The Preservationist by Justin Kramon

Morning, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Justin Kramon's latest, The Preservationist.

For Julia, adjusting to college has been a bit of an effort. The tragedy of the year before is still fresh in her memory and she's still not fully recovered. When she meets Sam, she finally feels she's met someone she can trust and open up to. After all, Sam's suffered a loss recently as well. But Julia caught the eye of another boy, too. Marcus is hurt when Julia chooses Sam. Hurt and angry.

This is a twisted story that will make anyone worry about being part of the dating scene (or relieved they no longer have to be, as is my case)! Kramon's taken a young woman already facing some pretty crappy issues and put her in an even rougher situation. Without giving too much away there comes a point when Julia begins to worry about everything and everyone. She's in this weird place with Sam and Marcus and then there are reports of two attacks on campus.

The Preservationist is one of those books that starts one place and ends up somewhere completely different. I suspected I knew the twist before it came - and I was right - but honestly the way Kramon builds the story and intensity meant that I quite enjoyed the book. Figuring it out definitely didn't kill the story.

And while I had pretty well teased out the big twist before it came, Kramon had me second guessing myself more than once. There were also a number of little twists along the way and throughout the book that I never saw coming.

I think my favorite thing about The Preservationist was the way the story played out. Surprisingly, Kramon doesn't make us wait to the very end for what I consider the big surprise. Instead it comes about halfway through the story but leaves the reader in a position where we can almost see what's coming for Julia - and it isn't good. It seriously ratchets up the tension in the story. It also makes for the kind of read that will keep you up all night so beware. I couldn't sleep until I'd finally finished the book!

Rating: 4/5

To see what others on the tour thought, check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Justin Kramon, visit his website here. You can also like him on Facebook.