Swoon

By Nina Malkin

Torn from her native New York City and dumped in the land of cookie-cutter preps, Candice is resigned to her posh, dull fate. Nothing ever happens in Swoon, Connecticut . . . until Dice’s perfect, privileged cousin Penelope nearly dies in a fall from an old tree and her spirit intertwines with that of a ghost. His name? Sinclair Youngblood Powers. His mission?Revenge. And while Pen is oblivious to the possession, Dice is all too aware of Sin. She’s intensely drawn to him— but not at all crazy about the havoc he’s wreaking. Determined to exorcise the demon, Dice accidentally sets Sin loose, gives him flesh, makes him formidable. Now she must destroy an even more potent—and irresistible— adversary before the whole town succumbs to Sin’s will. Only trouble is, she’s in love with him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Release date: May 19, 2009
• ISBN: 9781439164365

Nina Malkin

Nina Malkin is the author of five YA novels, including Swoon and Swear, one novella, and an adult memoir. She’s also an award-winning journalist specializing in pop culture and lifestyles, whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Real Simple, and numerous other publications. Nina lives in her native Brooklyn with her musician husband and assorted felines. Visit her at NinaMalkin.com.

Book preview

SWOON

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

SIMON PULSE

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

Copyright © 2009 by Nina Malkin

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

SIMON PULSE and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Malkin, Nina.

Swoon / Nina Malkin. —1st Simon Pulse hardcover ed.

p. cm.

Summary: In rural Connecticut, when seventeen-year-old Dice tries to exorcise a seventeenth-century man who is possessing her cousin Pen, she inadvertently makes him corporeal—and irresistable.

ISBN-13: 978-1-4391-6436-5

ISBN-10: 1-4391-6436-3

[1. Spirit possession—Fiction. 2. Supernatural—Fiction. 3. Cousins—Fiction. 4. Psychic ability—Fiction. 5. Conduct of life—Fiction. 6. Love—Fiction. 7. Connecticut—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.M29352Swo 2009

[Fic]—dc22

2008040679

Visit us on the Web:

http://www.SimonandSchuster.com

To AMR, who wanted something darker

CONTENTS

PART I THE TREE

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

XI

XII

XIII

XIV

XV

XVI

PART II THE TOWN

XVII

XVIII

XIX

XX

XXI

XXII

XXIII

XXIV

XXV

XXVI

XXVII

XXVIII

XXIX

XXX

XXXI

XXXII

XXXIII

XXXIV

XXXV

XXXVI

XXXVII

XXXVIII

XXXIX

XL

PART III THE TRIP

XLI

XLII

XLIII

XLIV

XLV

XLVI

PART IV THE TEARS

XLVII

XLVIII

XLIX

L

LI

LII

LIII

LIV

LV

LVI

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PART I

THE TREE

I

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT MUST BE GLORIOUS. I WOULDN’T KNOW, SINCE at first there was no sight. Smell, yeah—the tangy, salty scent of horses. Plenty of other sensations too. But I’ll get to that. The point I want to make up front is that by the time I laid eyes on Sinclair Youngblood Powers—in the flesh, that is—I was already in love with him. Nothing could change that. Not even the fact that he was dead.

Sinclair appeared—in this dimension, this century—on the autumnal equinox, but he’d been with us since late July. That’s right, us. Pen’s been involved, intimately involved, from day one. Which was, as I mentioned, late July, the second half of summer like haze across a field, and us by then thoroughly indolent, twitchy, bored.

"Dice, I’ve got to do something."

Dice—that would be me. Everyone goes by a monosyllable here—reference Pen, née Penelope—so this past spring, having been plucked from the companionable misery of NYC and dumped in the Connecticut countryside, I took mine. It’s fine. Candice never fit; too fancy. Candy, either; too cute. As it turned out, Sinclair adopted a tidy truncation too. Can you guess? I’ll give you a hint: It wasn’t Clair.

But I’m jumping ahead. Let me focus, let me feel it—that fervent midsummer afternoon in the village green, Pen and me, free and idle.

Watch this. She jumped up, stubbed the joint we’d been sharing onto the stone fence (never would the potential consequences of smoking pot in plain sight even occur to my cousin), then took off at a trot. Me, toasted, I just want to loll, let my mind go off while my body indulges inertia. Pen, no—she had the remarkable goofball gusto to go climb a tree.

Physically, the girl could do anything. Throw and catch with agility and accuracy. (I could duck.) Dive and swim and water-ski. (I could…not drown.) Even in flip-flops she scrambled up that tree like a monkey, hoisting herself onto carbuncles that stuck out from the trunk like mutant broccoli. Pen knew the tree, had grown up with it, and must have scaled it countless times. Still, it’s huge, a handsome, ancient ash. Grabbing at branches, strong of grip and sure of foot, she was soon half lost in foliage—saw-toothed leaves and clusters of purple-black buds. I got off the fence to stand below, admire her ascent. Pen was high, literally. Then, with a rustle, she changed course from vertical to horizontal.

Dice! she called from her limb. Can you see me?

A patch of tan skin, a swatch of blue shorts. I saw her. Apparently I wasn’t the only one. There, across the village green, lounging legs splayed on a bench with some cohorts, was Kurt Libo, his antennae up. He’d picked up that Pen Leonard—the Pen Leonard—was going out on a limb. Not that Pen has to do much to capture the attention of any sentient being, especially if male. With those breasts and that silken bolt of blond hair, all she has to do is breathe. And what did she do with this embarrassment of rapt male riches? Not much. Banked it, maybe, in case she wanted a favor later, or gave a groan that turned into a giggle. The way guys behaved in her presence, Pen thought it was funny.

Further on she crept, hands and knees, fingers and toes. Then she cursed, and one of her flip-flops swished down. The limb she’d picked was thick, but it bent with her weight.

Pen, you are a cuckoo bird, I said, more to myself or the universe than her.

What? Louder!

Hmm, so—she’d noticed Kurt had noticed her. That was to be my role, then. Fine. I could play emcee, no problem. Pen! I shouted. Pen, you’re crazy! Oh my God, you’ll kill yourself! Overwrought lines from some soap opera script. I didn’t have to turn to know that Kurt’s radar for girls gone wild was in full blip. I hollered some more, waved my arms. I didn’t have to look to know that Kurt was on his way, friends in his wake, with their slouchy, gas station saunter.

