Book One of the Mentalist Series
For Gemma Green’s first time, things should have been straightforward. Find your subject, hold their gaze and push a thought into their head to save them from future disaster – Aversion complete. A pretty simple process given that the subject was to have no recollection of the experience. But Russ Tanner doesn’t seem to want to forget. In fact the more she tries to avoid him, the more he pushes to get to know her. Gemma knows she has a problem but is she facing the side effects of a failed Aversion or has the school’s tennis champ really fallen for her?
*I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.*
Wow, I liked this book. It’s such a smooth and easy read that it felt like Kenechi Udogu wrote it in one effortless sitting. I particularly liked the fact that she did not try to drag out the story unnecessarily to make this a ‘full length book’ but finished when she thought the story was told. There are (fortunately) more books in this Mentalist series, but Aversion was complete and accomplished in itself.
The story focusses on Gemma, a young teenager born into a family of averters – or mentalists – who have the ability to alter other people’s minds and thus change their futures. She was told all her life that she is the only female averter around, later she learns the reason: her father eloped with a woman he loved instead of marrying one that was chosen for him (one that would have born him a son as it happened for generations). Hence Gemma is special – special in the sense of unique, but also in the sense of unnatural and uncontrolled. As if to confirm her fear to be an abomination, her first aversion does not go as planned and the handsome boy who never seemed to noticed her before starts to hover over her like an obsessed teenager. Naturally, she thinks that something is very wrong with her, yet, despite her insecurity and fear, she does not break down crying and pitying herself. No, she pushes up her sleeves and tries to fix her mistake.
Aversion is also a story about trust. Growing up alone with her father, Gemma feels a very strong bond with him and trusts him without questioning. Even as she learns that she’s been lied to all her life, she trusts him to make the right decisions for the both of them. Like a good girl, Gemma tries to make her father proud. That she doesn’t tell him about the failed aversion is less a result of lacking trust than the aforementioned embarrassed to be a girl and a failure. She simply does not want to disappoint him.
Russ, too, trusts Gemma above all else. Being unwillingly drawn into Gemma’s life, he does not understand what’s going on and why he so suddenly and unexpectedly feels this strong connection with her. Yet, this quiet and thoughtful boy calmly deals with the situation and whatever explanation Gemma has for him. I really liked the ‘love’ story between the two. Gemma doesn’t know and has no way of knowing if Russ really likes her or if his attention is a side effect of her failed aversion. Nobody trained her for this eventuality.
Aversion has a great story and likeable characters. I am looking forward to reading more about this smart heroine, her loving and protective father and this sensitive and compassionate boy at her side.
There are some questions left – for example, how is it possible to control the gender of the newborn averters, only by choosing the right mother? Or why is Henry so desperate to find and punish Gemma’s father for something he did when he was 16? Did he love her too? If he didn’t it seems quite the harsh punishment for a childhood mistake – and I hope that those will be answered in Sentient, which I am reading right now.
Thank you, Kenechi Udogu for letting me read this beautiful book!
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