Review: Inbetween by Tara A. Fuller

  Inbetween by Tara A. Fuller
  Publisher: Entangled Teen
  Publication date: 28th August 2012
  Source: NetGalley
  My rating: 4 Stars

Since the car crash that took her father’s life three years ago, Emma’s life has been a freaky — and unending — lesson in caution. Surviving “accidents” has taken priority over being a normal seventeen-year-old, so Emma spends her days taking pictures of life instead of living it. Falling in love with a boy was never part of the plan. Falling for a reaper who makes her chest ache and her head spin? Not an option.

It’s not easy being dead, especially for a reaper in love with a girl fate has put on his list not once, but twice. Finn’s fellow reapers give him hell about spending time with Emma, but Finn couldn’t let her die before, and he’s not about to let her die now. He will protect the girl he loves from the evil he accidentally unleashed, even if it means sacrificing the only thing he has left…his soul.

When I started this story, I really had no expectations since I haven’t read much of anything about Reapers.  I was guessing it might be a depressing story considering what Reapers do, thankfully I was very wrong.

Finn is a Reaper, someone who collects the souls of the dying for the Inbetween.   The Inbetween is a place for the souls of people who haven’t yet established their place in the afterlife, whether they’d go to Heaven or Hell is still to be determined.  So why do we have Finn urging Emma to fight for her life, instead of reaping her soul, in the opening scene?  You see as the story progresses, that Emma is everything to Finn, even if she’s forbidden. Unfortunately for Finn and Emma, she’s everything to Maeve, too; a shade with an axe to grind.   

Emma is a seventeen year-old girl who lost her father in a car accident that almost took her life as well.  Since then she’s been plagued by dreams of another life and a boy with haunting green eyes, and she feels like someone is watching her.  As if that wasn’t enough, Emma’s had several “accidents” or near misses that have almost killed her, since the car accident.  Emma doesn’t even think of a future when hers seems iffy at best. 

I felt bad for both Emma and Finn, but more so for Emma.  She thinks she’s crazy and having hallucinations and with all those close calls, I’d be afraid to leave the house! Emma doesn’t even feel comfortable sharing any this with her best friend, Cash.  The last time she told anyone anything, she wound up in a mental institution.  I felt bad for Finn too.  He constantly watches over Emma, fearing for her safety, yet is forbidden from being part of her life.  Of course, he can’t help himself, and then I was on pins and needles, wondering what’s going to happen to him.  Even though she’s alive and he’s dead and incorporeal, we do get a swoony romance.  Here’s a teaser for you:

I stepped into Emma, feeling her warmth draw me in.  She looked up, eyes wide, her peppermint breath fanning across my face. “What are you doing?”  She gasped, unable to catch her breath.  I ran an iridescent finger down her arm to her wrist, watched it scatter like stars across her skin.  Her breath hitched in her throat.  Her heart beat so hard the sound rippled through me like a shock wave. When her eyes met mine, the amount of want in them nearly brought me to my knees.*

At first, I thought there may be a love-triangle in the works because I kept getting thoughts like this from Emma:  “Cash was sarcasm and seduction wrapped up with a gooey artistic center.  He didn’t need a T-shirt to get any girl he wanted.  All he had to do was look at them.  The bad part was he knew it.”*  I was sort of drooling over Cash throughout the book, but I still didn’t want a love-triangle.  Plus, I was a little annoyed with him in the beginning.  The fact that Cash didn’t really believe Emma ticked me off.  Thankfully, no love-triangle appeared, and I’m happy to report we will get more Cash in the next story.  The story will be told in Cash and Anaya’s POVs.  Exactly what I hoped for!

This story felt like it flew by, I read it in pretty much in one day.  It was a story that easily held my attention, and I was quickly turning the pages eager to find out how things would turn out.  I’m pleased that things wrapped up nicely and we weren’t left with a cliffhanger.  With the way things were left with Cash, I’m anxious to read the next story. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Teen for allowing me to read this. 

*Quotes are taken from an uncorrected proof and may change in the final copy.