2013, 247p, YA Paranormal Romance
My Rating=5 Stars
Source: Received copy from author for an honest review
She was undoubtedly a shade, but I didn’t know her.
Eric Welborn isn’t completely human, but he isn’t the only shade in the small Midwest town of Hayworth. With one year left before his eighteenth birthday, Eric is destined to win a long-raging war for his kind. But then she happens. In the middle of the night, Eric meets a nameless shade, and she’s powerful—too powerful—and his beliefs are altered. The Dark has lied to him, and he’s determined to figure out exactly what lies were told, even if the secrets protect his survival.
…
He had gotten so close to me—and I couldn’t move—I couldn’t get away.
Jessica Taylor moves to Hayworth, and her only goal is to find more information on her deceased biological family. Her adoptive parents agree to help on one condition: perfect grades. And Jessica is distraught when she’s assigned as Eric’s class partner. He won’t help, let alone talk to her, but she’s determined to change him—even if it means revealing everything he’s strived to hide.
This book held my attention from the beginning! The story switches back and forth between Eric and Jessica. Eric is part of the Dark. In this book, Light is evil. There's a prophecy in the making between Light and Dark and Eric is a major part of it since he is a true descendant. There will be a big battle and it won't end until he kills the Light's true descendant (whose name is Darthon) or he is killed by Darthon. As a human, Eric is a loner at school and likes it that way.
Jessica has just moved to Hayworth. She was born there but was adopted when she was a baby and her parents moved away so she doesn't remember anything about it. Now that she's back, though, she can't stop thinking about her biological family and wants to find them. Her parents tell her she has to keep her grades up and she didn't think that would be a problem until Eric was assigned to be her science partner and he could care less about their grade.
I liked the interaction between Eric and Jessica. I loved Eric and was glad he wasn't portrayed as a total jerk. He's more absorbed in his role as a descendant than his life as a human (for good reason) which is why he doesn't interact with humans too much. They are transformed enough when they're in Light/Dark form that he doesn't know exactly who they are in human form, but he does figure that he must know some of them. That keeps him from becoming friends with too many people because he doesn't want to have to fight against his friends.
I also loved Jessica. She's trying to fit in at a new school. She makes friends with Robb and Crystal who used to be friends with Eric. She's intrigued with Eric but is also trying to keep her distance since he's not very friendly. She doesn't let him walk all over her, either, and stands up for herself when she needs to. Her second identity is more mysterious although it wasn't too difficult to figure out.
The characters in the book have a human identity and a Light or Dark identity so sometimes I was confused by the secondary characters as to who was who (I think this was really more a reflection on my not paying close enough attention when they were first introduced, though). The plot is pretty complex and I liked getting bits and pieces at a time. The second half of the book sped up quite a bit and the ending made me sad for now but I'm hopeful it will all end happily. I feel that there's so much more story to be told and think I have some identities figured out so I'm looking forward to reading the second book to see if I'm right!
Thanks, Shannon, for bringing this book to my attention. I'm looking forward to reading more!!
Content: Mild swearing, kissing. Clean!
1 comments:
Thank you for reading Minutes Before Sunset!
~SAT
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