Nancy’s Review of Elixir by Hilary Duff with Elise Allen

In Hilary Duff’s Elixir, Clea Raymond is the seventeen-year-old daughter of a well-known surgeon and a popular politician. At a young age, Clea becomes a photojournalist and travels the world, camera in hand at all times. After her father disappears while on a humanitarian mission in Rio de Janeiro, Clea starts having nightmares that she can’t ignore. She seeks therapy to help her deal with the disappearance of her father, but she is still haunted by her frightening dreams.

While on a trip abroad with her best friend Rayna, Clea gets quite a scare when she thinks Rayna is caught in a building fire in Paris. Luckily, Rayna is okay, so Clea regains her composure enough to take pictures of the enormous blaze. When they return home to Connecticut, Clea views her pictures of the fire and notices a strange young man in the background. She soon finds that he is in the background of all of her photos. She is shocked to see that a stranger accompanied her on her entire trip. The man in the photos literally becomes the man of her dreams as she starts seeing him when she is awake and asleep. Clea can’t get him out of her head or her heart. When she is offered a photo assignment in Rio de Janeiro, she jumps at the chance to go there and delve deeper into her father’s disappearance. Her close friend/guardian Ben accompanies her to Rio where they come face to face with the mysterious man, Sage. Clea learns of Sage’s connection to her father and more about the Elixir of Life that her father was desperate to find prior to his disappearance. Clea soon finds herself in a love triangle as she travels with Sage and Ben to Tokyo in pursuit of the elixir.

Elixir is an exciting adventure that keeps you guessing until the last page. This paranormal love story is intriguing with beautifully written relationships. Readers will want Clea to be with Sage but also wish for more than friendship between Clea and Ben, thus creating the perfect love triangle. Rayna is quirky and supportive, necessary attributes of any engaging best friend character. Anyone who is skeptical of the writing abilities of actress/singer Duff will be pleasantly surprised. She has written a compelling, gripping story that will leave readers wanting more. The good news is that Clea’s story will carry through to a sequel. Elixir is a planned two-book series that may even continue on to more than two books. Clea’s journey is far from over.

Duff gained popularity with a starring role on Disney’s Lizzie McGuire. From there, she went on to appear in films, TV shows, sell more than thirteen million albums, develop a clothing line for DKNY, and release a bestselling fragrance. She is also actively involved with the charity Blessings in a Backpack and was named the ambassador to the youth of Bogota, Columbia. Elixir is Duff’s first novel, which she wrote with Elise Allen. Allen is a writer of young adult and children’s fiction, as well as television and Internet programs. She blogs every Monday at The Debutante Ball, a group blog for debut authors. Allen’s debut young adult novel, Populazzi, will be released on August 1^st.

Reviewer’s Note: I have a few predictions for Elixir, a book that I thoroughly enjoyed. I think it will be extended past two books and will be a three or four-book series. I also think that eventually it will be developed into a TV series that will be produced by Duff.