Cels Reviews: Amy Meredith—"Shadows"

Best friends Eve and Jess have just returned home to the exclusive town of Deepdene in the Hamptons after summer holidays, all geared up for their freshman year of High School. Best of all, two new boys have moved to town: mysterious, dark, and sexy Mal, and Luke, the Pastor’s kid (who’s very cute and knows it and just a little bit bad). Perfect little Deepdene is hiding a horrible secret.

Why are people being plagued by nightmares that drive them insane? And what’s with the sparks that have started shooting out of Eve’s fingers whenever she gets upset? Can Eve and Jess save the town and find out who the big bad Demon is? And will they defeat him, or will they be the next victims?

Overall, Shadows is a fun and entertaining read with plenty of humour, mild horror, angst, and love to keep you hooked. The main criticism I had was the whole ‘poor little rich kid’ drama and constant shopping and designer name dropping; but, if you can look past this, you will find well-developed characters who are mostly believable and a well thought out plot. I found the strength of the friendship between Eve and Jess very heart-warming.

Meredith’s style reminds me of LJ Smith’s The Vampire Diaries but aimed at a younger audience. It also has a Buffyesque vibe, with the whole one-girl-with-a-kick-ass-attitude-gifted-to-save-her-town-with-the-help-of-her-friends plot (but with a different twist). All in all, I found Shadows to be an entertaining read. I would particularly recommend it to pre-teen girls new to the paranormal genre, owing to its fun, mild content.

Shadows is the first book in the Dark Touch series. Book two, The Hunt, was released August 2010.

Book three of the series,  Fever, will be released February, 2011.

Shadows – Amy Meredith

ISBN 13: 9781849410519

ISBN 10: 1849410518

May 3, 2010 by Random House, Australia

Paperback, 240 Pages