Released: July 13th, 2010
Publisher: Egmont, USA
Age: Young Adult
Pages: 400
Overall:
Aquired: Library
Challenge: 2010 Debut Author | The Story Siren
Summary: His love captivated her... his secrets might kill her.
Since her sister’s mysterious death, Persephone “Phe” Archer has been plagued by a series of disturbing dreams. Determined to find out what happened to her sister, Phe enrolls at Devenish Prep in Shadow Hills, Massachusetts—the subject of her sister’s final diary entry.
After stepping on campus, Phe immediately realizes that there’s something different about this place—an unexplained epidemic that decimated the town in the 1700s, an ancient and creepy cemetery, and gorgeous boy Zach—and somehow she’s connected to it all.
But the more questions she asks and the deeper she digs, the more entangled Phe becomes in the haunting past of Shadow Hills. Finding what links her to this town…might cost her her life
Review: I have been pretty excited to read this book, not because of the reviews on Goodreads…which in no way do I trust...but because I love the mysterious synopsis of this book and have been waiting for a really good paranormal book to dive into.
Persephone “Phe” moves to Shadow Hills, because she feels like she has to, to find out what her sister Athena was trying to figure out.
At the beginning of this book, I didn’t want to put it down, I just keep reading. When I got to about page 100 the I-just-don’t-want-to-read feeling set in and the rest of the book took forever for me to finish.
Phe begins getting these weird red marks on her hip and after awhile they actually begin to form a sort of symbol. After arriving at the school, Phe meets Graham and there’s an instant friendship between the two. Adriana, Toy and Brody are other characters that slowly develop in the beginning of the story. And then Phe meets the weird and electrifying Zach, his sister Corinne and their cousin Trent.
Phe can instantly tell that there’s something special about Zach and something creepy about Trent. And it takes a while for her to figure out. But she’s most definitely determined to figure it out.
The writing is great. That was most definitely not the problem. I just felt like it was a little…dry.
By the time Zach becomes a bigger part of the story, I felt like everyone else was forgotten—Graham, Adriana, and Toy. Though I did love every scene with Zach! (So I guess it’s a win/lose…?)
For me, Phe is definitely a likable character, but I didn’t feel like I was able to completely get to know here. Even though she is the MC, I felt like I knew Zach more than her. But, since Zach is a great character...I’m not complaining.
I know this is quite a vague review…but I have no idea how to fully review it!
But I do recommend this book.
Memorable Quote: "Shhh. We can't talk like that in front of Phe, sweetcakes." Brody winked."
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