Shadow Hills (ARC review)

Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus

Synopsis (Product Description):
His love captivated her… his secrets might kill her.

Since her sister’s mysterious death, Persephone “Phe” Archer has been plagued by a series of disturbing dreams. Determined to find out what happened to her sister, Phe enrolls at Devenish Prep in Shadow Hills, Massachusetts—the subject of her sister’s final diary entry.

After stepping on campus, Phe immediately realizes that there’s something different about this place—an unexplained epidemic that decimated the town in the 1700s, an ancient and creepy cemetery, and gorgeous boy Zach—and somehow she’s connected to it all.

But the more questions she asks and the deeper she digs, the more entangled Phe becomes in the haunting past of Shadow Hills. Finding what links her to this town…might cost her her life.

Review:
Thank you Shadow Hills for keeping me up all night reading and scaring the bejeebers out of me! I was even terrified of my own shadow (pun intended), and going to work the next day with bags under my eyes was very fashionable!

I was instantly hooked reading this YA mystery about a town full of people who have developed a genetic mutation and the girl who tries to find out what caused it and why. There was a lot going on in this story that totally captivated me.  The Greek mythology, witchcraft, genealogy, and medical science that Phe encountered in her search for answers could have easily been too overwhelming, but I felt that these elements were harmonious in the way the laid down the groundwork for this story.    

About the only thing I couldn’t get into was the protagonist’s name, Persephone, which kind of prevented me from connecting to her character.  And I didn’t care for the nickname either, Phe.  Although I know the name was used for the purpose of tying her to the past and to her destiny, it just never seemed to suit her and it blocked me from getting a clear picture of what she looked like in my mind.  And while Phe seemed like a great character, there were things about her that were offish. She can be one of the guy with her love of lesser know musical bands, yet she is still a girly girl who paints toenails? Maybe I got the wrong impression of her, but I almost couldn’t buy into her personality.  Perfectly balanced character make me feel suspicious, and this was a feeling I was even more hyper aware of while reading this mystery novel.  

Speaking of suspicious, Zach, Phe’s love interest, was completely adorable, but I have some major trust issues with the guy.  He seemed too perfect to be real; beautiful, athletic, intelligent, forthcoming and loyal as he was. Yet, Zach was literally the boy of Phe’s dreams, and their budding romance was very sweet.  Also, the secondary character were really fun, especially the ‘villains’, and I found myself really looking forward to the scenes where they all interacted with each other!

The plot and pace of the story was very interesting.  When one mystery was solved, another popped up to take its place, but somehow this feature wasn’t as annoying as I have found it to be in other novels (yes, I’m looking at you Fever series).

This story definitely has to continue.  Regardless of my mixed feeling for Phe, there is something about her that is special, and she has great potential.  Plus, I can’t help hoping that there is a way to save the ‘super humans’ of Shadow Hills.  I am looking forward to more!               

Reviewed for Book It Forward ARC Tours

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Posted at 12:18 am  •  Labels: 2010, 4 stars, Anastasia Hopcus, ARC, Book it Forward, Book Review, debut, thriller/mystery, trailers, witches, YA