Jessica Bendinger

Beth is your normal teenager—smart, boy crazy, and looking forward to college. That all changes when she starts seeing things she shouldn’t. People are suddenly connected by stings of light, some coiling around, some sucking energy from others, some covered with knots. Then, out of the blue, notes in gold envelopes begin being sent to her under a name she doesn’t know, but seems somewhat familiar. Crazy, she thinks so, that is until she uncovers things her mother had tried to keep secret Beth’s entire life. Things that make everything that is happening to her seem a little less crazy and a little more real.

I had no idea what to expect from a book written by screenwriter Jessica Bendinger (Bring it On, Stick It). The voice in The Seven Rays took me a while to get used to and definitely reminded me of Bendinger’s previous work. Eventually, though, as the story progressed, I found it easy to ignore the valley-ish teen references Beth uses throughout the book. There is romance—instant romance—between Beth and college boy Richie Mac.

That being said, the point of the story goes far beyond teenage romance. Reading it was almost like reading a New Age title. The lights Beth sees are eerily similar to the cords that supposedly connect our beings to others and the scene with the ‘energy vampires’ was almost frightening (to think of meeting someone like that!).
A word to parents—sex is mentioned throughout the novel and the tension is there. What happens romantically is not vulgar or detailed so no worries there.

Overall, the messages that come through this book of forgiveness, kindness and thoughtfulness make me recommend this title to teens. The story is only just beginning, as there are many unanswered question thrown into the mix. The Seven Rays is available at bookstores everywhere.

More reviews at: http://brookesboxofbooks.blogspot.com/

… (mere)

The Seven Rays is basically a self-help book disguised as a novel. I think it would be pretty difficult to read The Seven Rays *just* as a novel, or a fantasy. Bendinger constantly sacrifices storytelling to her lessons. The lessons, by the way, are good and healthy ones - but I was annoyed to see them kinda ruin the story.

So the story is basically that Elizabeth is a smart, pretty normal high school girl who receives a card reading "You Are More Than You Think You Are" in gold letters. Around the same time, she starts having hallucinations. She sees dots and ropes and braids all over the place. She decides to ignore the card, which she is sure was just mis-addressed, but she has to deal with the hallucinations. She goes to the eye doctor and gets laser surgery, but when nothing changes her doctor wonders if the problem is maybe in her brain.

Meanwhile, Beth is getting more of those golden cards. She realizes that they're actually addressed to her specifically and they contain guides on how to interpret the strange visual hallucinations she's seeing. It becomes clear that the hallucinations aren't random, and that they're telling her things. Important things.

As a story, it's catchy. The writing is good, too. I didn't think the teen voice was 100% authentic - but I'm not a teen myself, so I can't be sure. To me, it was a little too polished and chirpy. But there isn't a single story element that isn't leveraged. Beth has a best friend, but she's a lesson. She has a mom, who's also a lesson. She has a boyfriend, who's a lesson. She has a nifty purse she loves, which is a lesson. Her favorite feature is her gorgeous hair...also a lesson. Her hallucinations are just visual lessons. I would have liked to see just one thing that ultimately served the story, not the moralizing.

It's not a bad book. But I cracked the cover expecting one thing - most YA fantasies are pretty light fare, you know? Nice little escapist romps? Something to read when you want a break from the heavier stuff? - and I got something completely, 100% different. That's jarring. I try not to judge a book by its cover, but I do trust a cover to indicate in a general, roughly accurate way what I'm getting into. Panting lovers? Better be a romance. Artistic photograph of feet? Bet it's women's fiction. Naked girl's back covered in glitter? Hmmm, doesn't sound like self-help to me.

But if you go into it with your eyes open, I bet it's great.… (mere)

Some books suck you in from the very first sentence you read. This was one of them. Beth Michaels is an average teenager (apart from being abnormally smart but that’s neither here nor there) and when her vision is enhanced by ropey knots and helices, her average life gets strange fast. Bendinger’s wit takes a regular narrative about some not so regular happenings and turns it into a wildly entertaining joy ride. I like Beth Michaels, in fact, I wouldn’t mind if she was one of my friends – that’s how cool she is. And to me, the greatest hurdle in any book I read is my relationship to the protagonist. How I feel about her colours, to a great extent, how I feel about the entire book. And I liked Beth Michaels. I was also intrigued by the other six women that the book teased us with glimpses of. They all, unbelievably so, in the sparse pages granted them, limned the complexity of both their lives and emotions – engaging the reader and making her want to explore more about their persons and their lives.

Moving on to the romance, I’m sure you’ve read of people getting sparks when kissing but this time, Richie and Beth actually really do get electrified (and not just in that way either). I found their relationship endearing and realistic. It had all the messy emotions of typical of teenagers but it also hinted at something deeper, a potential forever.

The plot – okay, I’ll be honest here. If I were to be seeing this in a theater, my eyebrows would be lost under my hair (they’d be raised that far) and while I understand the twists and turns required by the narrative, it gave a distinctly coven-ish feel. Also, there were some other developments in the growing expression of the Rays that made me the tiniest bit uncomfortable. The first three quarters of the book is wonderful – the writing crisp, the relationships engaging and the narrative absorbing. The last bit is…well, I hesitate to label it anything because I hope the next book (there has to be a next book! No way was the story completed!) will explain it.

I gave it a 3.5 stars. The 1.5 was lost to the incredibly weird last quarter of the book.… (mere)