Review of THE KEEPER

The Keeper by Natalie Star

Summary via Goodreads

 The morning of her sixteenth birthday, Billie feels blessed despite the reoccurring nightmare that wakes her. Loving parents, a caring boyfriend, and great friends surround her until an heirloom necklace throws her into a world she never imagined.

“Gifted” with supernatural powers and an unexpected destiny as the Keeper, Billie and a mysterious boy from her past must work together to find answers. But, as they begin to discover feelings for one another, he disappears leaving her to fight evil alone. Her life spirals out of control. She breaks up with her boyfriend, Tony, and alienates her best friends Arianna and Jocelyn to protect them from the truth.

As dark forces pursue her, Billie longs to run away from it all, yet a need to do what’s right compels her to face the future as the keeper of more than her own fortune.

My Review:  5/5
Wow! I loved this book.  I immediately took to Natalie Star's writing style. It was clean, simple and direct with just the right amount of description to allow the reader to become submerged in the story.  She had me from page one and never let me go.  I'm still riding on the just-finished-a-good-book high.

The story begins with the protagonist, Billie, turning 16.  She wakes up from the same nightmare she has every year on her birthday.  She does her best to shrug it off and go through her normal day at home and at school.  She has 2 best friends, Arianna and Jocelyn, and a loving, attentive boyfriend, Tony.  Her family life is picture perfect too.  Yet, she feels like she doesn't quite fit in, she's just going through the motions.  Then, an emo-type boy who's been in the same classes with Billie since Kindergarten, who she's NEVER spoken to till this day, drops a bomb on her.  She's special, she's chosen......she has a destiny.   And he is her Watchman.  She learns his name is Tyler and he's been watching her for years, waiting till she was ready to learn the truth.  From this day on, Billie's life is in upheaval.  It's a roller coaster ride as she's "gifted" with multiple powers, learning to wield them to protect herself and those she loves from the evil that relentlessly pursues her.  She faces all of this while trying to keep her love life straight.  She's developing deep feelings for her Watchman, but can their relationship have any real future?


Billie is a fun, cool character, someone I would've loved to have hung out with in high school.  She has major attitude and is no-nonsense.  She has a kind of I-don't-have-time-for-stupid-people outlook.   I found it refreshing and entertaining.  When she's first introduced, her attitude causes more trouble for her than good.  But, as the story progresses her attitude becomes useful and is one of her many strengths.  It gets her through a lot of the adversity she encounters.  She's funny, honest, sarcastic and sometimes cutthroat.  People should NOT get on her bad side or in her way.  She's aware of her status as "bitchy girl" at school and it bothers her not one iota.  But somehow it's endearing, especially with her softer side.  She's very relatable.  I took an instant liking to Billie and I was rooting for her all the way.  


Every one of the characters in this book is distinct and likable, even the bad ones.  If you read this book and see how difficult it would've been to keep certain characters distinct, you'll recognize what a talent Natalie Star is.  I don't know how many authors could've pulled off such an intricate storyline with some very complicated characters like she did.  She made it flow perfectly and seem easy, and I can't help but be impressed with where her imagination and writing skills led her.

What I liked the most about this book were all the risks the author took with the whole storyline.  The twists and turns could've proved fatal to the book in someone else's hands, but in hers, they paid off big time. I thought I had a sense of where the story might head, and then it would end up somewhere totally different than I expected, in a good way.  It wasn't predictable, but a continuity was maintained and she stayed true to the story and the characters to the very end.  I also got the closure I'm always looking for at the end of a book.  I'm definitely picking up whatever Natalie Star releases next.


There is some mild language, the "s" word is used a few times, and the intimate scenes, though steamy, were kept to what I'd call a PGish rating.  I'd say they were HOT as well as tastefully done.  I recommend this book to jr. high aged kids and adults.  Very fun and enjoyable!


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