Title: Shadows
Author: Paula Weston
Pub Date: July 2nd, 2012
Publisher: Tundra Books
Page Count: 388
It’s almost a year since Gaby Winters was in the car crash that killed her twin brother, Jude. Her body has healed in the sunshine of Pandanus Beach, but her grief is raw and constant. It doesn’t help that every night in her dreams she kills demons and other hell-spawn.
And then Rafa comes to town. Not only does he look exactly like the guy who’s been appearing in Gaby’s dreams—he claims a history with her brother that makes no sense. Gaby is forced to accept that what she thought she knew about herself and her life is only a shadow of the truth—and that the truth is more likely to be found in the shadows of her nightmares.
Who is Rafa? Who are the Rephaim? And most importantly, who can she trust?
Fast-paced and gripping, Shadows, the first book in the Rephaim series, is a standout paranormal romance for fans of Richelle Mead and Cassandra Clare.
I didn't like it... I liked it... I loved it... and then... CONFUZZLEMENT.
I started the book while in a "mood" so as expected, I kind of went a little bit hard on it. It started off the be very ridiculous. I mean within the first 30 pages or so, you've got 2 strangers making out. I thought that was bizarre and kind of eyebrow-raise worthy.
As you go along, you know more and more about what actually is going on. It's like starting out with a set of info A and then as the story goes on, you've got some more info; the "what actually happened" info that you have to stick around for. It's quite interesting if you think about it.
Something that I've been bothered for a long time is the idea of memory loss in the MC. It's like the MC is some badass or strong chick (guy), loses their memory and has a "fake memory" implanted and suddenly becomes some wuss. I can never understand why that happens, but to each their own, I guess.
MC Gaby/Gabe/Gabriela/Whatever her actual name is, is quite awesome. She starts out as a traumatic girl who just lost her brother in a car accident. But what I didn't like about her and I guess the story in whole is the fact everyone is crying every two seconds. I'm just like "drink every time a character cries or has self-pity". It seemed to get better by the end, which shows progression, so I can't say that this book is "bad" per se.
What I did like, however was the events. After MC's best friend of sorts gets kidnapped, it's up to her and her band of old friends (that she obviously doesn't remember) to go save that (dumb) best friend. Oh and speaking of her. She started off as somewhat of a girl that flirts with guys in a bar. She seemed confident in herself and then quickly became crying messes. How does that work? It's really jumbled and gave me a bit of a "whaz?"
What makes up for almost all of this is the writing. The amounts of times I had to SNORT because of some witty lined dropped. It was awesome. Weston's writing style is also very together and firm enough to make the story seem together. It's strong and I found it very descriptive but not boring.
Towards the end, I started losing the story. That's what makes this book a dropped rating. MC was fighting some guy one minute, so I'm like "okay, he's the bad guy" and then next minute, he's the... good guy? Am I missing something here? So it's that, that makes the rating lower than it should be.
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