Book Review: The Beast Within

Title - The Beast Within

Author - Jonathan Yanez

Series - The Elite #1

Genre - YA fantasy Paranormal

Published - March 22nd 2013

Publisher - Limitless Publishing

(Goodreads)(Amazon)

Synopsis

Once eighteen-year-old Connor Moore stumbles across an almost human species, he is faced with history’s darkest secret, a daunting future, and a love life he can’t even begin to explain.

Concealed throughout the pages of time, there has been a powerful race of human-like creatures manipulating mankind. This Elite race is made up of five ruling families, who have obeyed The Law and remained content to keep their identities a mystery. Now after centuries of secrecy, an ancient foe is forcing them out of hiding.

When a dark-haired mystery woman named Laren crosses Connor’s path his life is turned upside down. Soon Connor is taken on a heart-pounding journey that leads to a startling discovery of who he really is and a daunting future of what he is to become.

Review

Conner’s long term girlfriend has decided with graduation it’s time to call it quits maybe they will try again but with her moving across the country she doesn’t want to do long distance. Conner took the summer before his freshman year off to help out his mom in her shop, and every morning he pushes himself running.  It’s while on his morning run that he encounters a beautiful girl his age in the woods wearing a business suit. Conner takes the risk asks her out but is turned down with the condition that if it’s meant to be he will meet her again and she will say yes. Imagine his surprise when he arrives to work later and encounters the same girl this time she agrees to a date.

While Conner’s relationship with his ex has moved back into a friendship his new relationship with Laren has quickly turned into a fast friendship growing each day. However it’s clear that Laren is hiding something and after an encounter with Morgan he learns that more is going on than he realized but before he can learn any more his ex-calls him and he rushes off to help her only to find she’s been attacked. Conner rushes off to save Laren after his encounter with Katie learning that the Elites are after his new friend and he will have to risking his life to save her. Suddenly Conner is thrust into a world he knows almost nothing about and it’s going to take all his luck to not end up locked away.

I liked Conner he’s an interesting character who has a good heart after all he even stayed friends with his ex-girlfriend which never happens. I really like the chemistry between him and Laren while it’s just a budding relationship I see a strong future for the pair. If only Katie doesn’t get in the way of the two after all she’s had her chance. I like Morgan as a supporting character she’s shown to have Conner’s best interest and I’m curious to see more of her.

I picked up The Beast Within a while back based on the cover art and the synopsis as a kindle freebie. I hate to admit typically they are forgotten.  However the cover for The Beast Within is eye catching enough that it caught my attention this week. The story is written from the prospective of Conner which I found refreshing for a paranormal young adult novel. I found the concept for the Elites unique the idea of the different supernatural community having their own council of elders was interesting. I found the story captivating right from the start it was hard to put down I wanted to know more about Conner and who the elites are. The Beast Within is an action packed novel filled with suspense and a little romance to create an intricate story. I found the book well written it flows from start to finish creating a unique story. This is my first book by the author but I know I need to finish the series because Conner is such a great character it was easy to connect with him. I did get The Beast Within as a kindle freebie and it exceeded my expectations for a freebie. I really did enjoy the book plus the cover is stunning.