At some point during my theatrics I felt a prickle of fear, the plain and simple fear that Pen could get hurt. Yet before I could fix on how unfair that was—I wasn’t supposed to know such fear, not now, so soon, not here, in Swoon—there came a familiar, tingly foretaste. That anticipatory tremor, that distant thunder roll. There wasn’t a thing I could do about it. There never is. So I let it course through me with secret not-quite delight.

Right about then Pen wrapped her legs around the branch, emitted a shriek, and let go. The bough dipped, and she dangled like a lantern, ankles locked, hair a cascade, bra threatening to disgorge out the scoop of her T-shirt.

Holy crap! from someone.

Nice! from someone else.

Hooting, whistles, applause. Kurt, his boys.

Pen may have been laughing, too, but it sounded strangled—it must be hard to laugh upside down. But oh the ease and grace of her swing, like she could do it and eat a sandwich; I was impressed. Only the awe got shoved aside, diminished by a second, stronger tremor that didn’t seem related to Pen at all.

Not even as she fell.

Talk about buzz kill. Energy versus gravity. Arms and legs pawing at elusive leaves and then the utter emptiness of air. Torso twisting like a cat righting itself post-plunge. Only Pen’s no cat. She body-slammed onto the ground, hard. The impact reached the soles of my feet while a cranial choir sang hosannas of Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I dropped to kneel beside her. Pen was on her back, eyes closed. She was very, very still. My mouth was open, but her name hid behind my tonsils. Kurt and company hovered nervously, wondering if somehow they could be held responsible. Them. Yeah, right.

Then, the third tremor—a steamroller with thorns this time—and with it, the equine smell. The world folded in and out like accordion bellows, and suddenly none of this was here. No, it was—but it wasn’t the same. The tree wasn’t nearly as mighty. The day was different, too; drizzly, the sun off duty. Pen, Kurt, et al were absent, but there was a crowd. This was…an event. A spectacle. The atmosphere was thick with it. Every one of these people had something to feel, and none of it was good.

Then, with a time-wrenching twist, I was back again, kneeling by Pen, and her eyes shot open. Except they weren’t her eyes. Pen’s eyes are indigo, same color as mine—her mother’s eyes, my mother’s eyes. These were shards of onyx, sharp and black.

You put to death this day an innocent man! cried Pen, who was not Pen.

What the…? wondered Kurt, or someone, a distant insect.

You convict me of murder—what a cowardly lie! In truth you condemn me for doing in life what you all dare do in dreams! It festers there in the sweat of your beds, expunged now as this poisonous righteousness.

The voice spilling from Pen was her own, but as I began to grasp that the cadence, the eloquence, the unadulterated wrath could never be, the cosmos convulsed again, and I was once more part of the angry throng.

Mark me, oh town of Swoon, oh great Connecticut colony, I shall be avenged.

I couldn’t see him for all the people in front of me, who crushed forward and howled back. I could feel him, though, his rage and his terror. The onslaught of his oath seized me from the inside, held my heart like a shipwreck victim clings to flotsam.

So warn your children’s children’s children and beyond—warn them well!

The assembly roared scorn, and tightened together as fibers on a loom. They’re going to do it, I thought, all at once comprehending. String him up on this very tree.

It takes a while to hang a man. He must have been strong; he must have fought. But at last he was well and truly dead, for the knots and clots of the crowd began to unravel and disperse.

For me, the world flexed in and came out the other side. There was sunshine. And there was Pen.

Dice…, she said weakly, her eyes—they were hers—on mine. Did I do something dumb?

Relief was oxygen, brisk and blessed. Yeah…no, I told her. You fell. You probably shouldn’t try to move right now. I think you lost consciousness or something.

Whoa…really? She blinked. Tickly shards of hair covered her face. I smoothed some away with a finger. I think I’m okay, she said. Nothing…really hurts.

Me? I was burning up, but it would pass. I studied Pen. The position of her body was normal; nothing stuck out at odd angles. My cousin is one of those indestructible people. One of those lucky people nothing bad or weird ever happens to. A bouncy rubber ball of a girl. Except something about the way Pen’s glance flicked to Kurt’s—the way she seemed to suspend him for a second with an almost sexy smile—made me wonder if such people genuinely exist, or if they’re just a legend we hold to so we can feel safe.

II

THE DIAGNOSIS, DELIVERED WHEN I WAS THIRTEEN, WAS EPILEPSY. A rare form (wasn’t I special?) that might or might not respond to meds. But at least we knew.

"At least we know," my mother had said, tension draining from her spindly frame. She’d lost ten pounds on the sick kid diet—call it a perk.

"At least we know," my father had echoed, smiling the reassuring lawyer smile. Daddy’s not a lawyer; he just plays one on TV. Peter Moskow, hardly a famous actor but a working one; he’s hooked up with the whole procedural crime-drama circuit. He’s been on all sides—prosecutor, D. A., mobster, vigilante (yet never a cop; Daddy says he’s too Jewish-looking to be cast as a cop). Momster’s in the business, too, sort of: Lesley Reagan, executive editor for In Star, number one in tabloid trash.

"At least we know, they’d said and held my moist hand as I nodded bravely and the doctor went on about how my symptoms would most likely continue to be mild. No tongue-swallowing, no thrashing spasms at inopportune moments. Just these little lapses. To the rest of the world, it’ll look like you’re spacing out for a second," he’d said, skin crinkling around his doctor’s smile.

At least they knew. Trouble is, I knew different. Epilepsy, my ass. The seizures, fits, spells, trances, space-outs—episodes is my parents’ preferred term—are something else entirely. Physical manifestations of the simple fact that I, Candice Reagan Moskow, am a teensy bit psychic. Oh, gosh! I said it! What will the neighbors think?

Bottom line, I’ve always been this way. Not that I could give you the answers to a math test or pick winning lottery tickets. It’s not at my command or within my control. Mostly it’s a matter of unbidden cognizance—which can suck when you’re reading a really good book and midway through know how it ends. Other times my dreams come true—random stuff, like I’ll dream about shaking a cow, and the next morning at breakfast, the milk will be spoiled. And then, the hard-core instances, frightening enough for my parents to drag me up to every neurologist on Park Avenue.

The visions.

They came with puberty. Some girls get C-cups; I got previews of coming attractions and trailers of moldy oldies. Visions isn’t the best word, since I more than see things; I hear things and smell things and taste and touch things; I go places and sometimes come back changed (that rosy birthmark I wasn’t born with, the small scar shaped like half a heart on my left shoulder). Yet evidently these let’s-call-them-visions mimic the brain patterns of a mild epileptic seizure. Ergo, I have epilepsy. MRIs don’t tell lies. Fine. So what’s a girl to do?

