Review by Bobbie
Iris Kohl lives in a world populated by murky shadows that surround, harass, and entice unsuspecting individuals toward evil. But she is the only one who can see them. She’s had this ability to see the shadows, as well as brilliantly glowing light figures, ever since an obscure, tragic incident on her fourteenth birthday three years earlier. Although she’s learned to cope, the view of her world begins to shift upon the arrival of three mysterious characters in her life.
Plot:
I would like to say that the idea of being able to see “shadows” forcing people to do things like commit suicide? It’s genius. Completely genius. I had so many ideas of what Iris was, but the author completely threw me off all through the book. She kept me guessing and I even though I saw through one mild twist, she kept me guessing with all the rest. I loved the general plot although certian things that happened REALLY annoyed me.
Four out of five stars.
Characters:
Iris is a girl who can see shadows. At first she really doesn’t get it and she’s just scared, which is understandable, but at times I got annoyed with her. She was a typical teenager for the most part caught up in a love triangle between two boys.
Yet she was real. Sometimes she came across as judgmental and just plain selfish, but she was real. Half the time I didn’t know whether to hug her for her family problems or smack her for being such an idiot.
I mildly disliked her up until about page 230ish. That’s when things started to REALLY go downhill for my feels. It was heartbreaking, gut wrenching, and anger-inducing to read. There is no doubt in my mind that Dusty Crabtree has talent as a writer. Shadow Eyes got SO many emotions out of me. I also really liked the side characters as well. They were well fleshed out and had their own personalities which I loved.
Four out of five stars
Setting:
All throughout the book I was on a roller coaster. One minute I hated the characters and the next I loved them. Sometimes I think Dusty could have cut back on her description of the ‘smokin hot dudes’, but other times? Her description was beautiful.
In the end despite my distaste for certain things about Iris and the plot, it all made sense after reading the climax. It was heart-breaking and I sat there just trying to get a grip with reality and WHAT had happened.
“I wasn’t damaged like I thought I was, and I had worth and strength I never thought possible.” I just love that line so much.
Three out of five
The ending destroyed me though. I really want to read book two now. It’s quite an original idea and despite how frustrated Shadow Eyes made me at points, it was still a good read and I plan on re-reading it again in the future. If you like paranormal romance then you’ll love Shadow Eyes.
Total rating four out of five
You can find Shadow Eyes on Amazon for $5.99. Recommended for ages 15+ because of mildly violent content and an attempted date rape.
I was provided with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.