Book Review: Shadow Falls Series

 One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever. Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens, and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren’t just “troubled.” Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapshifters, witches and fairies train side by side—learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world.

Kylie’s never felt normal, but surely she doesn’t belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either. Or does she? They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason. As if life wasn’t complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas. Derek’s a half-fae who’s determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin’ hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past. Both Derek and Lucas couldn’t be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart. Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear—Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs . . . Quoted from Goodreads

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This is a hard series to review.  It started during the vampire craze, when every book had to have it's obligatory love triangle, and that shows.  It's not really anything new , but for what it is, it's a fun read.  I mean, I read all five books, which is saying something.

First for the things I liked.  I love Kylie's girl friends, as in friends who are girls.  Whether it's the best friend she left behind or the two new ones she found at camp, I loved their relationships. They were always there for her, while having enough of their own drama to keep everything interesting.  I mean, Della got her own novella (and maybe a spinoff series?).  Plus, they act like teenage girls.  They have silly moments, fight, and get jealous, but then are back to being friends again.

I liked Holley and Burnett. They're good leaders, have their own problems, yet have time for Kylie.  They don't sit back and expect her to defeat the evil whatever.  They also have their own cute relationship.

What I had a problem with?  Well, Lucas and Derek. Not that they both don't have their shining moments, but the drama dragged out way too long.  I mean, Kylie was still agonizing over them in the fifth book.  I was so tired of that particular drama by then, I sort of had to force myself to slog through the parts where she agonized over her torn feelings. 

Second, not enough action.  I get that these books all have some kind  of mystery.  Kylie is warned by a ghost or has to complete that ghost's unfinished business, all of which is connected to her, but the ghosts aren't all that helpful, thus the mystery.  Oh, and there's the mystery of Kylie's supernatural species.  All in all that is good, but it was almost all buildup with very little climax.  The action chapters at the end were too short.  While the mystery built up and there were plenty of mild cliffhangers along the way, the ending wasn't ever as grand or scary as I wanted it to be.

Still, it's a fun series. It's probably a solid 3 stars for me through all three books.  Maybe it just tried to be a little bit too much of everything.  I mean we have vampires, werewolves, witches, ghosts, shape-shifters, fairies, and a super secret new paranormal species all rolled up into one. Still, it's a fun read, and the series is over, so you can enjoy all the books at once without having to deal with horrible cliff hangers that leave you begging for the next book.

Book Review: The Rising

Things are getting desperate for Maya and her friends. Hunted by the powerful St. Clouds and now a rival Cabal as well, they're quickly running out of places to hide. And with the whole world thinking they died in a helicopter crash, it's not like they can just go to the authorities for help.

All they have is the name and number of someone who might be able to give them a few answers. Answers to why they're so valuable, and why their supernatural powers are getting more and more out of control.

But Maya is unprepared for the truths that await her. And now, like it or not, she'll have to face down some demons from her past if she ever hopes to move on with her life. Because Maya can't keep running forever.

Old secrets are revealed and unexpected characters make a surprising return in this stunning conclusion to Kelley Armstrong's New York Timesbestselling Darkness Rising trilogy. Quoted from Goodreads

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Okay, so if you've stuck around this far in the series, you're obviously a fan.  To be honest, this is probably my favorite of the three, and I love the way it wrapped everything up.  The beginning was a little slow for me, partly because I had to remember the characters all over again, but the last half was excellent.  Plus, we got to see Chloe and Derek again! even if it wasn't quite as much as I'd hoped.

I'll try and not give any spoilers away, but I really like the way this book ended. The Cabals are such big, ever-present threats, it's like David and Goliath without the sling. Or the stone. The way it began, everyone was backed into a corner, forced to live life on the run, separated from their parents.  The ending wasn't perfect, but it was an excellent, real-life solution full of hope--including help for the characters from The Darkest Powers trilogy, as well (obviously) as this one.

I probably shouldn't have started with the ending, but that's where my mind always goes on the last book in the series.  Don't worry, though.  There's still all the action and suspense that kept the first two books going.  Plus, we get to meet Maya's brother!  Okay, maybe that was a little bit of a spoiler, but it happens right at the beginning, and I'm pretty sure everyone expected him to turn up at one point from the moment his character was introduced.  I love his and Maya's relationship.  They're siblings who never met each other, who don't have all that history of growing up together, but they both want a part of that at least.  It's fun watching them try and figure out how to interact.

Then there's the romance.  The best thing about Kelly Armstrong's romantic relationships are that they sneak up on you.  I never pegged Derek as Chloe's one true love when I first saw him.  I thought he was an ugly, smelly jerk.  But as we get to know him, he totally won me over, so now Chloe and Derek are one of my favorite couples.  It's just the same for Maya and . . . yeah, not telling.  Maybe it's Rafe.  Maybe it's Daniel.  Who knows, maybe it's someone you never saw coming (but probably not). The whole point is, it's never obvious from the beginning, and it always develops slowly and realistically based on character and not flat out hotness. 

As I said before, this really was the perfect ending to a fun trilogy.  My only regret is that I didn't wait and read them all back to back. There's something about her books that lend themselves to one reading instead of waiting a year.  Still, now they're all out, so you can devour all of them back to back. This was a fun 3.5 (rounded up to 4 on Goodreads) book for me. It has great action, realistic characters, and great world building, so pick it up.  And if you haven't started the trilogy, well, it's done now, so you're out of excuses.