Review: Shadows Gray by Melyssa Williams
9:10 PM
Author: Melyssa Williams
Publisher: Melyssa Williams
Publication date: March 24, 2012
# Of Pages: 30 Chapters
How I got the copy: Received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.
From Goodreads.com
Sonnet Gray has problems, and not just those of a typical 18 year old. Her family is one of the Lost; time travelers who have no power over their journeys. Hopelessly old fashioned and yet more modern than most girls, Sonnet speaks several languages and takes care of her motley crue back home by working in a coffee shop and playing guitar. Over time, the Lost leave behind those they love and pick up new characters along the way. In twenty-first century America, Sonnet meets Emme, a Lost young woman with a questionable line of work, Luke, a mysterious photographer, and Israel, a young doctor . But no one can take the place of Sonnet's sister, Rose, who was left behind as a baby in the fifteenth century. The ghost of her beckons from each time and place; but what's real and what isn't? Is Rose Gray trying to contact her before it's too late?
A ghost story with a sci-fi, Gothic romance twist, Shadow's Gray will keep you up at night, wondering: is the redemptive power of love enough to change history?
A ghost story with a sci-fi, Gothic romance twist, Shadow's Gray will keep you up at night, wondering: is the redemptive power of love enough to change history?
My Rating: 4/5 Stars
þ Smart new take on time traveling
þ Fun/unique characters that are unlike any I've read before.
þ Twists that you'll never see coming.
Shadows Gray is beautifully written, first of all. Melyssa Williams is able to make the pages (or in my case ereader) float away and make you forget that you are reading. I felt like I was part of Sonnet's world. Right there with her as she works at the local coffee shop in her tie dye shirt and singing on stage for customers. Sounds like a normal teenager in modern America right? Wrong, Sonnet is far from normal and I loved it. For once the main character did not have perfect hair, perfect clothes, perfect skin. Sonnet wears horse tshirts with overalls, is tall, lanky and mature, and lives with a bunch of people that, life her, can travel to different eras.
Sonnet's "family" is comprised of a bunch of other Lost people who travel through time. There's Prue who has taken care of Sonnet ever since her mother died early on. Sonnet's Dad, who spends his time drunk after her mother died, Emme her best friend with an interesting career, and Israel, who is unbelievably swoon worthy in my opinion. There are a few other colorful characters that I enjoyed like Luke the cute guy at the coffee shop, and Rose, Sonnet's sister. Sonnet and her family make sure they all sleep at the same time so if they time travel in their sleep they'll all wake up together.
I've only read one other time travel book, Hourglass, which the characters had to go through a vortex type thing to go back in time. They chose when to go. This story was different because the characters didn't choose when they would travel. They'd just wake up in a different era. I was glad that Shadows Gray wasn't sooo focused on time traveling. It was the backbone of the story, but they didn't travel much at all. Other things like revenge, first crushes, history, family, etc. where all prominent. The last few chapters had a huge twist that I really did not see coming at all. As I got to the end of the last chapter I began to wonder. Is there going to be a second book? I hope so. It isn't left on a crazy cliffhanger, but there are definitely possibilities for a sequel. This just in: Melyssa has informed me she is working on the sequel!
The only thing that I would have liked to see more is a little more explanation of how their time travel works. And how they all make sure they sleep at exactly the same time...I kept thinking what if one of them wakes up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night?
If you're looking for a suspenseful exciting time travel story, with bits of history, and eccentric characters this is definitely a good book to try. It's only $2.99 on Amazon which is a pretty great deal for something that should be $9.99 in my opinion.
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