Book Review – SHADOWS by Paula Weston

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. (from Goodreads)

I bought Shadows on the strength this fantastic review, by Nomes. She is not normally a fan of paranormal, so I knew this must be something special.

It was.

I started Shadows at 9pm on a Wednesday night and was still reading at 2am. Despite knowing that my son would be waking at 6am, I just couldn’t put this down. Paula Weston is an absolute master of the cliff hanger. Every. Single. Chapter ends with one. Making this a breathless, can’t read it fast enough book.

Given the cover I don’t think it’s giving much away to say it’s about Angels. I’m not well versed on angel mythology, so I can’t say if Paula Weston’s take is unique, but I can say it is brilliantly done. The world building is fantastic. I loved the way information was dripped to us. I loved how I would start having doubts about a certain characters actions, or motives, or explanations and then, bam, I’d find out I was right to be having doubts. I am still slightly unsure about certain things, but I fully expect them to be addressed in Haze, Book 2 of the Trilogy.

The break neck pace of Shadows doesn’t mean characterisation is sidelined. I loved Gaby from the first pages, she has a great voice, and her grief is believable and heart wrenching and I was on her side completely. As for Rafa I was swooning from his first meeting with Gaby and kept swooning for the whole book. I loved his banter with Gaby, it was reminiscent of the way Sarah Rees Brennan’s characters converse,  spiky sarcasm and sharp edged one liners, which made the swoony parts even more swoony.

I really can’t wait for Haze to come out so I can continue with Gaby’s journey. Highly recommend.

The first three chapters of Shadows, the first chapter of Haze and, Blood Song, the story Gaby posts online are all available on Paula Weston’s website.

Friday Five – So Many Good Things

There has been so much fabulous book news while I’ve been off line! Here are a five of my favourites.

1) Melina Marchetta was answering questions on Goodreads.

 I’m so excited to hear that Jimmy (from Saving Francesca) is camping out in her head. I long,  LONG for another book about those characters. I also love the sound of her new book.

2) Four books from my Top Ten to Read in 2013 list got covers.

They’ll be such a pretty additions to my bookshelves  Although I am sad that they dropped the silhouette covers for The Lynburn Legacy books, I loved them. The new look is pretty striking though, I really like the font they picked.

3) Elizabeth Scott has a new book coming out on September HeartBeat. I’m so excited, Elizabeth Scott is an auto buy author for me and this sounds so good.

Life. Death. And…Love?

Emma would give anything to talk to her mother one last time. Tell her about her slipping grades, her anger with her stepfather, and the boy with the bad reputation who might be the only one Emma can be herself with.

But Emma can’t tell her mother anything. Because her mother is brain-dead and being kept alive by machines for the baby growing inside her.

Meeting bad-boy Caleb Harrison wouldn’t have interested Old Emma. But New Emma-the one who exists in a fog of grief, who no longer cares about school, whose only social outlet is her best friend Olivia-New Emma is startled by the connection she and Caleb forge.

Feeling her own heart beat again wakes Emma from the grief that has grayed her existence. Is there hope for life after death-and maybe, for love?

4) The Countdown to The Great Gatsby is on. 16th May here in the UK! I kind of want to buy a hat or a headband to wear to the cinema.

5) I’ve read a lot of blog posts over the last month, but this one, by Jo Knowles, is the one that stuck in my head the most – The Smallest Gesture

The Month Is May*

My poor neglected little blog. I’ve only posted 7 times this year and it’s already May! I have been writing, and reading, and playing on Instagram though. I’ve been taking part in the EstellaGram and Fat Mum Slim photo challenges. It’s great fun.

These are some of my favourite photos I took last month.

The Doctor and the TARDIS is Trafalgar square. It was quite a surprise to round the corner and see them.

My baby at the beach.

The first 99 of the season.

A Hobgoblin house at Sissinghurst Castle

Rocky Road Brownies – yum!

Let me know if you’re on Instagram. I have quite a lot of trouble finding people!

Anyway hopefully May will be a more reviewed filled month, as I’ve read a few brilliant books so far this year that I need to talk about.

* Every May I think “The month is May” which is a quote from the film Anne of the Thousand days. It’s about Anne Boleyn, who was queen for 1000 days. When she says that line in the movie she’s so sad because her life has changed so much in a year, it’s always stuck in my head.

And the Winner is. . .

Audrey of Holes in My Brain

Yay I hope you love it Audrey. Everyone else ELEANOR AND PARK is available now.

Read it, it’s so good!

Happy Valentine’s Day

To celebrate the day of love I’m giving away one of my very favourite books of last year.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

I loved this book, so much, so much. It’s a book about love and how it can save you and free you. You can read my review here. 

I know it’s not going to be to everyone’s taste (please don’t tell me if you don’t like it, it will hurt my heart), but if you’d like to give it a try, just leave a comment below. Extra entry if you post about the giveaway on Twitter.

Open to where ever the Book Depository Ships

I’ll randomly pick a winner on the 28th.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

The Dream Thieves Cover

Oh lord, I am so excited about the new Maggie Stiefvater book, which now has a cover and a title, and what a cover! So gorgeous! I’m not sure how I’m going to survive the wait until 17th September.

I Love my Library!

