Title: Being Jamie Baker
Author: Kelly Oram
Publisher: Bluefields
ISBN: 9780615377544
Tags: Young Adult, Romance, Science Fiction
Source: Booklending.com
Hearts: ♥ ♥ ♥
An accident that should end in tragedy instead gives seventeen-year-old Jamie Baker a slew of uncontrollable superhuman abilities. To keep her secret safe Jamie socially exiles herself, earning the title of Rocklin High’s resident ice queen. But during a supercharged encounter with star quarterback Ryan Miller she literally kisses anonymity goodbye. Now the annoyingly irresistible Ryan will stop at nothing to melt the heart of the ice queen and find out what makes her so special. Unfortunately, Ryan is not the only person on to her secret. Will Jamie learn to contain her unstable powers before being discovered by the media or turned into a government lab rat? More importantly, can she throw Ryan Miller off her trail before falling in love with him?.
Review
It’s lunchtime and Jamie’s eating her lunch at the cafeteria Alone, exactly how she likes it. It would have been even better if she couldn’t hear all the conversations going on with her super hearing. As well as the conversation between the two most popular guys of the school, Mike and Ryan. They have been quarreling for a while now about who’s going to get the honor to ask the most popular girl, Becky, to homecoming. Jamie hasn’t exactly been paying attention to their conversation till she hears them mentioning her name. Mike decides to end it once and for all with a bet. If Ryan manages to kiss the Ice Queen (aka Jamie) before lunchtime is over, then Ryan gets to take Becky. Ryan accepts and Jamie smirks. Ryan doesn’t know she heard everything and can’t wait to put him in his place!
However, things don’t go as she thought they would. Instead of trying to hit on her, Ryan confesses the plan immediately! And he also manages to get under her skin with his arguments and demeanor. Enough that she kisses him. In the middle of the cafeteria. And what a kiss it is! Before she knows it, she’s sitting on his lap and kissing him senseless. It’s like there’s some sort of pull between them…
Till her powers ruin the moment. The moment she feels they are getting out of control she breaks the kiss, hoping she didn’t do anything bad to Ryan. And with a new resolve to stay away from people. Even if they are kinda cute and great kissers. Too bad she doesn’t have the power to see into the future, cause things turn out quite differently than she imagined…
I don’t know what it was, but it took me some time before I was able to relate with Jamie and bond with her. It might have something to do with the fact that I don’t need to keep myself away from people in order to protect them. I’m not lethal for everyone around me. I don’t have to control my feelings out of fear of electrocuting someone. That’s why Jamie chooses to live in “total” seclusion. Out of fear for what her powers can do. That’s a bit contradictory don’t you think? You’re terrified of hurting anyone and yet you still go to places where a lot of people are, without learning to control your powers or emotions? Ever heard of home schooling till you’ll have some control?
That’s where I felt Jamie’s parents were lacking. They act like they are really concerned for her well being, but in the end it’s Ryan who finds the very obvious solution, not her parents. Her parents just want her to be normal, to be like other teenagers. But let’s face it, she’s not your average person and without letting her learn more about her powers and training to control them she’ll never be the normal special person you want her to be and be able to live a somewhat normal live.
Ryan was a bit too perfect at the start. Perfect looks, personality, he’s not quick to take offence and is one of the most patient persons I’ve ever seen. He almost seemed too good to be true. This together with his insta love for Jamie after their kiss seemed a bit too far-fetched. Till we get to know him. Till I got the opportunity to look beyond his outer layer, his mask that he created. After that I was able to see the truth. He’s not some fairy tale figure, but a real character, a person like you and me, with a bit too much ego at times ^^ But that’s exactly what Jamie needs. And the conversations between them are just too hilarious for words ^^
And now the story. I’ve read countless of Science Fiction books, but those took place somewhere in the future and in space. When it comes to stories about the here and now, I prefer to read paranormal or contemporary. And after reading this book I know that electrocution and chemical stuff that lead to powers are not my thing. Strange enough it feels more far-fetched than paranormal beings. I’m just a person who doesn’t like to read about messing with people ala spiderman. So I had to take that part of the story with a grain of salt.
I liked the rest of the story though. It was a nice one about a girl trying to deal with all the chances she’s faced with when Ryan enters her life of solitude. He shows her a different way of life, how she’ll be able to live again. I was only a bit let down that there was more focus on psychological aspects than saving the world with Jamie’s powers 😉
Conclusion
3 HEARTS. A good book about a girl who learns to deal with the effects of her accident and the trauma she has because of it. At first Ryan was a mythical creature that was too perfect for words, with a bit too much ego, but that only lasted till you get to know him. And he turns out to be a lot less perfect than I thought he was. I liked the story, it was well thought of, but not really my style. That doesn’t alter the fact that I enjoyed reading it. I only regret that there was more focus on the psychological instead of using powers to save the world.
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