Deal, that’s what. Shut up about it. My parents are a united front on the epilepsy issue. For an actor, Daddy’s sternly logical about real life, and Momster, well, the sturdy, resilient, sniffle-resistant Reagans simply don’t do paranormal. My Nana Lena, Daddy’s mother, is up to speed, since apparently her mother (referred to in family lore as that crazy Romanian) was similarly afflicted. But it’s not a topic of conversation. It’s more like an accord between us—she knows, and I know she knows. For outsiders I enact a program of clairvoyance avoidance, and keep it on the low, in general. Let other kids make like a walking dartboard or human canvas; there’s no constellation of piercings or ink on me. Dress somberly. Speak softly. Downplay drama. I know, I know, I’m a cliché—the reluctant psychic, but you fly that freak flag you’re asking for trouble. Let’s just say I have a funny feeling about that. Only Ruby ever suspected something extra-sensory was up. Poor crazy, beautiful Ruby. No need to worry about her outing me. Not anymore.

Fortunately, the visions calmed down some. At first they were frequent, violent, plus sometimes I puked or ran a woozy temperature afterward. Then I got used to them, learned to crunch ice cubes afterward to quell the nausea and fever. They’re not even a regular occurrence anymore—months can go by. My theory is they were rocket-launched by an initial blast of female hormones, PMS as ESP. Four years later they’re far more sporadic, and I still hope the whole telepathy thing will burn off like baby fat—I’ve no ambition to compete on Last Psychic Standing. Till then, I have management techniques.

Such as the vision return policy. That’s right, like a sweater you bought on a whim and decided looks stupid. I close my eyes and imagine myself in Macy’s Herald Square. I have a shopping bag with the vision inside, tags still on, and my receipt, and a matronly woman with puffed-up hair and bifocals who’s been working the return counter at Macy’s for half a century takes it away, and I say thanks. This helps me move on.

Except that time with Pen and the tree, it didn’t work. The woman peered in the bag, inspected my receipt; she looked at me. Sorry, honey. She had one of those gravelly voices, as though she needed a lozenge. You can’t return this.

I didn’t want to make trouble, but I had to ask. Why not? Behind me, people shifted and shuffled, packages crackling. I’ve never had a problem before.

The return-counter lady gazed at me over her glasses. She was not unsympathetic when she said, Well, honey, you do now.

III

SWOON IS SEGREGATED—ONLY NOT HOW YOU THINK. THERE’RE maybe a dozen minority families in town, and while I don’t know the total head count I do know the Latin lady has her own network cooking show, and the father of one of the black kids in school runs a multinational bank. Since Swoon is a town of courteous smiles, these people of color (the color of money) do as they please. The segregation I’m talking about is self-imposed and applies to leisure preference—you can see it in action down at the lake. There are sailing people and fishing people and water-skiing people, and everyone respects each other’s space on the five hundred or so acres of perfect, placid water. And if all you want to do is nothing, as far from prying eyes as possible, there’s a spot for that, too. It’s called The Spot.

Pen drove. She’d gotten the car as a sweet sixteen present, the ultimate in chunky luxe, age-restricted license be damned. Nobody worried about Pen behind the wheel.

Oh, crap, she swore mildly, braked, and backed up. I always miss that turn.

It’s easy to miss—it isn’t marked and not really a road. That’s the point. We bumped along the path, the bushes so close and the tree boughs so low as to brush us on three sides. I played an inner game of jungle explorer—I’m good at suspending my disbelief. Pen sang along with a rapper on the radio, thuggish threats in her squeaky soprano, vaguely off-key.

The Spot is secluded but renowned; cars stood among the trees like slumbering beasts. Some fancy foreign ones like Pen’s. A couple of heaps. Mostly trucks. New trucks. Lovingly restored vintage trucks.

Dice, grab the cooler, okay? Pen slung some towels around her neck and collected her enormous tote as I hefted snacks and drinks. Following my bikini-clad cousin down the narrow trail, I couldn’t help but note she hadn’t a mark on her. Two days after her tumble from the tree and the girl was unscathed, her swingy gait bouncy as ever. If it had been me, I’d have been in traction.

It hadn’t been me—yet still I felt effects of that day on the green. Having failed to return the vision to Macy’s Herald Square, it lingered like a stubborn hangover, my head cloudy and my mouth full of dust. Oh, and my dreams. How spectacular, how disturbing, how twisted my dreams must have been, since I woke up sobbing once and again laughing; only as I reached for my journal to record them as I dutifully do, I couldn’t remember so much as a flicker. Which never happens. I’ve got total dream recall, reverie instant replay. Even that week they had me on flurazepam, I dreamed hard and could recite them back like nursery rhymes. Yet those last two had been eradicated by some cosmic CIA. Musing on that, I tripped on a root and crashed into Pen, and the two of us made our undignified entrance onto the lake shore.

People waved. We waved back. No one removed sunglasses. A full one-eighty from my New York friends. In the city, we kissed. Girls, guys, transgender; gay, straight, undecided. We kissed hello and we kissed good-bye; we kissed if we’d just seen each other at lunch. Too touchy-feely for Connecticut, where kissing is for family members, if even. And, of course, someone you’re hot for.

Pen was hot, in her way, for Burr Addams. So, naturally, we ignored him, setting towels down beside Kristin Marshall and Caroline Chadwick. Both were friends of Pen’s, and now, by association, friends of mine. I’m not sure I would’ve chosen Wick, who can be a bit callous and vain, but Marsh, yes. Marsh I genuinely like.

I don’t know why I’m slathering all this lotion on, Pen said, slathering. Soon as I’m done, I’m going in.

It was another gorgeous afternoon. The lake sparkled. The tucked-away clearing was pristine—got to give Swoon party animals props for carting off beer cans from prior bashes. I envied the bumblebees sucking up to every flowering thing. Urbanites thrust into the country react one of two ways—with fear and loathing or giddy delight.

Have you been in yet? Pen asked the girls as she wiped her hands with a towelette. The robust tint to her complexion, the glint in her minnowy eyes—if anything, she looked better than usual. A brush with death will do that, apparently.

I don’t want to get my hair wet, complained Wick, whose hair, like Pen’s, is blond, thick, and naturally, perfectly straight. I washed it after riding this morning, and I refuse to wash it again. Wick flipped her hair to show it who’s boss.

