Manifest by Artist Arthur

Title: Manifest

Author: Artist Arthur

Age Group: Teens

# of Pages: 256

My Rating: 4/5

Krystal's new life in Connecticut is not exactly ideal. Asides the fact that her mother left her father for a man she dislikes, she has bigger problems than that. Krystal has the ability to communicate with the dead and she can not ignore the cries from beyond the grave. When a handsome ghost comes and asks for her help, she ends up trying to figure out who his murderer is.

Krystal befriends two other classmates who have a similar birthmark like hers. Both of them have supernatural powers also! They decide to help Krystal in the search of the ghost's killer. Along the way, they discover the history of their powers. In this new series, Manifest goes beyond the borders of paranormal with the power of love and relationships.

I love how the protagonist is African American. It's just pleasant to see more ethnicities for protagonists in YA novels. Krystal I found was someone you could sympathize. To have your mom leave your dad without reason can be hard, especially when you are a teen. Although there were times where I wished she could just move on, she was mature overall. She knows how to handle herself in most situations and I admire her for that.

Building up to the climax, the novel gets exciting in small doses. However, the big event I found went by too quickly. For others, I don't think it would be noticed but with everything built up to that point, I wish there was a bit more. Luckily there is no cliffhanger towards the end but it leaves plenty of opportunities for the series to develop over time. Krystal doesn't "fall in love" with anyone and I'm glad for that. She does have a crush on Ricky, the ghost, but the relationship is obviously not going to happen. With four novels in the series, there is plenty of time for her to get into a relationship and the author is good at not rushing it.

I recommend Manifest to paranormal lovers and readers who would like to read about the supernatural but not with a heavy content of it. Look for it when it releases next month!

Review copy provided by Kimani TRU.