Series: The Rephaim #1
4 Stars
Series: The Rephaim #1
Genre: NA Paranormal/Fantasy/Romance
Publisher: Text Publishing
Pages: 388
Best for: 17+ (heavy language)
Check it out: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Good Reads
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Good Reads Summary:
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?
I was pretty excited to read Shadows since I’d seen some pretty good reviews on Good Reads. Not gonna lie, it reminded me some of Lauren Kate’s Fallen. Shadows is less romanticized, a little darker, a little more merciless than Fallen. (P.S. I’m a fan of Fallen. Not my fave, but I enjoyed it)
I was completely intrigued by Rafa and Gaby’s relationship. I mean, I was very intrigued by Gaby and her past, but I really want to know what went down between her and Rafa. There are many references to tension in their past, but you don’t know why. I’m extremely interested to see how all that pans out. I appreciated that the romance was supplemental rather than the primary conflict. That’s not to say it wasn’t there. It was an integral part of the story, but it added to the plot rather than taking over it. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good straight romance book every now and then, but I normally like a good balance of plot and romance or relationship building. Shadows did an excellent job at this.
There were quite a few surprises throughout this book. It felt like every few chapters, something new and shocking was revealed, which easily kept me interested. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding Gaby and her brother Jude, and their respective relationships to all the other Nephilim. Weston does a good job of world building, giving us enough information to really grasp what’s going on, but leaving enough unsaid to keep us interested and asking questions.
None of the secondary characters really stood out as fabulous to me, but that’s not to say that I didn’t like them. Rafa and Gaby were the most interesting to me. Neither of them seemed really typical to me, so they were pretty fun to read and imagine.
Especially Rafa.
High stakes throughout made this a fast read for me. There were some exciting action/fight scenes, when things really started heating up with the Nephilim. And of course, a good bit of romance. All these together make this dark novel about angels and their half-human descendants a quick and very entertaining read.