hil duff.

I've loved Hilary Duff since her Lizzie McGuire days on the Disney channel. Though I do love her, the thought of her writing a novel made me a bit, curious. Elixir is for young adults, which fits her persona well, but I was still just a little skeptical. 

Seventeen-year-old Clea Raymond's father disappeared a year ago. Though there was a funeral once the search ended, she cannot shake the feeling that he is still alive. They found no body, and Clea cannot seem to give up hope. Clea's mother, a prominent Washington DC politician, is rarely home, and burries her grief in her work. After a holiday trip to Europe with her best friend Rayna, Clea discovers something odd about her vacation photographs. There is a man in almost every picture, a man she does not know. From the start of the vacation to the end, the same man appears in her shots. Clea has no idea what's going on, but Ben, who is a great friend to her, and her family, seems to think that her father would be able to explain it. They go on a quest to find him, and discover something completely unimaginable, the elixir of life.

After reading through Elixir in a few days, my opinion? For a first time novel, she only lost me a few times. At the beginning, and when the story started to really get interesting, there were a few times when I was thinking, WTF is going on!? All in all, I thought it was a nice piece of completely unrealistic fiction. Interesting plot and characters, but if there is not going to be a sequel, then the ending kind of sucked.

For a chance to win a copy of this book SIGNED BY HILARY DUFF, e-mail your name, address and this book title to: jenileerose@yahoo.com!