Marsh has long, straight, blond hair, too, though hers finer, faintly oily, swept off her pimply forehead with a plaid band. Ah, life in the land of blondes. My dark curls, if ever blown out into taut obeisance, would rebel at the slightest hint of humidity with an audible boing! Between those unruly ringlets and my moon-cast pallor, not to mention a tush with the acreage of Wyoming, I was a sore thumb in Swoon. Only it wasn’t the sticking out that irked, but the absence of human variety. I missed the Upper West Side, where different is in demand, celebrated, de rigueur. Here, even Angela Gel Burton, the black chick whose father runs the bank, wears her hair below her bra strap, smoothed by some chemical process and lightly flecked with gold.

I’ll go in, said Marsh. Though I’m sure it’ll be like ice. That’s one of the things I like about Marsh—she’s a pessimist. Call it her way of sticking out, here in cheerleader country. Then again, Marsh had reason to expect the worst. Her father was…she used the word strict. But I’d met Douglas Marshall, looked in his eyes, and I think she meant psychotic.

Me too, I said.

Pen stood up. Good. She grabbed my wrist, hoisting me to my feet. I shed the madras button-down I wore as a cover-up.

Oh, all right, Wick said irritably and gathered her locks into a quick top knot. "But I’m not going underwater."

It wasn’t as though one of us had to stay behind to watch the stuff. Cash, credit cards, car keys, and assorted gadgets sat secure in open bags. We made for the lake. There would be no toe-testing, no getting used to it. Lake water is notoriously cold; the only way in is the charge. Besides, running in, with its requisite squeals and splashes, is a mating call in Western Connecticut. Soon, Pen and Burr Addams were racing each other with long, clean strokes.

Burr was an exemplary suitor, a true Connecticut Yankee. The Addams lineage dates back to the original colony. His father, a judge on the state Supreme Court, had greater political aspirations. Burr had been captain of the high school’s victorious lacrosse team; he’d be a freshman at Yale come fall. Having spent the first half of the summer traipsing through Europe, he was now home to while away the rest in lazier fashion. How did I know this? Pen was a Burr Addams encyclopedia. She’d told me all that, and also that she was saving herself for him—she’d used those very words, saving myself—since she intended, with a certainty that bordered on grim, to marry him one day. Today she was working toward the goal.

Some guy I didn’t know had swum over to chat up Wick. No one with a penis had yet approached Marsh and I. We paddled in place to maintain blood flow in the brutally glacial milieu. Good thing we’re not guys, Marsh said. Our testicles would have shrunken to tiny little peas by now. Another thing I like about Marsh: She’s funny.

Come on, Dice, I’ll teach you to backstroke, she said.

Yeah? I said, panting slightly. "You think? That would require me to lie on my back." I couldn’t conceive a more vulnerable position in the middle of a freezing lake.

Oh, come on. It’s easy, I promise. To convince me, Marsh arched at the belly, then flicked arms and fluttered feet. A corona of thin blond seaweed stirred about her head. Then she rolled over and sidestroked my way. Trust me, she said.

What the hell—treading water was proving strenuous. Marsh laid a hand at my lower back, another on my shoulder. That’s it, she said, soft but not

Reviews for Swoon

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Teen fiction; ghost romance. Actually better than I thought it would be--characters are endowed with sharp wits and the plot rolls along at a decent pace. Not sure if I would read the rest of the series. Maybe.

[renkellym · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Let’s be perfectly frank. I really, really disliked Swoon. It didn’t captivate me at all, the characters were poorly developed… and the romance was horrific! The only thing this book has going for it is the fact that its featured supernatural creature is a golem. I haven’t encountered any golems in my reading before. Other than, y’know, Gollum (LOTR), but that’s just a homophone.Anyway. The romance. I’m not sure what it is about some paranormal YA books, but in some of the particularly bad ones, the heroine falls in love with a supernatural being for NO REASON AT ALL. Take Swoon, for example. New-girl-in-town Candice comes to find out that her cousin is possessed. Candice gets a quick look at the possessor in question, and “falls in love with him”. The only charming bit about Sin (the golem) is that he’s from the 1700’s, making him have foreign appeal? I don’t know.Another thing that was disturbing (as if love-but-not-really isn’t scary enough) was the fact that Sin would constantly throw out (how do I say it) an “orgy wave”, and everyone in the immediate area starts writhing and gasping. And this for some insane reason makes Candice like him even more. Yeah. Uh-huh.General idea: I didn’t like Swoon. Others might (and do, apparently, because the book came out in paperback following the hardcover), but it certainly wasn’t my cup of tea.(Originally posted to 365 Days of Reading)

[laphenix · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Reminiscent of Holly Black's "Valiant." Quirky, unique, and sometimes poetic, but a bit raw and grungy for my taste. After a hard-to-waddle-through intro the book picks up and remains engaging, but the plot turns and the finale, I found a bit hard to swallow.

[shojo_a · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I only read about half of this. I was enjoying it well enough, but then I lost interest after a certain spoiler.

[br13mamc · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Sinclair Youngblood Powers. Correctly nicknamed Sin, a ghost on a hellish mission to avenge himself and his love. He’s been brought back in a freak accident, when a young teenage girl falls from a tree. The same tree he was hung on.Pen is oblivious to her possession, but her cousin, Dice, is not. Dice, with a few secrets of her own, plans an exorcism. But when her exorcism goes wrong, and Sin turns into a havoc wreaking, flesh and blood human, she has to face the consequences. She must make her own plan.Swoon was a thriller that kind of messed with my mind. It kind of confused me, and it was definitely over the top sexy for me. It was a little too far-fetched. I thought the ending was a little too predictable. The only good thing was the main-character, Dice. I thought she was very strong willed. She had a few secrets, and thats always good thing in a book.Overall, this was a book I would not give a second chance to.

[thehidingspot · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'll start out by saying that Swoon was not at all what I expected. However, I still ended up loving it in the end - once I gave up the idea of what I thought it was going to be. If you like "bad boys" - real bad boys - then you'll love Sin. His name really says it all. I alternated between hating and loving him, but in the end I pretty much settled on love, despite some of the absolutely horrible things he did throughout the book. I think I loved him for Dice more than anything.I really liked the symbolism and meaning found by reading between the lines of Swoon. It was a good novel at face value, but it was even better if look a little deeper. There is a lot of sex in this book - and plenty of drug use as well. I didn't think that this content took away from the plot, rather they added the edge and "sin" that was integral to the plot. Basically, I hope my review made you wonder - I didn't want to say too much or give anything away. Swoon is really one of those books that you just have to read for yourself - and I highly recommend that you do. It seems to me that it is one of those love it or hate it books, but I personally loved it!