Today is National Libraries Day in the UK, I absolutely love my local library, it’s small but lovely. My son and I try to visit every Friday to borrow books and enjoy story time. I love that he loves the library as much as I do.

Now the library would be fabulous all on it’s own. It’s a place dedicated to books and reading, what’s not to love? But what makes our library extra special is our fabulous librarian, Kate. She is helpful and full of knowledge and always greets my son by name. One of the reason he loves going to library is to see her.

Today a part of the celebration of National Libraries Day there was this display. To encourage reading outside of your comfort zone.

So as well as picking up Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple, I also picked up this. So exciting!

Inside was this.

I love that title.

Long Live the Library!

What’s your local library like? Do you love it?

Second Time Around – The Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan

The perfect comfort read for me is always a re-read. There’s no risk of a nasty surprise and I know the book will absorb me and make me forget my troubles.

As I was searching my bookcase in search of distraction and solace, my eye fell on THE DEMON’S SURRENDER by Sarah Rees Brennan – oh yes I thought. I download the first book (THE DEMON’S LEXICON) onto my Kindle and I was off. I gobbled up all three books and then I flew through the rather fantastic short stories on Sarah Rees Brennan’s web site (find them here). I loved revisiting this series so much that I thought I’d share my thoughts.

Okay, firstly I have a CONFESSION ~

The first time I read (or rather listened, I had the first two books on audio) to THE DEMON’S LEXICON I was underwhelmed.

I mean, I liked it. It centres around the Ryves Brother, Nick and Alan, who are on the run from magicians and demons. I loved the magic and the demons and the world building, and I adored Mae and Jamie, siblings, who come to Nick and Alan for help. But I had a major problem.

I hated Nick. Hated him.

I kept wondering why no one had pointed out to Sarah Rees Brennan that her pov character was an ass. Sure, I thought, have him be an ass, but why is this book not told from Alan perspective (I LOVED Alan from his first line) or Mae’s (she’s fab), or even Jamie’s (he’s funny).

 Why Nick? Why? WHY?

Then I got to the last quarter of the book and realised Sarah Rees Brennan is a GENIUS. This was Nick’s story and could have been told from no one’s POV but Nick’s. Everything fell into place perfectly at the end. When I re-read it, I had a much better opinion of Nick and because I knew the plot there were so many tiny moments I caught and appreciated. If any book deserves a re-read it is THE DEMON’S LEXICON.

So I laughed and cried my way through Book 1 and moved straight onto THE DEMON’S COVENANT. Which was originally my favourite. Told from Mae’s point of view it still centres around the same characters; Nick and Alan (or those Ryvee boys as I like to think of them) Mae and her brother Jamie. I won’t say much about the plot as I’d hate to spoil it. I’ll just say Mae is one of my all time favourite fictional characters, from her pink hair, to her witty remarks, to her refusal to be bossed around and told what she can and can’t do, to her t-shirts, to her complete loyalty to her brother. I LOVE Mae.

Which meant when I originally read Book 3, I was slightly miffed Mae was no longer centre stage. THE DEMON’S SURRENDER is told from Sin’s POV. Sin is the heir apparent of the Goblin Market and had a small part in the previous books and I liked her, but I did feel a little Why Ms Rees Brennan? Why have you taken away Mae? WHY?

On the re-read, however, I discovered, again, that Sarah Rees Brennan is a GENIUS (I’ll never doubt her). I think I may love Sin even more than Mae and seeing Mae’s story through Sin’s eyes was actually better, I’m not sure I’d have liked to have been in Mae’s head during some points of this book. Plus Sin is such a fabulous, strong, determined character and her story was great, especially the love story element which made me all swoony.

So, I guess what I am trying to say is that second time around the THE DEMON’S LEXICON series is even better. If you have’t read it definitely run out and get it. If you need further convincing some favourite (spoiler free) quotes.

“Hi Nick,” he said, and after a pause, “Well , that’s right, I sent you a text. If you insist on killing people with paintbrushes you have to get the Tube home. Those are my rules. I consider them harsh but fair.” The Demon’s Surrender)

“Sometimes when you pull knives on people, they get this impression that you’re going to hurt them, and then they’re completely terrified. Crazy, I know!”
“Okay,” said Nick. He turned to Jamie and popped his left sheath again. “Look.”
Jamie backed up. “Which part of “completely terrified” did you translate as “show us your knives  Nick? Don’t show us your knives, Nick. I have no interest in your knives.” (The Demon’s Covenant)

“After my dad died, I looked everywhere for someone to love me. I used to sit on the bus and watch people, see if they looked kind, try to make them smile at me. I had a hundred dreams about a hundred different people, loving me.” (The Demon’s Covenant)

“Do you see any deal breakers for you here?” she asked. “In the longterm? because I was thinking about-the long term.” . . .

. . .”I don’t have deal breakers,” Alan said. “I look on tempests and am never shaken.” (The Demon’s Surrender)

And finally my favourite line “I missed you,”Nick raged.

Finally thought, if they ever make movies of these books, and they should, Ben Whishaw would make an excellent Alan.

Like Me, Maybe?

Not Enough Bookshelves now has it’s own Facebook page. 

You can like it

here

Which would be super lovely of you 🙂