Gaby's life isn't so great right now. She lost her twin
brother, Jude, in the last year, and she's having a hard
time getting over the grief. To make matters worse, she
keeps having terrible dreams of fighting demons. When a boy
named Rafa tries to tell her that the dreams aren't just
dreams, Gaby isn't happy. Suddenly, she's being called a
Rephaim, some sort of fallen angel type thing, but she
doesn't remember any of it. With Rafa's help (or possibly
his hurt), Gaby has to try to figure out who she really is.
Fallen angel/descendants of angels and humans/etc. stories
walk a tight line with me. Sometimes, I absolutely love
them, but others, they seem very cookie cutter, and I hide
behind every possible bookshelf to avoid that kind. Luckily,
Paula Weston's SHADOWS are in the much, much, much love
category. Gaby's world is unique and wonderful and very far
from cookie-cutter. I love how you truly feel like you're on
the same page with Gaby and learning about this hidden world
as she does. Likewise, I enjoy the details of the world that
tastefully and subtly give the history of it without
overdoing it or going on too much about it. The entire book
has a healthy balance of shaping the angelic world while
also giving plenty of attention to Gaby's character
development and the intense scenes between her and her
potential love interest, Rafa.
Speaking of Rafa, he is easily my favorite character. His
sarcasm is absolutely delicious, and I held out hope for him
and Gaby the whole book. If you enjoy dangerously lovable
book boyfriends, he has a strong chance of making your list
.
For lovers of supernatural/fantasy stories with strong tones
of reality in between, this is something you should check
out! The world building and development between Gaby and
Rafa easily won me over, and I can't wait for the next book
to come out.
It's almost a year since Gaby Winters watched her twin
brother die. In the sunshine of a new town her body has
healed, but her grief is raw and constant. It doesn't help
that every night in her dreams she fights and kills
hell-beasts. And then Rafa comes to town. Not only does he
look exactly like the guy who's been appearing in Gaby's
dreams, he tells her things about her brother and her life
that cannot be true, things that are dangerous. Who is Rafa?
Who are the Rephaim? And who is Gaby? The truth lies in the
shadows of her nightmares.