Skip to main content

Friday in Review: Shadow Falls Series by C.C. Hunter

Happy Friday all!

I hope you've all had a good week! I am so ready for the weekend... Yesterday felt busy to me. Not physically. Like I didn't really go anywhere or do anything crazy. But mentally it was a lot. I have anxiety and I get really anxious when I talk to people on the phone. Sooo when I ended up calling the college I plan to go to the in the Fall like three or four times yesterday it felt like a lot. I had a lot of information thrown at me and there was this whole mix up (a misunderstanding on my part) that I had to sort out. But now, I have all my meetings and everything scheduled and once I get those done I don't have to worry anymore and can finally sign up for classes and just be excited to start college again in the Fall without having to get anxious about adviser meetings and orientation and all that.

One more thing before we get to the review, I know some authors do a title reveal and all that and maybe for the next book I will, but for this one I was just so excited I came up with a better name than Legacy. So without further ado, the first book in my NA paranormal fiction series is going to be called The Lost Ones. I'm working on polishing up a blurb so once I get that nailed down I'll share it with you guys! :)

So anyways, onto the book review segment of this post!

I read this series over the month of April. It's the first series I've binged in a looong time. I guess I just haven't felt like committing myself to a whole series since I've been anticipating so many books. But now, once I finish Romanov (I haven't even finished the first chapter yet! Why am I reading so slowly??) I do plan on committing myself to reading The Raven Cycle cuz I finished book 1 and have been dying to read book 2 since! It's sitting on my shelf and I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to renew it soon so I don't get fined for hoarding it from the library haha

Anyways, I don't know what got me hooked on the Shadow Falls series. I mean it was good and all but it wasn't amazing. Not normally the sort of books that I read... and yet I couldn't put them down! I actually bought the first four books in paperback format and the fifth on my Kindle. But I guess I was just in the right mood for a good paranormal romance. Honestly, what kept me interested was the mystery of what species of supernatural creature Kylie (the MC) was. I love a good mystery and I especially love guessing supernatural creatures and I love it even more when the author surprises me! So I think that's the main reason why I loved this series. Because I was so invested in Kylie's journey of self-discovery.

Kylie and her besties and love interests (yes there was a slight love triangle) were all compelling and I enjoyed their characters a lot. If I didn't, I wouldn't have read the whole series.

But I think what I liked the most about the book (besides the mystery part) was the setting. It reminded me a bit of the CW's Legacies in that Kylie ends up going to a camp for supernatural teens. Drama, angst, fist fights, friendships and romances ensue. I had just never read a book about a camp for supernatural teens and it was such a fun idea and the perfect setting for a YA paranormal romance.

However, if I'm being totally honest, there were quite a few drawbacks. The plot itself and the bad guy was rather simple... I'm kind of still unsure of what the motive for the bad guy was... It felt sort of wishy washy to me. He was a very typical, cardboard cutout type of villain and didn't get involved in the story a whole lot. There was also a character who could have had a really great redemption arc. Like if you've followed me for a while, you know how much I love a good redemption story (I live for them!!) so it was a bit disappointing when the author sort of let his arc and storyline fall flat.

Also, I normally avoid ghost stories. I know, its a little weird, I'll read about werewolves and all that but I do not do ghosts (with the exception of Victoria Schwab's MG City of Ghosts series haha). So I don't know if I would have picked up the series, bought it and started reading it if I had known ghosts would be so heavily interwoven in the plot. There was no mention of ghosts in the blurb so that was a little misdirecting. I was taken aback when Kylie ended up being a ghost whisperer, and yeah, I could have stopped reading the series but I was so invested in knowing what sort of supernatural creature Kylie was, I just sort of got through the ghost parts and focused on the actual plot. So that was a bit misleading and annoying...

But what really drives me crazy? (And again, I chose to keep reading. If I really like a story I usually just skim over or ignore the stuff I don't like). There was quite a bit of swearing and some conversations that were cringe-worthy and not appropriate. That took me by surprise too cuz the blurb and first like half of the book was kind of misleading.

