The Elixir Series by Hilary Duff

I read the Elixir Series by Hilary Duff with Elise Allen. Here's my review (it's really more of a criticism) of the young adult series. 

I tried not to have any spoilers, but if there are I won't apologize because the series does a good job of spoiling itself. 

Elixir did not grab my attention like I thought it would have. Granted, I only started this series because Hilary Duff wrote it. I had no idea what I was getting myself into; I never read a synopsis. I like reading novels when I don't know much about them. It allows me to be even more open minded.

At first, Elixir would grab me and I'd get so hooked! Then I'd read the chapter so quickly, it'd end and I'd feel like the next chapter started something completely new and different. I'd be so disappointed. Elixir as the opening book in this series really set a tone. While reading Elixir I could totally hear and see Hilary Duff doing and saying all the things Clea Raymond did. The language was very cute and her interactions with the male characters, Ben and Sage, were very romantic; something "every girl wants". I didn't feel the relationships were genuine or realistic. They were basically what every girl dreams their relationship will be like until the reality check gets cashed. I don't claim to know Hilary Duff personally, but considering the roles I've seen her play, Clea is just another manifestation of those roles. Clea is very cute and bubbly, but she has the goal to rise above her bubbly personality and be taken seriously. She reminds me of Duff's character in Raise Your Voice (2004). I've never heard of Elise Allen so I don't know her writing style, but I really wonder how much Allen helped Duff write Elixir. I'd love to read something Allen wrote, if there's anything, to see her writing style and if it's shown in the Elixir series. 

When I opened Elixir the font was HUGE. The first chapter lasted almost thirty pages only because of the font size. After reading Haunted which had about font size two, Elixir was five steps back. I'm being nitpicky, but it's just weird reading such a big font. I actually feel like I'm reading more with big font than with little font, but I'm gathering less story. That's why the font is large, to have more pages for the lack of depth in the story. 

Clea reminded me of Amy in Amy and Roger's Epic Detour. Both have daddy issues, they're having problems coping with it and they're both too naïve for me. I liked Amy better because she grew over the story and became less naïve/ annoying. She also didn't physically hide behind anything. I don't count her dressing in frumpy clothing as hiding because she was going on a road trip not a fashion show. Clea on the other hand, literally hides behind her DSLR. I thought that was a bit pathetic or too much. I get she's a photojournalist and really likes to take pictures, but some of the situations where she takes pictures first and worrying about safety second was questionable to me. However, her taking those questionable pictures in situations sets up the whole novel. I guess I'll let it slide.

The scenes in Elixir just felt like they were happening; one after another, no real connection. I thought they moved too fast and just happened to make the story "interesting" and "different". One scene at the end of a certain chapter just happened because that's always what happens. I would've been fine with it if there was more of a build up. There was real (sexual) tension between the two characters which usually goes along with what transpired. Reading Elixir made me feel like I was being told what happened; I didn't feel part of the story. It's written in first person, but I actually felt like I was being told a story and I had to write it down or something and I didn't enjoy it. Some of Clea's narration would've made more sense as dialogue from a character. At one point she was describing a part of Sage's history and it would've made more sense if Sage was telling it to her because he was actually there. This is why I feel like reading Elixir was like playing a game of telephone.

I liked that sometimes there'd be a one word comment in her inner monologue. For example, Clea would observe something and then she'd just say, "Fascinating" as her comment on what just happend. I do that all the time. On the other hand, I didn't like how much Elixir was an inner monologue. I felt that the story was just Clea over thinking, overanalyzing and sometimes she'd talk to other characters. Her interactions with other characters were so short and just enough to try to move the story along, but then they'd stop abruptly. Chapter four was when I got a little more into Elixir, but as quickly as I got into it, I was out of it. I also liked that Elixir was getting a bit supernatural. I thought epic things were coming, but then it got Tuck Everlasting supernatural. I hated Tuck Everlasting; the book and film. It's painful that I was reminded of it while reading Elixir. See how Elixir grabbing me then spitting me out is a major theme of me reading it? 

I'm really disappointed with Elixir. I chronicled what I thought of Elixir in my journal as I read it and my thoughts are all over the place. Elixir made me feel all over the place.

Devoted should've been entitled Obsessed because the whole book is about Clea obsessing over Sage and obsessively repeating how she claims to not love Ben.

Duff stepped her game up (sarcasm) by adding an extra twenty pages to Devoted. I think the font was even bigger in this book!

I'll start out with what I disliked about Devoted then talk about the scarce amount of things I liked.

Dislikes: 

Only a chapter in and I was already annoyed with Clea. She blamed everyone, but herself for what happened in Elixir. I couldn't believe it! The events that transpired in Elixir caused Clea to be obsessed with Sage like a twelve year girl is obsessed with her diary. I couldn't connect with that feeling.

