewell. Each of them had a different journey for the main character and they are my favorite because they were the ones I most related too. In all three of the stories the main character has to discover trust, true identity within herself, and perseverance. The first story deals with supernatural powers and discovering to trust the people you love and being able to trust yourself. I related most to Ravenna because as much as things seem to be getting stranger with her brother, Cairo, she continually brushes it off. Another thing is that she tries with great effort to fit in with her peers, she is an intellegent girl who knows a good deal about history and languages, but puts it all aside to feel or pretend to be normal. There are days where I feel the exact way she does, where you have to act or talk a certain way to be able to be around friends or even people in general. In some ways I find it distasteful, petty, and annoying. She is the stereotypical teenage adolesent who wishes for the effortless love to come along and accept everything about her and it is pretty clear that isn't going to happen until we meet Giovanni. Only one problem he is dead and as a favor to complete his passage to the other world she kisses him. In her struggle to understand her ability Ravenna leans on her brother and they both try to understand what exactly is going on. After that moment with Giovanni she begins to accept all her qualities and who she truely is. In a way she grows up. I feel like that in order to mature or become fully aware of self-worth you have to accept every piece that makes you exactly the person you are and have always been. I liked that story because she realizes that and she realizes that when all else fails family always pulls through and has your back.