Dance in Shadow and Whisper by: Sarah Godfrey with Victoria DeRubeis (2013)
363 pages
Genre: Supernatural/Vampire/Demons
Source: The authors gave me a free copy of their book for my honest review. Thanks you two!
Purchase: Amazon
Goodreads Summary: Kali unexpectedly discovers on her first day of human high school that she’s forbidden to eat or partake of the toilet during class time, the assigned history and species books look best on the shelves of popular fiction, and the boy she’s watching over is definitely a reincarnated war lord.
The highest powers of Kali’s people and the highest powers of Yuuhi’s people, irreconcilable enemies, designated them to find proof that Jason is, in fact, the reincarnated Ares.
All Yuuhi sees in Jason is the typical scrawny, socially inept emo kid dressed in conflicting shades of black. But Kali sees that Jason’s shadow is bigger than he is, and if the powers of Yuuhi’s people find out, Jason won’t be human much longer.
The desire to protect him from an unexpected visitor brings out her most dangerous sides. Something’s changing in her, something she can’t control, and she’s not afraid of Jason mutating into a creature of the shadows more than she’s afraid she’s becoming something even worse.
And the highest powers will be watching her.
The highest powers of Kali’s people and the highest powers of Yuuhi’s people, irreconcilable enemies, designated them to find proof that Jason is, in fact, the reincarnated Ares.
All Yuuhi sees in Jason is the typical scrawny, socially inept emo kid dressed in conflicting shades of black. But Kali sees that Jason’s shadow is bigger than he is, and if the powers of Yuuhi’s people find out, Jason won’t be human much longer.
The desire to protect him from an unexpected visitor brings out her most dangerous sides. Something’s changing in her, something she can’t control, and she’s not afraid of Jason mutating into a creature of the shadows more than she’s afraid she’s becoming something even worse.
And the highest powers will be watching her.
My Review
What did I just read? No seriously, I’m totally confused. Dance in Shadow and Whisper is an enjoyable read and is a novel with an interesting take on vampires and demons, but it had my head rolling at times. I enjoyed the story and there were quite a few laugh-out-loud moments, but I can’t for the life of me truly figure out exactly what I just read. I was a little bit confused for pretty much the entire book. Maybe I’m just a little slow, but I’m thinking it’s because things at times aren’t explained overly well in the book. So as I sit back and continue to scratch my head I’m going to tell you what I thought of the book to the best of my ability.
The characters all around were the strongest part of Dance in Shadow and Whisper (besides the awesome cover of course). Each one was complex, intense, crazy, unique, and out of this world. I love the importance of family and friends in this novel and how Kali and her brothers interact. If you are hoping for a romance there isn’t really one. I didn’t mind this of course, it was a nice vacation from the norm. We get a lot of different POVs in this book which at first turned me off, but then I got used to it and was actually glad because it shined some light on different happenings in the book which helped me battle my confusion problem.
The plot was kind of hard for me to follow, not the overall big picture, but the little details. The world building just wasn’t that spot on and everything seemed to be made more and more complex in a not so great way as the story continued along. I did immensely enjoy several different scenes that were creative and well written, especially whenever Kali was at school trying to be normal, these sences may have made the whole book, but some of the scenes were also a little boring for me. I do however want to emphasize that when I finally got about half way through the novel I couldn’t put it down. It was intense, less confusing, and full of action. It just made me a little sad that it took me half the novel before I started loving Dance of Shadow and Whisper.
Right now this e-book is 99 cents on amazon and I’d say to give it a shot if you are a fan of supernatural books with a lot of crazy stuff going on. I’m not sure I would technically classify this as young adult due to the big amount of curse words and other small things. I can however say with certainty that I will probably read the second one because the ending is a huge cliffhanger and I'm thinking the next book will be easier to understand and faster paced.
Ooo, the cover is gorgeous! The synopsis sounds a little too crazy for me but I enjoyed reading your review. I hate when I finish a book and don't fully understand what happened, it's frustrating! Glad you were still able to enjoy parts of it though =)
ReplyDeleteI love the cover! It was a little too crazy for me too at times. :)
DeleteI agree the book was hard to follow. Not to mention the names, they made it a bit more confusing I think. Great review!
ReplyDeleteThanks! :)
DeleteI haven't read the book but I was confused just by reading the plot synopsis! Seriously, they didn't make it very clear what the book was actually about. And with some of the classic names (Ares & Jason), I was thinking more along the lines of Greek mythology as opposed to demons and other paranormal stuff. I'll probably sit this one out, but glad you enjoyed the book at least a litt.e
ReplyDeleteYes it was confusing which made it frustrating to read at times actually making me take forever to finish it. It was still a unique read but I just wished it flowed a little better.
DeleteWell since you are a little slow, and I'll be able to understand this.... (just kidding :D). It's a shame it took half the book for you to really get into it but it sounds like it was worth sticking with. I don't know if I'm going to read it tho. At least not anytime soon. I don't usually race toward the paranormal to begin with. Maybe if the second book is really good! I'll wait and see ;)
ReplyDeletehahaha ;) I plan to read the second one so I'll keep you posted.
DeleteI'd sure prefer if things were better explained but this one sounds creeptastic, and I'd go for a character-driven book any day :) Will be looking out for this one!
ReplyDeleteAlicia @ Summer Next Top Story
It does have some creepy stuff going on. Hope you enjoy!
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