Review : Dangerous Designs (Design #1) by Dale Mayer (UF)

Goodreads

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Book Blurb

Drawing is her world...but when her new pencil comes alive, it's his world too. Her...Storey Dalton is seventeen and now boyfriendless after being dumped via Facebook. Drawing is her escape. It's like as soon as she gets down one image, a dozen more are pressing in on her. Then she realizes her pictures are almost drawing themselves...or is it that her new pencil is alive? Him...Eric Jordan is a new Ranger and the only son of the Councilman to his world. He's crossed the veil between dimensions to retrieve a lost stylus. But Storey is already experimenting with her new pencil and what her drawings can do - like open portals. It ... The stylus is a soul-bound intelligence from Eric's dimension on Earth and uses Storey's unsuspecting mind to seek its way home, giving her an unbelievable power. She unwittingly opens a third dimension, one that held a dangerous predatory species banished from Eric's world centuries ago, releasing these animals into both dimensions. Them... Once in Eric's homeland, Storey is blamed for the calamity sentenced to death. When she escapes, Eric is ordered to bring her back or face that same death penalty. With nothing to lose, can they work together across dimensions to save both their worlds?

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Toot's Review by Stacy Sabala

Storey Dalton is having a rough time. Her best friend and boyfriend moved to another place and apparently moved on to someone else. She doesn’t have any other friends and just loses herself in her art instead. Of course no one really wants to be her friend since her mom is a Wiccan and they think she is weird. So socially Storey isn’t doing so hot. In fact she is feeling a bit sorry for herself as she is walking to school when she finds the one thing that will change her life. She notices a drawing pencil on the ground next to a rock. She likes pencils so she picks it up thinking she is lucky. She uses it to sketch her drawings. In fact she gets a bit obsessive about her sketches like she can’t stop herself from drawing. It takes over her life.

Eric Jordan is the new kid in school and he is interested in Storey. He was sent to befriend her and try to retrieve the stylus from her. The stylus is dangerous if it starts to bond to her. In other words she found a magic pencil and the people who developed it want it back. She is able to draw gateways to different dimensions and finds herself at the other end of a death order. Two different kinds of people are going to war and she seems to be right in the middle thanks to a pencil.

Eric tries to help Storey when she gets involved. There is a lot of embedded fear of anything different that causes more issues for Storey. The councilmen of the new dimension think she is dangerous and want her stopped. So Eric tries hard to protect her as they both try and save his world.

This book was nothing that I’ve read before. It was an extremely unique and creative story. The multi-dimensions added a very sci-fi element along with the magical stylus. Storey was a great character that found herself in a situation full of turmoil. Her self confidence grew as she experienced personal and political adversity. She had an uphill battle and handled it beautifully. She was an excellent roll model for teenage girls showing them that no matter how different you are your opinions and ideas count. I give it a 4 out of 5.

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