[yabookiemonster · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Swoon is one of those books that you either love or you hate, and I for one love it! It's been about two years since I read this book (it was one of the first books that I read when I really started to get into reading!), and I've read many, many books since, but Swoon still remains one of my favourites! What I loved about Swoon was the fact that it was so original. I have never read anything like it since, and don't think that I ever will. I loved all of the unique, quirky characters in this book, especially my favourite (to this day) bad boy, Sinclair Youngblood Powers (I decided to name my first son Sinclair after reading this book lol)!As much as I, personally, love this book, it's not for everyone. There is a lot of cursing, drug use and sex, but that really didn't bother me at all. I actually feel like the book wouldn't have been the same, or as good, without all of that stuff. This book is also a little bit confusing, but as long as you pay attention while you read, you should be able to follow!I would personally recommend this book if you are looking for something unique (and amazing!) and aren't too offended by swearing, teen drug use and sex! I can, without a doubt, say that it will be like nothing you've ever read before, and I hope that you will enjoy it if you decide to give it a go! Swoon is definitely one of my favourites!

[psteinke1122_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Once again…not sure what I was expecting…but this was not even close to my realm of expectation!Pulled out of NYC, Candice (AKA “Dice”) and moved to the town of Swoon, CT. She lives across the street from her Aunt, Uncle, and cousins…but her folks still work in NYC so she is basically unsupervised during the week and some weekends when her parents can’t make it home. Which leaves lots of time for trouble and her cousin Pen (Penelope) is usually the one finding it…including when she nearly dies from falling out of a tree. But the knock on her allows a ghost, Sinclair, in, and he has a mission. Sin is gonna need Dice’s help.Here I assumed that “Swoon” was a reference to that back of the hand on the forehead, about to faint, type of thing…and it’s actually the name of the Conneticut town where the story takes place. LOL – I don’t think I could live in a town called Swoon! I’d be too tempted to actually swoon!I don’t want to give away major plot points, because they will really drive you to keep reading…so what can I say? That’s the question.First the storyline was very inventive. A little ghost story, a little time travel, a little “Witches of Eastwick”…at one point during the story I had jotted down that comment…although it total it was nothing like “Witches”. There is a bit of a triangle, but not the kind of triangle you would expect. There is a lot of revenge and good vs. evil. There was a lot going on but it all melded together beautifully and was not confusing or formulaic.I really like Dice…she was smart, snarky, and yet typically self-conscious. Malkin didn’t pull any punches which I appreciated. Dice smoked pot and has a history of exploring anything and everything…she is probably most like a “human” teen than a lot of YA heroines. She’s been abandoned, for all intents, by her NYC editor Mom and character actor Dad. Dice lives in a house across the street from her Aunt, and her parents try to get home on the weekends…but aren’t always successful. Which explains Dice’s proclivities in a number of ways.Sin, aka Sinclaire, had a complex story. I loved him at first, so charming! Then I hated him for being manipulative, then I kind of liked him again, then hated him with a passion, then loved him again…he really ran the gamut. This was a tough one to put down! Because it was so different and so good, I hesitate to read the next book, “Swear” for fear it won’t measure up. Is that awful of me? I think I will read a few other books first and then get into “Swear” when “Swoon” isn’t so fresh in my mind.

[coranne_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Not a fan- I will leave it at that.

[annakay21 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

BEWARE: This book centers completely around sex. If that's not your thing, avoid at all costs.

[ashleylilliemaria8 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Honestly, I really, really did not like this book. I feel like two stars is very generous. I didn't like any of the characters, and I really didn't care what happened to them. I do not like books where the romance is 'love at first sight', I am old enough to know how ridiculous this concept is, and I feel that it's an easy out for an author. The whole time I was reading this book, I just wanted it to be over. Sorry if this is really harsh.

[cassandrabookblogger · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Read it and leaves you amazed. Has many teen issues mixed into a paranormal background that is very unique. Has potential. It is Book 1 of Swoon novels.Very different wrting style and you should take your time reading it so you get it

[thekaisu · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I haven't read about ghosts in YA novels. Well, ghosts and golems. This is the first one I've read in a while and I was curious how it was going to turn out.Dice and Pen are two crazy teens. Maybe they just want to try out a lot of things, them being teenagers and all. But I was a bit thrown off, and I wouldn't agree with some aspects of the book, considering that this is YA, and I'm not even a teen anymore. Maybe I'm a bit sensitive and most things don't really bother me, but drinking is one thing (and I'm fine with that) but drugs, smoking weed? I wouldn't want much of that in the book I read.I liked Sin and the way his character has developed. I've said countless of times before, I have a weakness for bad boys, and Sin just happen to be a bad, bad boy. Wait, scratch that. He's a diabolical, scheming boy. Okay, that's better...However, Sin, evil as he may be, was changing Swoon. Some lives for worse, but most for the better. But it had to be done. His ways might be bad, and he might be driven by a purpose, even revenge, but he was changing the lives of everyone in that small town. And, what he didn't know, was that Swoon, a town that has shunned him even when he was alive, was changing him as well, along with Dice.Dice, who was desperate for someone to be with her, who learned to deal with her past mistakes, to finally let it all out, to deal with her life, to let go, and to start anew.Despite my disagreements with some aspects of the book, this has more substance than what I had originally thought it had. It wasn't just about a girl having visions, or some ghost ending up in a girl's body. It gave me a sneak peek in a life of teen, which I think, was a bit truthful than what was written in most YA novels. It dealt with serious issues (abuse, coming of age, coming out of the closet, sex, cheating, use of drugs, you name it...). When you think about it, it was deep, in a sense.

