Book Review: Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula by Elise Stokes

Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula is the first book in the Cassidy Jones Adventures for young adults by Elise Stokes. Cassidy has always thought of herself as a normal fourteen year old girl. that is until the day she accompanies her father, a local television reporting star, to an intervi
ew with a geneticist that promises to be dull. However, the boring interview becomes anything but when Cassidy's stool collapses and she receives a lung-full of unknown gas and a nasty gash on her head from the fall. The side effects of that fall are varied, but more complicated when the geneticist is kidnapped and her son Emery comes to stay with her family.

Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula is a great opening to a series. Cassidy's voice is very well done, with the snark and teenage angst one might expect from a fourteen year old. However, her attitude is not all bark, the accident gives her some bite (and added worries) to make her thoughts and actions even more interesting. I liked that her angst read with humor, rather than feeling old and overdone. Stokes even avoided the very tempting romance pitfalls that i thought were sure to come, but thankfully Cassidy has a romantic back story and is secure in where her affections lie, and the mistakes she has made. do not let all this talk of emotions make you think that there is not plenty of action and superpower discovery, because there is plenty of that as well. there are some scary moments, those that had me holding my breath for a moment, but there were a couple moments that had me giggling as I stayed up far too late to finish the story as well.

I highly recommend Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula to tweens and teens that enjoy action, adventure, and unsuspecting superheros. There is some violence, but not enough to bother most tweens or teens. However if you do not like an occasional fight scene or moment where you worry about a character's survival, then you probably would have already stopped reading. I am incredibly glad that I read this book, and will be reading the second book in the series, Cassidy Jones and Vulcan's Gift as soon as I can, and hopefully the third book Cassidy Jones and the Seventh Attendant which is due out in May 2013 soon after.