Devoted was definitely more predictable than Elixir mostly because I knew the story. Before the first chapter even ended, I knew what most of the book was going to be about. I don't want to say as to not ruin it for those of you who want to read this series, but I totally saw everything coming. A good story does not give itself away before the first chapter is over.

I hated that the action of rolling eyes was used three times and the word interesting was used way too  much. Rolling your eyes is the most obnoxious thing you can do in real life and I think it's even worst when you write it into a story. My own personal bias is I hate the word interesting. I think it's such a cop out word. People use it when they don't have anything to say; when they can't think of an adjective they describe something as interesting. Go to thesaurus.com and find a synonym for interesting and use that word. 

I don't understand how Clea can go on and on and about Ben, pointing out his good traits and his good looks, but she refuses to love him. It was as if she was trying to convince herself that she didn't love him. It's like she was having an argument with herself of whether she loved him or not. It was really frustrating reading in the point of view of this stupid character who didn't know a good thing from her left foot. 

Devoted tried way too hard to be "tough". I felt the language was out of character for the book. From chapter thirteen, it was like Duff was trying to prove she could write a tough character and her book could be tough and not typical. The language and the tone just changed so abruptly I didn't feel like I was reading the same book. If she wanted the reader to get a sense of toughness in Devoted, she should've started the book out like that. 

Likes:

Devoted flowed a bit more than Elixir, but there were still some parts when I was half second guessing myself, half wondering what the hell they were talking about. Then by chapter twelve Devoted got ridiculous and convoluted. There was too much unnecessary details. I never thought I'd say that because details make a story, but the details after chapter twelve were tedious and I think they were just put there to extend the story into a third book.

I liked that there was more interaction between Clea and Ben. Their relationship was the closest to a "real" relationship in the Elixir series. Devoted was the best out of the three just because of the interactions between Ben and Clea. If there was anything I liked, it was the scenes and conversations with only them. But I knew it wouldn't amount to anything because Clea is obsessed with Sage. 

I'm not sure whether I liked or disliked that the chapters alternated between Clea and a new character, Amelia. It's a different way to tackle the book, but I'm not sure it works.

Towards the end everything just seemed so convenient. Everything was falling into place for everyone and just working out perfectly for everyone. Which created a contradiction because how could everything work out perfectly for everyone when there are opposing forces in the story.

Devoted was just straight up annoying.

IT'S OVER. THE ELIXIR SERIES HAS FINALLY ENDED.

True started like an ending which made me wonder, what would be the outcome for the two hundred eight-seven paged book?

I hadn't read this series since February and reading those first couple of sentences made all my feelings of disdain come back. I'm surprised I even read those first few pages because I was just seeing white hot rage. I really don't even have anything to say. I'm thankful that this book wasn't as thick with nonsense as the other two and I'm so utterly glad it's over.

Hilary Duff really used every cliché in history in True. Sometimes they were all in a row. It just made everything so painfully obvious and did the opposite of entrance me to want to read more, but I continued. 

The whole book felt like a repeat of the previous novel, Devoted. Everything that happened in Devoted was retold in True and this information shouldn't have been repeated. The point of a series is to read the books in order. I understand that doesn't usually happen, but the author should write each book as if the reader is following the series in order. Then the readers who didn't read the series in order will be forced to read the series in order. I also felt like things were being mentioned three and four times in one chapter. Like, I get it. I got it the first time. I don't need to be reminded three more times in the same chapter. I think I felt this because the font was so large and there's not really a story here so Duff needed a way to create pages even with the big ass font. It was really annoying. 

I couldn't take the stalling technique. I just wanted her to get to the point. The chapters were twenty to thirty pages because of the large font and because the text would bead around the bush buying time to make the book longer. That would work if there was a real story here, but there isn't. I was just at the point where I wanted to skip ahead or just read the last chapter and be done with it. Clea's whiny feelings took up half the book as well.

True was very expositional. It's insulting to your audience when you write an expositional story. You have to remember that your readers aren't as stupid as you think/hope they are. You have to let there be some dramatic irony so that the reader has something to think about and something they need to solve. When the story is expositional, there's no real point in telling the story or reading it. I can't even describe what you're reading if the story is expositional. It is kind of hard to find a balance between dramatic irony/mystery and exposition; you're always questioning if you have enough of both. But in True, I don't think Duff even tried to find a balance.

I'm not sure I exactly see the point in changing the perspective of the story as Duff did in True. Some chapters have Clea narrating and some have Rayna. I don't think that was necessary at all. I'm really trying to find a reason or purpose it served to change the perspective. If Clea has been your narrator for the past two book, why change now? Then if you decide a change is necessary, why go back and forth with it? Duff did the same thing in Devoted and I didn't think it worked there either. In True I think it worked even less. The latest book I read with different narrators was Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk. I don't completely consider it to be told by different people because within the main story, the group of characters tell short stories about how they got their names. But there is one clear (unnamed) narrator. Even worse, the first chapter told by Rayna seems to be told by a completely different character. I'm convinced now that Rayna has DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) because I don't understand why she's acting SO melodramatic. 

There was one sentence that truly (no pun intended) annoyed me. "Clea and Mom both say things as I walk away." Say things?! Are you for real Hilary Duff? Your editor didn't ask you to change that sentence? I wouldn't even put that sentence in a high school summary of a book. You couldn't say: "They spoke as I walked away." They say things. Are you kidding. I get that you were trying to say that Rayna wasn't listening to them anymore, but that was literally the wrong sentence to depict that. I have so much disdain for this book. Rayna also said, "I think I'll cry forever." When I read that I thought, I'm right with you girl because this book is torture.

It also felt like something was missing. But to be honest I wouldn't want to add anything to this book because it would just make it longer. It started out really slow then it was as if even Duff realized the story was going nowhere and she just decided to end it. The way things turned around so quickly felt really fake and did not flow.

There was no sort of logic within True. Everything was just so convenient. There were no real consequences and no sense of the outside world at all. Every weird thing that they did was quickly dismissed by the extra characters. They never questioned anything or were too easily persuaded to believe Clea and her band of idiots.

I can't believe how many options True gave me to shut the book permanently and chuck it across the room. I felt like Pat in Silver Linings Playbook (2012) in the scene when he finishes A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. He throws the book out of the attic window. I can't tell you how accurately that described what I wanted to do with this book. And after that not funny crack about Ryan Gosling, I don't know why I didn't. I can't tell you how many times I narrowed my eyes at what I was reading or how many times I obnoxiously rolled my eyes to match the obnoxiousness I was reading on the page. If you asked me why and how I finished True I don't know if I could give a real answer. I'd probably say to write this review. What a waste of my time.

Lastly, I ABSOLUTELY HATED HOW TRUE ENDED. I wish Sage had just died, then all their problems would've been solved. 

The Elixir series:

I like Hilary Duff, I think she's a good actress and a good role model, but her book series is horrible. Maybe it's all Elise Allen's fault or her editor, but the series was so bad.

I think this series is for ages fourteen to sixteen. I'm nineteen and in less than two months, I'll be twenty. It's possible I would've liked this series if I read it when I was younger. Eighth grade me might have liked this series.

I tried to give the Elixir series a fair chance, as I do with all the books I read, but the series failed to give me any reason to like it. This series felt like it was written by someone in high school. It is her first book(s) so I guess I shouldn't have expected too much, but three horrible books is way beyond what I never expected. 

When I started the series I thought Clea's camera and love for taking pictures were going to be more of an influence throughout, but she only uses it to help with her obsession with Sage. She's a photojournalist and she doesn't even want to take the jobs she gets offered. I was really upset that the camera and photojournalism wasn't used at its full potential in the story.

The Elixir series could've been wrapped up nicely in one book, to be honest. I think the other two books were extraneous. I don't think the series needed to be dragged on in three books. If they made the font smaller and cut some things out (a lot of things), it could've been a maybe three hundred to four hundred page book. But you make more money with a series than with one book.

I didn't like a lot of the things that happened in the Elixir series that were "necessary" for the story. I think I just didn't like the way the story was done. I've seen this story plenty of times before: Girl finds soulmate, but the universe doesn't want them to be together. I just really think the Elixir series was that story, but poorly, poorly done.

The characters didn't even change which is something that has to happen in all stories. I'm not talking about physical change either. I'm talking about a character arc where the character's personality and the way they act changes by the time their journey ends. This happened to none of the characters. I don't get how over three books time, your protagonist is still the whiny, spoiled, "lonely" brat she was in the first book. It doesn't make any sense to me. 

I felt a lot of emotions while reading this series; mostly frustration and annoyance. I don't think I've passionately hated a series or book as much as I did the Elixir series. I don't regret reading the books or disliking them. My lesson has been learned: Don't read fiction novels written by actresses/celebrities. So Lauren Conrad's series is most definitely OUT.

Maybe it's because I'm almost twenty and this series is for young adults, but I've read other young adult novels at this age and I didn't have a problem with them. It's definitely the writing and the way the story was told.

Devoted might have been the book I hated the least out of the whole series. True was the worst book out of all three. There was no indication that Elise Allen wrote True with Duff. Maybe that's why it was the absolute worse. It's sad, really. I wanted to like this series.

I read an article about Hilary Duff talking about the series becoming a film. I don't personally think the series was good enough to be on the New York Times bestseller list, so why would they want to turn it into a film. But because it was on the New York Times bestseller list it will be turned into a film. I also think that if they do adapt the series, it should be just one film, not a trilogy.

I wish you luck and patience if you decide to read this series. And Godspeed.