Friday, August 31, 2012

Taken at Dusk by C. C. Hunter

Genre: paranormal
Series and Book #: Shadow Falls #3
Pages: 380
Summary:

Step into Shadow Falls, a camp for teens with supernatural powers. Here friendship thrives, love takes you by surprise, and our hearts possess the greatest magic of all.
 
Kylie Galen wants the truth so badly she can taste it. The truth about who her real family is, the truth about which boy she’s meant to be with—and the truth about what her emerging powers mean. But she’s about to discover that some secrets can change your life forever…and not always for the better.
 
Just when she and Lucas are finally getting close, she learns that his pack has forbidden them from being together. Was it a mistake to pick him over Derek? And it’s not just romance troubling Kylie. An amnesia-stricken ghost is haunting her, delivering a frightful warning: someone lives and someone dies. As Kylie races to unravel the mystery and protect those she loves, she finally unlocks the secret to her supernatural identity. And the truth is far different—and more astonishing—than she ever imagined.
 
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One thing I like about C. C. Hunter's books is that they are not coated in darkness and mystery. Yes, it's somewhat dark (it's paranormal, how can it not be dark?) and yes, it has mystery (Kylie's whole life tends to be a mystery), C. C. doesn't make it uber-dramatic. Kylie is a teenage girl with teenage problems that include, but are not limited to: boys, friends, family, and, of course, identity.

Lucas? Or Derek? It is so hard to decide, especially when both love Kylie, but one is away and the other can't have her and it's just a mess. Add that to Kylie's increasing ghost problem where even her ghost-seeing counselor can't help, her sometimes frustrating friends, her mother who doesn't know the truth, and the sudden discovery that her father was adopted, making it even harder to figure out what kind of paranormal she is. Mix it all together and you have the Shadow Falls series. Somehow C. C. doesn't make the problems overwhelming. While there are a lot of them (a lot, a lot of them) she balances the book so that there's never a dull moment. Plus the characters make for a flirty, fun, and funny book.

Overall, quite honestly, this wasn't any different than the other books. True, we finally discover Kylie's identity (Still not quite solved though. I mean, what the heck? You really won't believe it. I didn't.) and she's finally a step closer to finding her real grandparents, but she still hasn't settled on a boy, her mother remains oblivious to Shadow Falls's true identity, and Kylie's still piling on everyone else's problems. They are, for me, a nice break from serious, melodramatic tales, and they are a fast read-through that are great for between books, but it isn't a series I'm dying for more of.

The Cover: I've always liked these covers. The sky is beautiful and they reflect the main event of the story well.

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