[galleysmith · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I have three words to describe this book.Paranormal.Dawsons.Creek.UGHRight down to the overused SAT words in common conversation it was the ghostly version of a whiny powerless girl who lets everyone else in her life control her.Sin (the resident ghost) was supposed to be this grand sexpot filled with charisma but yea, far more one dimensional. He came across as an overbearing asshole. Everything was all about his power and control over every.single.person in town. And boy, did we see that control at infinitum. Oh and how did that control exert itself? Sexually inappropriate situations. Copious amounts of sexually inappropriate situations and behavior. Now, granted, kids are kids and they have sex and they do sexy things. But it got really old that almost every single act of revenge Sin undertook revolved around sex — illicit affairs, teenaged seduction of adults, inappropriately timed orgasms, missing undergarments, orgies….you get the point right? I would have liked to have seen a bit more variety in the way of machinations.As it related to the romance portion of the story, I was completely baffled as to what about Sin made Dice love him so much. He wasn’t appealing in any way. He was selfish and petulant and like I said earlier, controlling. While he did look out for her in some capacity it always felt more self-serving than as any act of love on his part. The relationship was completely one sided until the very end when it leveled out a bit but even then that was a result of circumstances related to the outcome of Sin’s quest.The narration didn’t do much to help me enjoy this story. In fact, it just might have been the reason I ended up disliking it so much. Narrator Caitlin Greer didn’t represent the different characters in this story well. Her voice sounded extremely young and while Dice is a teen-aged girl one of the main thematic elements of the story was sexuality. It is a story that was intended to be far more sultry than came through the speakers. Specifically, this narrator lacked the desirability and allure that was needed for the character of Sin. His most essential of characteristics were his dark revenge-laden sexy undertones and this narrator missed the mark. By a mile. No, by miles and miles.In the end, my low opinion of this book is a direct reflection of having listened to it on audio as opposed to reading it in print. I suspect there is a possibility I would have walked away with the impressions and feelings that the author intended had I been more capable of using my own imagination where characters and situations were concerned. For that reason I’m going to conduct the experiment of giving the follow-up a try when released. Though already tainted by this negative experience with the first book I’m quite interested to see how I feel about the second.I hesitate to warn anyone off Swoon entirely but if I were to encourage you to read it I would say definitely go with the print version so that you’re better able to create your own experience.

[katiedoll_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Let me start off by saying that Swoon is an incredibly beautiful story. The way it’s written, the detailed setting, the easily manipulated characters- I enjoyed them all. But every once and awhile, you’ll come across a book that no matter how good it is, you can’t fully enjoy it because you can’t fully understand it. This is a perfect example of that for me.I’m not saying that Swoon is impossibly hard to understand. Writing and plot wise, it’s pretty simple. But I felt like there was a story under the story that you had to read between the lines to grasp. Most people will tackle it with one read through but I was not one of them.To me, it just seemed like random events after random events with an incredibly surprising ending that left me so flabbergasted. In the beginning, Sin’s journey to avenge the soul of not only himself, but his murdered fiancé and unborn baby, was pretty straight forward. But once Sin and Dice began traveling back to uncover the mystery behind his past, everything just seemed to unravel. I won’t elaborate because I don’t want to post spoilers, but I just didn’t get it.I did enjoy Sin and Dice’s relationship, however short and prolonged it might’ve been. But other than that, the story didn’t pull me in like I had hoped it would. In the future, I plan on thoroughly re-reading this. Maybe you’ll see a retraction review? Maybe not. But this is a story that you’ll have to personally read and form your own opinion about.

[ldelprete_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

ummmmmmm.... that's pretty much what I was just left saying to myself after finishing this novel. I was very excited to read this story. It sounded like it would be steamy and sexy and still have the paranormal twist I love. I was very disappointed. If you are looking for a good steamy sexy love story, this is not the book for you. There wasn't anything sexy about it. There were a few spots that were steamy by in an immature overly detailed way. I am still trying to figure out half the story. The writing was very choppy. I often found that I had to ga back and reread the previous pages to figure out what was going on. It felt like a chore, almost as if I were studying for a test I didn't want to take. I kept reading hoping that it would turn around but it did not. The first third of the story showed promise but once "the town" began it was all downhill. I found Pen to be very annoying. I also found it hard to keep track of who was who with all the nick names. Chapters without titles was bad for this book. I often found it hard to know what was happening, who was involved, what time period it was, if it was a continuation from the previous chapter or the start of a new plot. I'm not sure how I feel about the main character Dice. Se was consistent in most cases but the whole psychic thing and her love/hate for Sin. I didn't really believe any of it. Her relationship with Pen was totally rediculous. It all felt very unfinished. The only storyline that I felt was complete and gave closure was surrounding Marsh (kristen) and her father. Maybe event the plot surrounding Sin as well, kind of. I hated the ending. Everything that I wanted this book to be, it was not. No true love story, no steamy love scenes, and most prominent no closure. Overall this came off as the work of a scatterbrain. I think the author tried to focus on too many storylines. It came across jumbled and incomplete. Maybe if she would have developed Sin's character more and the relationship between him and Dice I would have enjoyed it more. This was just a mish mosh of confusing story lines that left me disappointed overall.

[krau0098 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I got this book through Amazon Vine. I was excited to get it because I actually had this book on my wish list. Boy was I disappointed.The concept is interesting. Dice has some psychic ability. When her friend Pen falls from a tree and dies for a moment; Pen's body is entered by the spirit of Sinclair (Sin). Sin was wrongly murdered many, many years ago and wants revenge against the town of Swoon (where they all live). Sins presence makes Pen act out and Dice tries to exorcise Sin; instead she ends up giving him a physical body that allows him to wreck havoc in person instead of through Pen.Okay if the premise sounds interesting, it is. Unfortunately the execution of the story left a lot to be desired. All of the characters come across as stereotypical and flat. The story itself is inconsistent and disjointed; chapters end in the middle of a scene only to have new chapters start in a completely different setting. It leaves wondering if some pages fell out of the book or something. An example of this: a big deal is made about how Dice need to hitchhike to get someone to drive her back to New York city, she meets a psychic there. In the middle of their meeting the chapter ends. In the next chapter Dice is suddenly back in Swoon getting ready for a Halloween party. How did she get back to Swoon? A big deal was made about how she got out of Swoon, so how did she suddenly get back? What happened to her meeting with the psychic? I mean really would it hurt to have some consistency?I also had a bit of a problem with this being dubbed a young adult novel. Throughout the novel drug use runs rampant. We are talking use of every kind of drug you can think of; it is casual use with no real purpose to the story. The drug use is such that every single character in the book casually uses drugs; it really gives the message that all young teens casually use drugs and I found it kind of disturbing. Which leads to the problem of the casual sexuality in this book too. I am all for liberal sex (big fan of the Anita Blake books here); but when you have young adults having loads of casual sex among themselves, trying to seduce teachers, and descriptions of casual sex between senior citizens...it was all just a bit weird for me. I would have been uncomfortable reading this as a "young adult".Now let's briefly discuss Sin and Dice's "relationship". There is no relationship. Dice loves Sin (for no reason) and Sin constantly abuses her emotionally and occasionally physically. Still somehow Dice and Sin are supposed to be the ultimate star-crossed couple...ummm no, they are just dysfunctional. I found many of the characters' relationships with each other to be equally disturbing and unhealthy. I also never really got the point of the story.Some of the above could be excused if the story was fast-paced, engaging, or fun to read. Unfortunately it is none of those. I had a lot of trouble getting through the book; believe it or not all of the sex and drug use was so prevalent it got very boring to read about. The whole time I read this book I was just counting down the pages, hoping that soon I would get to the end of it.I usually try to find something positive to say about a book; but seriously I did not like this book and I have nothing positive to say about it.

