The Seven Rays by Jessica Bendinger

Beth Michaels might be going crazy. One day she’s perfectly normal, and the next, she starts seeing these strange pink dots everywhere. Unfortunately, it doesn’t even stop there. Ropes, chains, and disgusting black gunk show up on virtually every person she sees, as well as glimpses into a people’s minds, memories, secrets, and fears if she looks at someone for too long. But even though other people think Beth is crazy too, the thing is, she might not be. Because along with this strange new vision, Beth also starts receiving gold envelopes with mysterious message, envelopes Beth soon finds out she’s been receiving her whole life but hasn’t been aware of until now. The first message Beth gets says “You are more than you think you are.” And as Beth soon finds out, that’s probably true.

The Seven Rays is one confusing jumbled mix mash of too many things at once. Yes, there are paranormal occurrences, lots of them in fact, the period of doubting sanity, and romance, among other things. That’s precisely the problem with this book. Bendinger tries to include way too many things into her debut novel that the story loses its sense of purpose. On one hand, Beth has normal everyday problems with her mother and best friend. On the other, there’s this romance with Beth and Richie. Then, on an imaginary third hand, there’s all that supernatural stuff. It’s this imaginary third hand that screws this book up the most. There’s just so much about destiny and special skills as well as some kind of special prophecy or organization that’s never adequately explained that floods the story in the worst possible way. This is the kind of novel where I really wonder how it got published considering the story is such a mess. Is it because Bendinger is a moderately well known screenwriter? If that’s so, I think Bendinger better stick to that.

The Seven Rays may be enjoyed by fans of Swoon by Nina Malkin and The Hollow by Jessica Verday. I doubt I will read any sequel to this novel.

Rating: 2.0

Review copy from Amazon Vine