Our story starts in a world of Fae and Vampyrs, with our heroine Addie as a young child, it’s her first day at the academy and she is relieved to be roomies with best friend from nursery, Livvy. It’s an introduction to her character and that of Logan and Ty who are roomed across the hall. Abandoned by her parents Addie has had a tough start in life, the only thing that she has with her were her weapons, her Sai which were left with her…...
Shift to several years later, Addie is close to graduating out of the academy and hoping to become not only one of the few Human’s in the Red Guard but also to become the first female member, it’s her dream and everything she has pushed herself for since her first day.
Logan and Ty are still her neighbours and the four have forged a strong friendship. However, the mysterious shades breach the safety of the walls with devastating consequences and Addie’s world is left in tatters. Although she begins to seek solace with Ty, the enigmatic Xander Bane takes more of an interest and a moment’s comfort from him, is ultimately her undoing. A series of events leads her to a curious captivity with baddy Kaden, although a captive her treatment isn’t as such and quickly new friendships are formed and secrets are uncovered.
How will things remain the same once she returns to Xander? How has her unexpected visitor come to be? And just what is the secret behind her heritage……?
I have to say that I enjoyed this book a lot, it’s an easy read with great characters. It’s a YA paranormal story with a dystopian element. For me it’s a story which kept me guessing, I love it when authors push you in one direction then flip things around on you just when you think you have got the twist. Whilst the story is rich there is also a lot which is alluded to which kept my mind ticking over for clues, but certainly I didn’t see the last 2 twists coming - they are real wow moments!
I was left initially a little confused with the actual state of the world they were in and exactly what the Shades were, I am however, a sucker for a prologue to set the scene. But, the story settles into it’s flow well though and the pacing is good, with little in the way of what feels like filler. It’s easy to draw character comparisons with bigger franchises and there are many character traits which Addie shares with some of her more established counterparts but she is still very much her own.
There are sadly several typo’s ranging from the simple that don’t really impact on the flow, to some that really pull you out of the story while you try to work out what it should be, which was a let down as the book is really well edited and formatted other than that.
It’s a great start to a series, and leaves you on one hell of a cliffhanger!