[librarypenguin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Candice is beginning a new life away from New York City in the small town of Swoon, Connecticut. Dice spends her time in Swoon leisurely hanging out with her perfect cousin, Penelope, and her group of privileged friends. However, after Penelope falls from a tree during a bout of drug-induced fun, things begin to get interesting. Penelope has been inhabited by the spirit of Sinclair Youngblood Powers, a young man who was wrongly accused and executed for killing his fiancé in the town of Swoon over 200 years ago. Now Sinclair is bent on revenge and Dice must overcome her feelings for him and put a stop to it before her new town falls apart. This was a compelling read that keeps up a quick pace and intriguing plot from the very beginning. The characters were likable, even when somewhat twisted. However, some characters were thrown in and never fully developed, in particular a friend from her past in New York. This is not a book for anyone who has trouble reading about sexual situations. It sometimes seemed like sex was thrown in just for the sake of making the book more appealing—like extra fight scenes in an action movie. I think the addition of these situations sometimes took away from the flow of the book. Sinclair’s revenge often came about in the form of enticing sexual expressions in the townsfolk. I like the revenge storyline, but it often became overshadowed by the nature of the situations.

[alliebeth927 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I picked Swoon up knowing that it was supposed to be dark, edgy and sexy. It definitely had the dark, perhaps the edgy as well, but I found nothing about this book even remotely sexy. It starts off well with a promising premise--Pen's body becoming inhabited by a ghost when she falls from a tree. The fascination that Dice, a slightly psychic teenager, feels for Sin, the ghost, made me think that the story was going to go a certain way. But when horrible things start happening around the town of Swoon, it takes a pretty awful turn. Dice is in love with Sin for no reason I can tell; he's vindictive, violent, and does things to hurt people who Dice loves. Dice herself is not particularly likable either. She vacillates between trying to stop Sin's horrible acts, and doing next to nothing because she loves him too much. The only characters who I found even a little bit likable were very secondary ones who didn't get enough of a storyline. The writing was also a tad confusing at times, with the narration feeling like it was pulled straight from Dices brain. This gives it a jumpy and sometimes incomplete feeling. At other times it's unclear who, exactly, is narrating. Overall, this is probably one of the least enjoyable books I've read in awhile. I couldn't put it down, but only because I knew that if I did, I'd never pick it back up.

[pacey1927 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Right off the hat I have to say that "Swoon" is not for Young Adults. "Swoon" isn't for morally rigid adults either. This is the story of Dice, a 17 year old who goes to live with her cousin Pen and her family in the little po dunk town of Swoon. Something weird happens when Pen falls from a tree. When she awakens she has changed and begins to act strangely. Dice finds herself able to communicate with the 'spirit' that has possessed Pen. Later the two girls find a way to make him human. His name is Sinclair, or "Sin". Sin is out to extract revenge on the heirs of the townsfolk who killed him and his fiance two hundred plus years ago. It doesn't matter to him that these people are innocent and shouldn't be judged by their ancestors. What Sin does is lead the entire town to sin. He wants to humiliate and injure the entire town. This leads to many, many, MANY, mentions of drug and alcohol use and sex. Not even typical boyfriend/girlfriend sex but homosexual teenage encounters and the occasional orgy. Parents have affairs as do the even the old folks at the nursing home. This is just some out there stuff. But the biggest thing that hurts Nina Malin's story is the fact that not one of her characters is empathetic, intresting, or likeable. Dice just loves Sin. She has no reason for it, she claims to hate everything he does. He sleeps with others and her love never waivers. He is sadistic in his behaviour of her at times and again she never falters. I don't like weak heroines. There are far too many in fiction today who let their men abuse them in some way in the name of 'love'. She has many chances to stop some of Sin's doings but only once does anything that I can recollect. She is apathetic to his evildoings. Pen is a hussy. The book tries to explain it so that Sin is making her that way, but I think she was a hussy before she ever fell from that tree. She laughs at all the things happening in Swoon until it directly affects her. Sin can have the saddest backstory in the world of literature but at no time does he come across as a decent guy. The bad part of that is that Malin and her Dice want us to think deep down he is. I didn't buy that. Now I regardless of what you may think at this point, I didn't hate this story. I found it to be a real page turner. My stepdaughter wanted to read this since it was YA but I am going to vote a big 'no' to that idea. I am not so morally uptight that I mind reading the sex and drug stuff because some I don't mind. This just went overboard on both the sex and drugs, and the fact that it promotes itself as YA is misleading and scary. Malin's idea is a very interesting and unique one and I think had it been presented differently, perhaps with different characters, this could have been a phenomanal read. That said, the authors writing style was unique in a good way and I wouldn't mind checking into the other books she has written.

