Out of all of the Joss Stirling, Finding Sky (2010) book series, I reckon Seeking Crystal (2012) has to be my favourite.
Meet 18-year-old Crystal Brook: In her opinion, a useless savant and family screw-up.
Crystal has been through many problems in the past and hasn't had an easy life. From being an extremely tall girl (to the point where she got bullied about it at school) with a mane full of curls, who gets spots along with not being the skinniest of girls. Needless to say that being insecure about her looks is a massive problem for her.
To top it off, while she is a savant, she doesn't consider herself to be a good one, since she gets sick if she tries to do telepathy or if anyone uses it around her. Meanwhile, her gift only allows her to find people's possessions.
If matters couldn't get any worse, Crystal's Dad passed away last year and she was closest to him than any other member of her family.
To start the novel off, we meet Crystal's older sister Diamond. A perfect looking woman who gains the attention of all men around her, with a savant gift that is always in huge demand. She keeps peace in stressful situations. She also has the great ability (of the non-savant kind) of bathing Crystal in shadow to her spotlight, since all of the attention always seems to be on Diamond.
Diamond took over from her mother in taking care of Crystal when their Dad died, since her Mum was so heartbroken and couldn't do the job herself, which meant where Diamond went, Crystal went. In this case the story starts off in Denver, Colorado and not too far into the story, Diamond meets her soulfinder, Trace Benedict.
Crystal goes through the motions of feeling left out and a reject while Diamond is embracing the joys of meeting the Benedict clan and their other soulfinders. It is understandable that Crystal hates the fact she has barely any true savant powers along with being upset about the fact she has no idea how she'll ever meet her soulfinder without being able to do telepathy properly.
Crystal also has the "great pleasure" of meeting Xav Benedict, the 18-year-old brother to Trace, who is a massive joker, has healing powers and is also a massive annoyance to Crystal. To get away from him and the fuss over Diamond's wedding preparation plans, Crystal goes back home to Venice to start work with her neighbour the Contessa who creates costumes and masks, currently for a new movie taking place in Venice. However, her plan of escape doesn't last since, when Diamond comes back home, Trace and Xav are right behind her, enjoying their adventure to Venice.
While Crystal and Xav have plenty of arguments and take pleasure in winding each other up, it also brings them a lot closer, managing to get an understanding of each others personalities and who they truly are.
Big events take place in the story, from Xav and Crystal having to act out as lovers while being background actors in a movie, to certain characters in the story, showing their true colours and evil personalities and kidnapping Crystals friends and family.
Crystal goes on the fantastic journey of learning that she isn't as hopeless as she once thought and that everyone has a talent.
What I enjoyed about Seeking Crystal is that Crystal is such a relatable characters as everyone is self-conscious of themselves, whether it's on looks, height, weight or if you feel you are talent-less and this story shows how no matter what, true love is out there for you, if you're not happy about yourself, either put up with it or change it and that everyone is beautiful in their own way.
Another fantastic novel by the very talented Joss Stirling. Next book on my reading list is Misty Falls.
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