Review: Whisper of Memory by Brinda Berry

Title: Whisper of Memory
Author: Brinda Berry
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Fantasy
Publisher: Etopia Press (Nov. 5th 2012)
Get it: Amazon, B&N

Synopsis
Weapons training and winter formals...a deadly combination.

All Mia ever wanted was to fit in at Whispering Woods High. But being a portal-finder who dates a guy from another dimension sort of makes it hard. Mia's brother disappeared over a year ago, and agents from the IIA began policing people's movements through dimensions. She'd trusted Dr. Bleeker from the local university when he'd told her the IIA were the bad guys. But even a girl with an extraordinary ability to sense things can make mistakes.

Now two people are dead, and as a portal gatekeeper for the IIA, Mia needs to find Dr. Bleeker before he hurts anyone else. And her boyfriend Regulus, an Agent for the IIA, carries secrets of his own. Between learning about weaponry, finding the perfect dress for the winter formal, and catching bad guys, who has time to fit in?

Review 

Whisper of Memory continues where The Waiting Booth left off. If you haven't read The Waiting Booth yet, I recommend that you do not read any further. I don't want to spoil anything for you.

Previously we learned that Mia's mother was an IIA agent and that she is now helping Dr. Bleeker despite the fact that he is killing people for his experiments. And when Mia first meets her mother again after so many years -- her mother took off when she was just a toddler -- Nancy pulls a gun on her. Needless to say, Mia does not have warm and fuzzy feelings towards the mother that abandoned her. On top of all of that, her missing brother is sending her vague messages that only confuse her more and make her ask more questions for which no one has any answers. Oh yeah, and according to the IIA, dating among IIA members is forbidden.

I was very much looking forward to reading this sequel to The Waiting Booth. I enjoy the mystery of the story and the budding relationship between Mia and Regulus. Not to mention, Arizona is such a fun character who has a crush on Mia's best friend Emily. And let's not forget Austin, who is in love with Mia, but he's one of her best friends, and she thinks of him more like a brother. So with Whisper of Memory there is the continued mystery surrounding Mia's brother Pete and the gangs attempts to find Dr. Bleeker and learn as much information as they can regarding Pete.

OK, for some reason I didn't enjoy this story as much as the first one. I still liked it though, don't get me wrong, but it seemed kind of slow going at times, and I just didn't feel as if the whole winter formal part was necessary. I suppose that sort of thing is normal for a teenage girl in her senior year of high school, and although there wasn't a significant portion of the story dedicated to it, I feel it sidetracked the story a bit. Maybe that's just me being antsy to find out what's going on.

There is something major that happens to Regulus that I pretty much expected, though I didn't want it to happen, and I'm very curious to see how that affects his relationship with Mia in the long run. And I'm still itching to know what is really going on with Mia's mother and Dr. Bleeker and what exactly Pete is up to. So I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

** I received a copy of The Waiting Booth for review as part of the Knights of the Round Table group on Goodreads.**

Find Brinda Berry Online
Website | Blog | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter