Omens by Kelley Armstrong Review

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Twenty-four-year-old Olivia Taylor Jones has the perfect life. The only daughter of a wealthy, prominent Chicago family, she has an Ivy League education, pursues volunteerism and philanthropy, and is engaged to a handsome young tech firm CEO with political ambitions.

But Olivia’s world is shattered when she learns that she’s adopted. Her real parents? Todd and Pamela Larsen, notorious serial killers serving a life sentence. When the news brings a maelstrom of unwanted publicity to her adopted family and fiancé, Olivia decides to find out the truth about the Larsens.

Olivia ends up in the small town of Cainsville, Illinois, an old and cloistered community that takes a particular interest in both Olivia and her efforts to uncover her birth parents’ past.

Aided by her mother’s former lawyer, Gabriel Walsh, Olivia focuses on the Larsens’ last crime, the one her birth mother swears will prove their innocence. But as she and Gabriel start investigating the case, Olivia finds herself drawing on abilities that have remained hidden since her childhood, gifts that make her both a valuable addition to Cainsville and deeply vulnerable to unknown enemies. Because there are darker secrets behind her new home and powers lurking in the shadows that have their own plans for her.

First of all thank you to Joy from Joyous Reads for sending me a signed copy of Omens!

I enjoyed Omens more than I thought I would. Maybe it's because I read reviews and most of them said the same thing. They warned readers not to expect a lot of romance. They also said not to expect Omens to be a typical Armstrong book. The paranormal aspect of the book takes a back seat for pretty much the whole time. There are hints here and there, but nothing ever gets explored in depth. But because I knew about this it didn’t upset me that much. Of course,  I wish that some things were explained better but hopefully in the next book we’ll get some answers.

I loved all the characters in Omens. They all have unique voices. Even the secondary characters were strong. I liked Olivia a lot. Once the truth was out about her birth parents she didn’t freak out or went running to her fiance or mom for help. She was very strong and fearless. I liked Gabriel also. I wanted something to happen between Olivia and Gabriel though. I know that’s the way the book was supposed to be written, but my romance loving heart was yearning for something, anything to happen. I knew nothing was going to happen, but God, they are so perfect for each other.

To me what made this book were the omens. I love the omens creepy meanings and the songs that would come to Olivia’s head out of the blue. I don’t know why this fascinated me so much. But I think my grandma has something to do with it. She's a very superstitious lady. That makes me and my whole family superstitious people. We believe in all that crap. All add some of her superstitions at the end of the post.

Omens was a very different read for me, and I loved it! I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

Bad Omens According to my Abuelita (Grandma)

-There’s this giant centipede in Puerto Rico that’s venomous and aggressive. My grandma believes that if you say its name (alacran) one of them will appear in your house the next day.

-My grandma believes that if you sweep an unmarried young lady’s feet she won’t ever get married. She used to do that to me a lot. She loved me too much to share me with anybody else.

-Abuelita believes that if someone sees a black bee something bad is going to happen to that person.

I can go on forever with this list! LOL! Do you believe in bad omens? If you do let me know in the comments!