This whole post, I'm sure, is turning you against the book but this is my honest opinion. I enjoyed the mystery and the setting and I guess I was just in the mood for this genre cuz I can't think of any other reason why I liked this series so much haha Overall, it was a good read. Entertaining and fun and had a decent romance. Definitely not the most amazing series I've ever read, but it was good.

I know this post is kind of short and, not super excitable like some of my other book review posts are buut next week is my Finale by Stephanie Garber review and, well, that one is going to be full of tears and squeals and just oh my goodness I loved it moments (without any spoilers of course).

Have a great weekend everyone! :)

What are some book series you enjoyed but didn't love? Or that you thought would be about one thing and ended up being something totally different?

Comments

  1. (Aaaahhhhh yes redemption arcs are the best!)

    Great review! This series sounds pretty interesting - I actually might think about reading it (if I can get past the content.....)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yess they are my favorite!! Yeah, it was actually pretty good and very original! :)

      www.melodypersonetteauthor.blogspot.com

      Delete
  2. How fun!! Thanks for the update Melody!!! ^^ Hmm, that series doesn't sound like my sort of thing, but I guess to each his own! ;) I've always been a pretty lax reader, so I don't really dislike many books unless the content is just trash. I'm pretty easy to please, I guess. LOL So no, I can't think of any series that were worse than I'd thought they'd be off the top of my head.

    Have a good one!

    ~ Lily cat (Boots) | lilycatscountrygirlconfessions.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Usually I don't read a book or series unless I really like it. I'm a pretty picky reader, so if I don't look a book I usually stop reading it so I don't have a long list of books /series haha

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Revise like a Pantser ft. Big Hero 6 Gifs

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope you've had a great week so far and that you have a great Easter weekend ahead! We plan on going to my grandparent's on Friday to celebrate Easter with family and spending the night there so that'll be a fun time. :) Alright, so I contemplated doing an Easter-y post on here but I wasn't even sure what that would look like... So instead, I thought I'd do something fun and happy in honor of the celebration of Easter on Sunday. Without further ado, here is your Big Hero 6 gif filled revising process from a real life pantser: The end of your first draft is in sight! You type like crazy, stay up past your normal bedtime until it is finished. When you type The End, the satisfaction that you actually did this thing sets in. Guys, it is the sweetest feeling ever. Knowing you worked so hard to complete this draft and came out on the other side. Unscathed? Perhaps not. But triumphant? Definitely! That first draft is a total disast

How to Write a Negative Character Arc

Anyone else love reading a train wreck? I find negative character arcs refreshing and fun to read and watch because not a lot of people do them. Like I'm a sucker for a redemption arc. I love characters that start out horrible and bad and "irredeemable" and then slowly redeem themselves and become the good guy. But from time to time I just love watching a good character go bad. Call me evil but I hope I'm not the only one who enjoys this. I've actually wanted to write this post for a while after rewatching Merlin last year and then over the past month me and a friend were rewatching Star Wars and I've always enjoyed the prequels because of Anakin's downward spiral. Also the last season of The 100, you watch as Octavia completes her journey to becoming one of the meanest, worst antagonists in the show. And that's saying something. The other day I really thought about what other characters who have negative arcs there are but I honestly couldn't th

Best Resources for Writers

Happy Wednesday once more everyone! So recently I've been doing a lot of craft-learning and have discovered some pretty awesome resources that have been so helpful to me. I'm also contemplating trying my hand at a How To guide for writers. I've already written a How to Write a Serial book and it just needs to be touched up. I think I might make it one of my freebies for my newsletter. So then not only do you get a short story but also a how to guide cuz I realized a lot of the newsletters I sign up for come with how to guides or writerly resources. But anyways, here are some of my favorite books/podcasts/blogs that have been so, so helpful to me over the past few months: Craft Books: Go Teen Writers: Edit Your Novel by Stephanie Morril and Jill Williamson: This one has a little bit of everything in it and is perfect for beginners. If you've just started plotting your novel, are in the middle of writing it or have begun the editing process this is a must have!