Shadows by Paula Weston

Title: Shadows
Author: Paula Weston
Series: The Rephaim #1
Publisher: Text Publishing
Date Published: July 2, 2012
Buy: Amazon

Goodreads Summary

It’s almost a year since Gaby Winters was in the car crash that killed her twin brother, Jude. Her body has healed in the sunshine of Pandanus Beach, but her grief is raw and constant. It doesn’t help that every night in her dreams she kills demons and other hell-spawn.

And then Rafa comes to town. Not only does he look exactly like the guy who’s been appearing in Gaby’s dreams—he claims a history with her brother that makes no sense. Gaby is forced to accept that what she thought she knew about herself and her life is only a shadow of the truth—and that the truth is more likely to be found in the shadows of her nightmares.

Who is Rafa? Who are the Rephaim? And most importantly, who can she trust?

I remember how much I loved Angelfall and  didn't think I'd find another one that was just as good. Well I did end up finding another angel/nephilim book to love. This book is so freaking awesome I don’t think there are enough words to explain  how awesome it is. Usually nephilim books annoy me, they become too cliché and then they all seem to be so similar you cannot really see what makes one different from the other.

But here we have real kick ass nephilim, there are politics, there is action and there is mystery. What else could I want? Paula Weston creates this amazing world and it shocks me every time I think about it because it is so unique. Angelfall was more sci fic than paranormal but this one is the paranormal twin of Angelfall.

It’s been a year since the accident that killed her twin Jude, the one Gaby survived. She cannot remember everything that happened before the crash because her memories before the crash are fuzzy. She hasn’t had any contact with her parents and she has started a new life Pandanus Beach. Everything is as normal as things can be until Rafa shows up. He claims to be Jude’s best friend and has photos to prove it yet she doesn’t remember ever meeting him. He thinks she is someone else and believes that everything she knows has been a lie.

I read this because of the good reviews, honestly I wasn’t sure what I was expecting but I was surprised by how good it was and am absolutely glad I read it. This book always had me on the edge, the author feeding us only little bits of information so as to keep us on our toes. You were always wondering what the next surprise would be and look forward to it. The author actually SURPRISED us. It wouldn’t be easy to predict where she was going with whatever information she gave us.  This book was complete with lies, secrets and action. *hell yeah*

The secrets here weren’t the ones being kept from Gaby but the ones Gaby kept from everyone that no one, not even she, knew. Oh my dear god this book was so exciting I have to stop myself from running to re-read it instead of writing this.

I loved all the characters. I was seriously worried that Gaby would only swoon when she saw Rafa instead of actually doing something. She was, instead, a great part of the action, she wasn’t hiding behind anyone. She was always on the front lines, fighting. She was actually an amazing female lead, she was loyal, she didn’t keep secrets from her friends (right from the start she told them everything) and she was KICK ASS without actually kicking tons of ass.

Rafa was a bit annoying at first, he was a bit cocky and I didn’t understand what his game was, until, I did. I love his loyalty to Jude, I love how even though he isn’t sure what to make of Gaby, he is doing everything he can to help her out because Jude was his best friend and clearly he would do anything for Jude, including hanging out with his twin sister. I think he is a great character, you see, because there is a person underneath the cockiness, who ISN’T hiding from the world, he is always there, not in the depths of his soul, hiding.

Jason, was awesome, there are no other words for him, he was always supportive and trying to help the best he could. His secret, however, was one of the best that was revealed in this book.

The plot itself, well that’s something you got to experience yourself in case I give away something super important. I’ll say this though (yes I see that I am repeating myself) it’s fast paced, full of action, full of secrets and full of lies.  It’s something you cannot not enjoy. You have to love it.

I know I give quite a few 5 stars, but that’s because those books are amazing, never the less, it doesn’t mean they were necessarily one of the best things that ever happened to me, that they left me with my mouth hanging and me in freak out mode because I had finished the book. This was me with this book. I loved it with a passion and every single day I await the release of the sequel, it didn’t even end on a particular cliff hanger yet I feel like the author cut me off all of a sudden.