[thedreamerreader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Good: The beginning was good, it drew you in… and when I say “it drew you in”, what I really meant was the book is practically daring you to put it down! And you can’t because it is so fascinating and you just HAVE to know what happens next. The middle… it was pretty good, but the ending, OMG, the ending really delivered the most.Usually those types of endings make me want to chuck the book out the window… this was not the case with Swoon. And that takes skill to make me, the most emotional and sensitive person ever, enjoy the ending like that. You really pulled it off so, kudos to you Nina Malkin.Okay… to the characters.Dice was very cool. Even though I would never really hang out with her in real life (because she could probably kick my ass), I really liked her! She was sarcastic, interesting, and she was real. I think that’s what I really liked about her; she didn’t try to be anyone else. Not to mention, she’s a really good person to her friends, her family, and practically everyone else.Even though I like Dice, sometimes I questioned her feelings about Sin. I wondered, “Why is she so in love with him?” and I am sure, everyone who has or will read this book has/will thought/think about that. I mean, if you look in the dictionary for the word “bad boy”, you’ll find Sin’s picture. And probably if his picture is in it, the dictionary will out-sell Twilight… but that’s beside the point.The point is, even though he’s really bad… you can’t help but have a soft spot for him. He’s handsome, a gentleman (mostly), and he had this huge tragic life, the perfect desirable bad boy. I’m not saying everything he does is justified. Way more than once, he would do something and I would just want to strangle him for being such a jackass! But there were times (way more than once) that really made me… dare I say it, swoon for Sin.Ack, my mom would probably never let me out of the house for saying that. But, Sin’s the type of guy who would even make the most innocent of girls sneak out their window for him. Not that I would do that because, you know, I would probably die.So, to an extent, I understand what she was thinking.Basically what I’m trying to say here is that Ms. Malkin has written very real and balanced characters.The Bad: This was a little mature, at least for me it was. I usually do not give an age limit for books because I know everyone matures differently, but this is totally for the more mature teen readers and up, only. It’s not completely cringe-worthy; it’s just sometimes awkward to read because it describes certain intimate acts, anatomy, and sexual references. Maybe I have the maturity of a five-year-old, but I felt just a teensy bit uncomfortable reading it sometimes. It was a good book, but young teens should not read this, at least, not yet.Also, at times the writing was too fast-paced and it left me confused and sometimes, with a headache. So, if you are going to read it, make sure to read slowly. Otherwise, you’ll be really frustrated. And coincidentally, there was some parts that were boring and I wanted to skip ahead to the action. The point is: this book is bi-polar.Overall: Although, definitely not for everyone and when finished reading, I was a little confused about what I thought of it, after really thinking about it, I found that I immensely enjoyed the story. With a fantastic story line, Swoon is exciting and will have you breathless the whole time you’re reading.Grade: B+

[kperry_64 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Candice (Dice) has been transplanted from a busy New York City to a quiet Swoon, Connecticut – and nothing much happens in Swoon. She spends her time hanging out with her cousin Pen since her parents stay away most of the time because of their jobs. Mostly just home for the weekends, they aren’t involved in Dice’s daily life.Dice’s life gets a little more interesting after Pen has an accident during a dangerous stunt while climbing a tree. While unconscious, Pen is inhabited by a vengeful ghost named Sinclair Youngblood Powers. Dice is aware of this change due to her heightened psychic abilities and immediately feels drawn to Sin, but after she realizes what he plans to do, she makes it her mission to send Sin back to where he came from and out of Pen’s body. But, things don’t go as planned. Sin becomes flesh and blood and way more dangerous than before. Dangerous to the town because of the revenge he is exacting on its inhabitants and dangerous to Dice because of the deep feelings Sin brings out in her.SWOON is dark, sensual, and edgy. There are a lot of references to sex and drugs so be aware when recommending this book to adolescents. This would definitely be a book for high school students and above. Nina Malkin should be commended for creating a unique paranormal story. She weaves together many loose ends to create a thought-provoking story. SWOON will stay with you long after you read it.

[stephxsu · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A tragedy relocates Candice “Dice” Moskow to the uber-preppy town of Swoon, Connecticut. Everyone hopes that she will be reformed after hanging out with her cousin, the perfect Pen Leonard, but when Pen falls out of a tree, thing start going horribly awry. It turns out that Pen has been possessed by the angry spirit of Sinclair Youngblood Powers, wrongly murdered over two centuries ago and now determined to exact vengeance on Swoon.In an effort to exorcise him out of Pen’s body, Dice accidentally gives Sin his own flesh and blood. Suddenly people start acting on their hidden desires: affairs begin, erotic encounters ensue, passions are awakened, the whole town is in an uproar, and Dice knows that the too beautiful, too persuasive Sin is inexplicably behind him.Feeling somewhat responsible for creating him, Dice attempts to stop him, but finds herself drawn more and more into Sin’s misery and history. How can she be falling in love with this soulless monster? What is Sin, and is he malevolent or just a hurt young man?This book is a great example of a story that starts out amazing but fizzles out the longer it drags out. At the beginning, I was completely enamored with Nina’s stream-of-conscious-like writing style. Dice’s casual colloquialism as the narration lends authenticity and interest to SWOON, and is one of the parts I like most about this book.As the story went along, however, it became more and more bogged down by seemingly random events that were not only unbelievable, but also slightly disturbing—vague mentions of orgies, outlandish sexual promiscuity, etc. I also never got a clear picture of the characters, especially Sin, who is supposedly dark and soulless, and yet has the power to whip the whole town into a sexual frenzy.In the end, SWOON read for me like a melodramatic Asian drama, with inadequate character development yet an overabundance of things happening and hidden motives. With a few hundred pages less and some more tightening of the plot, this book could’ve been incredible. As it is, however, it is only a pleasant, slightly uncomfortable diversion, a book that is, unfortunately, too easy to put down.

[lenoreva · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"Eventually all stories must be told. People simply aren’t built to hold them in. …. [It’s a] matter of finding the right person to tell it to. Since a story, even a sad one, is a gift.” (p. 417-418, ARC edition – may vary from the final published version.)It may seem odd that I’m starting this review with a quote from the second to last chapter of the novel. And although the quote refers to a minor subplot, the truth of it really resonated with me and sums up my feelings about this superbly written book about impossible love and unimaginable loss.But basic plot before I go any further – NYC transplant Candice (known as Dice in the nickname-loving, cookie-cutter Connecticut community of Swoon) meets 18th century transplant Sinclair (known as Sin, because he sins with abandon and causes others to sin as well) when he possesses the body of her hot but prissy cousin Penelope (known as Pen because …err… elope would sound weird?). Sin was strung-up by Swoon’s denizens’ snobby ancestors, so he’s out to get revenge. Only Dice is aware of what he’s capable of, but swept up in the spell of his charm, she’s very reluctant to stop him…I really did feel like this story is a gift – and judging by the polarizing reviews on GoodReads and across the blogosphere – it’s one that’s not right for everyone. I can understand that some readers are turned off by the all “lustful” scenes Sin leaves in his wake, but these are strictly dreamlike in quality (think Patrick Susskind’s THE PERFUME), and in no way explicit or eyeball scalding.Ok, I’ll allow that the paranormal plot is rather convoluted and does tend to meander at times, but the writing is so stellar, I honestly didn't mind the detours. I took a week to read this, not only because I had only stolen moments to devote to it, but also because I wanted to savor Malkin’s delicious turns of phrase. The story is told in first person, and Dice is so wry in her observations and so conflicted in her loyalties and desires I found myself identifying with her (despite our differences). I don’t know…maybe you have to have a certain maturity level (and I'm not talking about age, though this is more appropriate for older teens), and/or a certain familiarity with tragedy, to really connect with this one. All I know is that I thoroughly enjoyed it, and not only will it stay on my shelf, I know I’ll go back and read passages from it again and again.