Pages: 344
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy
Buy it: Amazon
Synopsis
(From Goodreads)
HE’S VOWED TO PROTECT HER…EVEN FROM HIMSELF.
ALL SHE WANTED WAS TO SURVIVE SENIOR YEAR.
The island of Dawnhaven has a population of 100 and it’s in the middle of nowhere, i.e., off the coast of Northern Maine. If Taylor can just make it through senior year and survive living with her wicked stepmother, she’ll be free, once and for all…
BUT THEN SHE MEETS THIS GUY.
James Champlain is tall and strapping, with a square jaw. Taylor’s thrilled to discover that in addition to his looks, James is charming, funny and kind. She’s increasingly drawn to him, but…
WHAT’S WITH ALL THE RUMORS?
People say strange things about James—that he takes his boat out on secretive missions at all hours of the night, that the steady stream of visitors to his estate are disciples of some sort of pagan “institute.” Although Taylor doesn’t believe it, James does claim he can read peoples’ auras. But does that make him a cult leader? And does he want to date her, or just recruit her?
AND WHAT’S THAT THING IN THE WOODS?
There’s something dark in the island woods, something dangerous. When Taylor encounters it, she learns that not only James is not what he appears, nothing is.
Rating
4/5
My Thoughts
I really enjoyed the writing style of Leigh. It’s not often that I really struggle to put a book down and then lose myself in it till 2am without realizing it. It was easy to read and follow. I was committed to the storyline quite quickly, which also added to me not being able to put the book down which equaled very late nights.
The storyline was brilliant and Leigh kept me guessing as to what James actually was and what mysterious things were happening on Dawnhaven. I wanted to know more all the time and started feeling like an addict.
The world that the author created felt real to me and it sounded quite beautiful. Her descriptions were on point and gave her world life. I was able to visualize it as she laid it out. The protagonist (Taylor) came from a bad and difficult past yet she was still a good person with a good heart. I enjoyed her character and what it meant to the story that she was so pure hearted. She was just the right amount of stubborn, fragile and feisty.
The dialogue was edgy and it brought the characters personalities across nicely and gave them life. Becky and Amelia’s dialogue was hectic and hurtful and definitely showed what type of people they were. It was a little shocking sometimes which I think that was the point.
I enjoyed the characters in the book, even the Antagonists. They were all well written and served their purposes well with moving the story forward. Becky and Amelia were a piece of work. James was such a tortured soul and Josie, Dylan, Patrick, Eden and Taylor’s dad, Big Kyle, were all written with their own personalities that made them stand out individually.
One thing that I need to warn you about is that if you are like me and don’t really like it when a book in a series ends with none of the story beats being tied off, then this might frustrate you because the story ends abruptly in Book 1 and leaves you hanging. This is book 1 in a series and book 2’s review will be done tomorrow. Book 3 is only coming out in 2021. Hopefully I will remember the storyline. The author also informed me that there could be up to 6 books in this series as the story keeps growing.
Even though the book is a YA Paranormal Romance, the plot was believable with how Leigh intertwined it with the real world and real teenage and young adult problems. I briefly mentioned this above but the story kept me guessing as to what would happen next and as to what the core problem could be in Dawnhaven. I would really like to know what the real problem was and can’t wait to find out. I have a feeling that it’s not what the characters think it is.
Have you heard about this book? Would you like to read it?
What do you think about it?
That’s it from me for now…
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