March 30, 2015

Shadow, Shadow by V.B. Marlowe (The Shadow Pines Trilogy #1)

Original title: Shadow, Shadow
Year published: 2015
Published by: All Night Reads
Number of pages: 208
First sentence: “A girl is trapped in a box, only she doesn’t know that she’s trapped because the box is all she has ever known”

Plot:  "The four of you have been blessed with a great gift. Well, it's a gift for you, but a curse for someone else." Harley receives a mysterious gift on her sixteenth birthday--a shadow box. The box gives her the power to trade someone to the shadows, meaning they will disappear and cease to exist. Harley can't imagine doing such a horrible thing and is warned that using the box comes at a price. Unfortunately, not using the box can be even more costly. Harley must make this life-altering decision as she discovers frightening revelations about the town she calls home.

(From Goodreads)

My thoughts: I got this from NetGalley in exchange for a review. I chose this book because the plot looked interesting. Sure enough, it was. The whole shadows snatching people is really creepy. I’m sure I’ll be scared to be alone with my shadow from now on. So there are these four kids (yes, 16 year olds are kids); Harley, Brock, Teaghan and Gianna and they all share the same birthday. They all receive these Shadow Boxes, with these Shadow Boxes they can give people to the Shadows. Everyone except for Teaghan is reluctant to believe the stories they’ve been told and the powers of the Shadow Boxes. After Teaghan uses it for the first time things start going downhill and it quickly turns into a “kill or be killed” type of scenario. In the midst of all this Harley (who’s kind of the main character) has to deal with a stalker boyfriend and an evil stepmom. And what’s with this quarterly physicals where they’re injected with some sort of “flu” shot? And the shrink? Why is he giving Teaghan and Harley the same medication when one’s suffering from depression and the other headaches?
The scariest thing about this book is that all of the four kids has one family member who’s either missing or dead. Teaghan’s mother was murdered and Harley and Gianna’s mothers both just disappeared one day. Brock’s sister Sierra is also missing.
The writing may not have been the best and at times I thought things were a bit childish, but then again the book is marketed towards kids age 13 and up. Not sure if I qualify. But still the story was good and I want to read the next book which doesn’t even have a date set yet.

Goodreads rating 3/5


Do I recommend it? Yeah, maybe if you’re a younger reader.

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