3 out of 4 stars
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I don't know about you, but when I'm attracted to someone, I generally want to kiss them rather than kill them. Unfortunately, things aren't so simple for Aiden Storm in Walking Among the Shadows: Awakening by Navi' Robins.
On the first day of the new school year, 16-year-old Aiden is blown away by the new girl, Jasmine, but just as quickly as he's attracted to her, he wants to kill her. The high school junior also finds himself blacking out and experiencing moments of murderous rage. Not understanding the power Jasmine holds over him and afraid that he's turning into a serial killer, he searches for answers, quickly falling into a world he never knew about. Is Jasmine evil? What secrets does Aiden uncover? Does Aiden give into the kiss or the kill? All the answers can be found in Navi's exhilarating tale.
When I read the synopsis for this story, I thought it was a must-read, and I'm glad I wasn't wrong. From the first line of the tale, I was completely hooked. The author has an unusual way with words, and I was captivated by his storytelling capabilities. In addition, I loved his creative titling of the chapters and the fonts used for each heading. The pacing was perfect with a great blend of action versus suspense. The author also did a superb job of introducing the characters and building the story's foundation without losing focus of the actual story. Then, just as I was feeling comfortable with everyone and everything, he ratcheted the action up a couple of notches, and I almost felt like I needed to strap on a seat belt! The whole second half of the book was like a new roller coaster ride, each turn and loop leaving me more excited than the last. I do want to warn that the tome ends with a cliffhanger-type revelation, so one should be prepared to read the next book as well.
Along for the ride with Aiden were his sister, Sarah, and his best friend, Tony, plus a cast of several other important figures, including his mother and his mother's new love, Jason. There are quite a few more people in the book at various points, and I thought all of the characters were realistically drawn. I also liked that no one was perfect, especially Aiden. Just like any other teenager, he tended to be overconfident, temperamental, and moody, but all of these feelings were certainly understandable, considering his plight. Tony was a “playa”, and I often found myself laughing at his antics. I was mostly intrigued by Aiden's nemesis, Jasmine, and I was on the edge of my seat, waiting to find out how she could do the things she did.
The author did somewhat skimp on descriptions for locations, but it didn't bother me since I have a vivid imagination. Still, it may bother other readers who prefer more details in their stories. He did, however, do a good job describing all the characters.
As excellent as Walking Among the Shadows: Awakening is, I do have to note that it could use some proper editing. (The copy I received was “Revised”, but there's no indication as to what the revisions were.) The most egregious errors were in punctuation, as the author tended to use semicolons where there should be commas and left out commas where they should have been, leading to fragments rather than whole sentences. One such example is, "I have to admit it was a lot to put on a teenager's shoulders and he had such a hard time adjusting over the years. Getting into all kinds of trouble and rebelling over the loss of our father but eventually he came through it stronger and more determined." There was also incorrect word usage fairly often, such as the use of "decent" where it should be "descent" and “should of” rather than the correct “should have”. I also noted some examples of using the wrong form of a word, as in "Dad's side of the family carried the Spaniard and Native American lineage and my mom lending the Brazilian side" where the verb should be “lent”. Besides all of these errors, some popular phrases were misquoted, like “but nothing is rarely as it seems”. I will add, though, that I'm such a stickler for grammar that I usually cannot continue a book with so many errors, so I think it's a testimony to the story that I kept going and enjoyed it immensely. I also plan on reading the sequel and any other book in the series – Amazon says Mr. Robins plans for 7 books in all – so it's my hope that he goes back and has this one properly edited with all future books following suit.
With all this being said, I have to give Walking Among the Shadows: Awakening 3 out of 4 stars. The tale is certainly worth 4 stars, but the lack of editing cost it a star. I highly recommend this YA novel for readers who are fans of the supernatural, action, and even mystery genres. Without giving anything away, I also think the latter half of the book will appeal to those who like science fiction.
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Walking Among The Shadows: Awakening
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