Review: Swoon by Nina Malkin

Author: Nina Malkin

Pages: 421

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Series or Standalone: Has a sequel

Genre: YA Paranormal

Reading Level: 15 yrs+

Dominant Themes: Revenge, Ghosts, Freaking Insanity

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Sin is coming… Prepare to swoon.


Torn from her native New York City and dumped in the land of cookie-cutter preps, Candice is resigned to accept 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.


What do you do when the boy of your dreams is too bad to be true?

Swoon is a dark and twisted tale about a girl with powers that she can’t quite control. These powers get her, and the rest of the town, into quite a bit of trouble when she gives life to a ghost who was determined to get revenge on those who wronged him centuries ago. In the chaos and insanity that ensues, Dice finds herself dangerously drawn to her all-too handsome accidental creation.

This was one of those books that will only have two extremes of reactions: total love, or utter hate. With a book dealing with the kind of  things that Swoon deals with, there really is no in-between. I personally loved it. It was breathtakingly, extraordinarily amazing. 
Much different that other paranormal books out there, Swoon will have you swooning.

Nina Malkin wrote in an interesting and lyrical way while still managing to capture the mindset of teenage girl. Dice’s voice flowed, creating a vivid and realistic narrative movie in my mind as I read. Even with the more mature elements, Nina handled them nicely by glossing over them and wording them in a, erm, gentler way.

As always, characters make or break a novel. And there is much controversy over Sin. Is he a jaded man whose pain and loss have spurred him to do these things? Or is truly off his rocker insane?  How could anyone love, or even like a psycho like that? Well, that’s the beauty of this novel. It’s up to your own interpretation how you handle Sin. I will say that I personally loved him. Even though he had did have moments of frightening craziness, he also had all-too seductive moments, as well as heart-wrenchingly sad ones. Dice was strong and level-headed most of the time, trying to do damage control. But even she was lost to the seductive charms of Sin.  Somehow, though, she managed to keep it all together. She was an endearing heroine, multi-faceted, and relatable.

I recommend Swoon to anyone looking for a thrilling and exhilarating, yet dark and alluring paranormal romance. I give this novel 4 out of 5 stars.