Wander Dust Review

Author: Michelle Warren
Title: Wander Dust (Seraphina Parrish Trilogy)
Published: 11/30/2011
Good Reads-
Ever since her sixteenth birthday, strange things keep happening to Seraphina Parrish.

The Lady in Black… burns Sera’s memories.

Unexplainable premonitions… catapult her to other cities.

The Grungy Gang… wants to kill her.

And a beautiful, mysterious boy… stalks her.

But when Sera moves to Chicago, and her aunt reveals their family connection to a centuries old, secret society, she is immediately thrust into an unbelievable fantasy world, leading her on a quest to unravel the mysteries that plague her. In the end, their meanings crash into an epic struggle of loyalty and betrayal, and she’ll be forced to choose between the boy who has stolen her heart and the thing she desires most.

Wander Dust is the breathtaking fantasy that will catapult you through a story of time, adventure, and love.

Review:

So, I tap danced around reading Wander Dust for quite some time now. The cover drew me in for sure, and the summary seemed interesting enough, but nothing ever gave me that push to pick it up. I was searching through my to-read list, and I decided that I should finally read the darn book already instead of staring at it, and letting my mind drift off. The fact that I learned for the first time the book would be about time travelers really gave me a shove that was needed. Now that I read Wander Dust I'm really really am glad that I did, it’s a great book, and here’s what happens.

Seraphina Parrish, is an only child, she lives with her dad in Miami Beach, and her life’s goal is to finally get him to notice her. She’s done the whole rebellious thing way too many times, and after being “grounded for life” a handful of times, her father decides to ship her off to her Aunt Mona. Sera moves in with Mona in her Chicago home, and begins to attend Washington Square Academy, the same school her mother and aunt attended. Anything that could put Sera somewhat closer to the mother she never knew is a joy in her book, so she isn't too phased on leaving Miami for the Arctic. 

Once Sera begins school she finds out that she isn’t going crazy after all. For one, the boy she mysteriously received a photo of months before, pops up on campus. She also discovers that the women she figured was sent to kill her, is in fact a faculty member, and the world isn’t closing in on her: she was simply wandering without knowing. Wandering is what they call time traveling, and turns out her new school just so happens to specialize in time travel. Sera gets paired up with a Seer, and Protector and begins to learn the ropes of time travel.

Now, as awesome as this story was, it had amazing characters, witty lines, awesome time traveling magic, heated scenes action and romantical (yes I just made up that word), but it kinda fell flat on the actual plot. I know Sera was ultimately trying to go back in time to find her mother, but I don’t feel like that’s what the story was really centered around. It could’ve also been more a ‘finding herself’ plot, but at the same time I don’t feel like the story was meant to be that way. Sera does grow a lot as a character, she makes mistakes, and is humble to admit defeat. She stops her reckless behavior in attempts for her father to notice her, and becomes a really great character. However, I don’t believe the story’s plot was thick enough for it to be recognized.

On the bright side, you hardly notice the lack of plot because the story is just so darn good! It’s a really fun read, and everyone should pick it up. Wander Dust scores a 4 for me! I can’t wait to dive into Sera’s next adventure!