Shadow Hills

Shadow Hills
by Anastasia Hopcus

Persephone "Phe" Archer feels as though she doesn't belong in LA any more since her sister's death. She leaves the city to go to Devenish Prep, a boarding school in Shadow Hills, Massachusetts. Her sister, Athena, had written of this place in her last diary entry, and Phe is determined to figure out why.

As Phe snoops around the school and the town, she continues to have dreams about the town and people within the town, both dead and alive. But the townspeople are odd. Every single one of them. And they might be after her.

Grade: C

I had many problems with this book. The synopsis made it sound amazing, and suspenseful, and romantic, and all that good stuff. I was wrong. I will start with the good. My favorite part of the book was the last couple of chapters. It picked up the pace, and I was intrigued. I can't say that for the rest of the book though.

Though the plot seemed interesting enough, it lacked...something. The characters definitely could have developed more. I realized shortly after I started reading that I was very annoyed by Phe's personality. She seemed fake-y to me, and really nosy. She liked to snoop, even if it was risking her safety, which I didn't find realistic. The conversations didn't seem incredibly realistic to me either. The wording seemed a little more proper than what I am used to in YA novels, so that might be why.

The relationship between Phe and Zach didn't hit a soft spot for me. Though when he came into the scene while reading, the parts did seem to go by faster, which was good, considering the slow pace of the book. Also, the whole "love at first sight" in books don't really phase me. I don't care for them at all. And the relationship just went from them meeting to them being so close so incredibly fast, which could be realistic, but not really relate-able to a lot of people.

Overall, I definitely think this book had potential, though it wasn't totally reached.

*reviewed for TeensReadToo

The Line

The Line
by Teri Hall

Rachel and her widowed mother, Vivian, have lived on The Property since Rachel was a little girl. The Property belongs to Ms. Moore. The Property is right on The Line, an invisible border separating the Unified States from Away. Rachel spends her days at the greenhouse with Ms. Moore's orchids, wondering about The Line.

When she finds a message from an Other of Away asking for help, Rachel will stop at nothing to do just that.

Grade: B

I think this is the first futuristic kind of book I have read before, and I really liked it! It wasn't really what I was expecting. From the cover, I thought it might be something kind of spooky, because, really, look at that creepy lookin' cover! It took me a while to finish, because I always got sidetracked when I was reading this. The story really didn't pick up until the last few chapter, which made the rest of the novel to seem like it went really slow.

The ending was quite the cliffhanger, so I might just have to pick up a copy of The Away, the sequel to The Line, when in comes out next year.

Ghost Huntress: The Reason

Ghost Huntress: The Reason
by Marley Gibson

Two months ago Kendall Moorehead had a premonition of her own death. But life seems to be going pretty good. Her and Jason are better than ever, her and he fellow ghost huntresses are getting numerous gigs in and around Radisson.

Their most recent gig is at the Mayor's mansion. This just happens to be the most intense hunt they have been on. And this ghost is not a happy one. Kendall and her team have to make her see the light, or Kendall's premonition might become reality.

Grade: A

This book was just as great as the first ones in the series. Kendall was a little more distant in this one though. Emily, her guide, isn't answering questions, which makes Kendall suspicious. Jason is more protective of her than ever before. Jason's and Taylor's mother has an incident, which changes the courses of all their lives, and the ghost huntresses as well.

This was the shortest of the books so far, and I think it was my least favorite. (If you have read this, you probably know what I am talking about.) I still love Kendall and her friends. Their gig at the mayor's house was really intense, and it took over the whole book. The secret that Kendall finds out about herself was amazing. I didn't see it coming, and yet, it made total sense, and I didn't see how I hadn't seen it coming! I cannot wait to see what happens to Kendall in The Counseling!

*reviewed for TeensReadToo