Review: Significance by Shelly Crane

Goodreads description: Maggie is a seventeen year old girl who's had a bad year. She was smart and on track but then her mom left, her dad is depressed, she's graduating, barely, and her boyfriend of almost three years dumped her for a college football scholarship. Lately she thinks life is all about hanging on by a thread and is gripping tight with everything she has. Then she meets Caleb. She saves his life and instantly knows there's something about him that's intriguing but she is supposed to be on her way to a date with his cousin. But things change when they touch, sparks ignite. Literally. They imprint with each other and she sees their future life together flash before her eyes. She learns that not only is she his soul mate, and can feel his heartbeat in her chest, but there is a whole other world of people with gifts and abilities that she never knew existed. She herself is experiencing supernatural changes unlike anything she's ever felt before and she needs the touch of his skin to survive. Now, not only has her dad come out of his depression to be a father again, and a pain as well, but Caleb's enemies know he's imprinted and are after Maggie to stop them both from gaining their abilities and take her from him. Can Caleb save her or will they be forced to live without each other after just finding one another?

Originality: Shelly was original in the way she put things together, but I noticed many aspects that I’ve also seen in other books, which may have been her inspiration for Significance. I’m not saying that this is just a “copy” of other stories. It really isn’t. I love the way Shelly Crane put many great ideas from other books and put them into one amazing story.

Characters: Unlike some other books I’ve read recently, I actually really liked the main character, Maggie. She’s so…real, you know? I felt like she was a relatable character and loved that about her. And Caleb!! *sigh* They are such a cute couple. He is perfect for Maggie and I loved that there was a connection from the beginning. Ooooh, and Caleb’s dad, Peter, reminds me of Carlisle from Twilight, which is ironic ‘cause Carlisle is played by Peter Facinelli.

Content: Like I said before, there were ideas that might have come from other stories, but the way they were put together by Shelly made the content great. The idea of “soulmates” is explored in other stories, but Shelly put a new spin on it that made Significance really great.

Setting: Significance was set in Tennessee. There were beaches and starlit nights that added to the romance part and the woods to signify the danger that Maggie was in. It was awesome. The setting fit the story perfectly.

Overall Enjoyment: I fell in love with the story, the characters, everything, from the very first page and couldn’t stop reading. I think I honestly could have read an entire story of just Maggie and Caleb talking. There were typos, though, in the PDF version I read, and normally I would be all “OCD” about it, but really it didn’t take away from the story. Even though Significance wasn’t published in 2011, I’m gonna name Caleb and Maggie my favorite couple of the year. J

Oh, and by the way, I’m totally craving a honey bun right now. ;)