Wraiths... Secretly, inexorably, they are infiltrating our world, sucking the essence out of unsuspecting victims with their hideous parody of a kiss.
Segue... Adam Thorne founded the Institute to study and destroy his monster of a brother, but the key to its success is held in the pale, slender hand of a woman on the run. There is something hauntingly different about Talia O’Brien, her unknowing sensuality, her uncanny way of slipping into Shadow.
Twilight... This is the place between life and what comes after—a dark forest of fantasy, filled with beauty, peril, mystery. And Talia is about to open the door.
Comment: This book has been in the pile for years, three or four...well, to be honest I don't exactly remember. There was a time I was very much paranormal focused so I got many first books because I'm always on the lookout for the next great series. Obviously, time has gone...so I picked it up this month for a book club. I was hoping for a good story because after all this time I wasn't expecting perfection, considering the evolution of my taste, overall...but hope was there.
This is the story of Talia O'Brian, the book starts with her getting ready for a job interview but she sees her roommate being killed by something she can't describe. She only knows the only thing that can protect her are the shadows that have been with her all her life.
Looking for Tali because of her ideas about death is Adam Thorne, he has a research institute looking for ways to kill wraiths, beings that kill humans by stealing their souls. He has mythological clues about what could be done and Talia has wrote about it. When they finally meet and talk, things are already in a bad shape around the world but could they change that?
This book is really weird. I mean, first thing I have to say is how hard it was at time to follow the story line. Not that it ran from the point, but the issue was how spread everything was, the action seems to go a certain path and suddenly a new concept or sub plot seems to appear and we have to start to organize out thoughts again. It was a bit tiresome.
The story actually starts with a prologue that seemed really promising to the story but instead it was only a tiny bit of what was meant to happen. In the end we see more and apparently the next book might bring new things, but I don't feel like it right now.
The plot itself was interesting enough. There's a young woman unsure about what is happening and a confident guy looking for certainties, for a way to stop a problem that has caused him lots of grief. Understandable. But then things were quite darkish, meaning, there was this aura of darkness, of despair in this story that made the reading a bit depressing, many people die but looking at this as paranormal romance I was a bit disappointed, I guess urban fantasy is more like it, more so into the darker side of that also.
The main story line follows Adm and his mission to find a way to stop his brother, turned wraith - or so he thoughts - and how to finally gain peace. Of course we see a lot of guilt and martyrdom in the way as well.
The romance between Adam and Talia wasn't such a big deal, it felt more like an accessory than a main thing. Not that is such a bad thing, but I kind of hoped for more, more passion, more chemistry, more emotion in all that. In the end they get their HEA but honestly, everything else around them felt unsure, unfinished and not just because there's many wraiths left to kill...
Although I couldn't avoid the details that bothered me, there was still interesting points to focus on int he story, like how Talia's weapon sort of, is her voice and isn't ours as well? Or the debate between life and death, I loved to thin about this idea of how not everyone who lives is alive and how the ones who die aren't always dead (concept of a ghost, for instance). I mean interesting subjects to ponder, but the fictional story was a bit lacking in my opinion. The writing was ok I guess but I couldn't help feeling a sort of detachment in it, considering the darker aspects of th plot.
In the end, a good effort, but for me personally it wasn't what I thought would happen and I found it darker than what I imagined and although the surroundings of the story were interesting, I thought Talia and Adam's task wasn't as enjoyable to see as that...
Grade: 5/10
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