Book Review: The Shadows: The Return Has Begun by Alouy Martinez

The Shadows: The Return Has Begun
The Shadows Saga #1
Author: Alouy Martinez
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
Released: October 27th 2012
Review Source: Author
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from Author) Destiny is about to change.

What lurks in the shadows may change the destiny of six young lives forever. That is, if they can survive at all. The Shadows: The Return Has Begun, the heart-pounding young adult debut novel by Alouy Martinez, is a tale of mystery, suspense, action, and romance that charts the perilous course of six young characters as their fates unfold, and their true identities are revealed as the formidable entities known as The Shadows. Dramatic, dark, and alluring, this enthralling work of fiction goes where no vampire or werewolf novel has ever gone before.

Follow them all as they journey together to Paris, France, where it soon becomes chillingly evident that someone is in bloodthirsty pursuit of them all. They soon realize their destiny as The Shadows, beings created over two thousand years ago to restore order to the unbroken rules of The Heavenly Laws. Upon their demise in 486 AD, a prophecy was born as they took their lives into their own hands, marking their return. However, this time destiny won’t control them.

Will they overcome forces that are primed to wage deadly battle against them all? And can they face their own demons as they do? The Shadows: The Return Has Begun creates a new legion of deadly foes that rages through every gripping page of this wildly inventive, gripping new novel.

Alouy Martinez took us to a place where we have never been before. In this story, the characters find themselves up against Demons, Vampires, Witches, Mermaids, Mer-witches, Sorcerers, Nightshades, God, Aphrodite, Eve and of course .... The Shadows.

The main characters consist of Ashlenn, Kaden, Melinda, Christopher, Justin and Darcy. These kids grew up together and seemingly, very wealthy. Their relationships with their parents are all close and these parents would do anything they could to protect their children. Darcy was adopted by Melinda's family, as Darcy's parents died while she was very young. Melinda and Darcy became true sister's, since Darcy was adopted so young. Their relationship soon gets put to the test, with all of the events that soon lead them to their bond. Ashlenn Vandenhoff was known for her dreams. She would have very vivid and detailed dreams, which were sometimes scary and hit way too close to home. What she thought were dreams, were actually visions that soon became very real.

Once the children were of age, they were to visit Paris for what they assumed would be a nice and relaxing vacation. They were growing up and their parents wanted them to experience what life has to offer, and find out who they truly are. The friends all loaded up in their respected vehicles to go on a journey that they would never forget. Once they landed in Paris, strange things started happening and their teacher/chaperon would soon be murdered. What in the world do they do now? They are in a strange place, where they knew no one.

The friend's became closer than they would have ever imagined. They now have a bond that can never be broken and they depend on each other for their survival. The meaning of friendship gets put to the test and they find that it is not only friendship they desire, but also love. There are a couple of love stories that emerge from "The Shadows", as can be expected. Young, gorgeous and with having only each other, it was bound to happen. However, this book is by no means predictable. Just when you think that you know what is going to happen next, takes a different direction. What seems to be going up is actually going down. What seems to be going right, is actually left. This book does not disappoint, it is suspenseful and captivating.

The Shadows has so many details and twists and turns. I found myself having to go back and re-reading chapters to make sure that I was on the right track. That in itself was somewhat time consuming. The other thing I found in the book were spelling and grammatical errors. This by no means takes away from the book, although I was disappointed to find the amount that I did. I still give Mr. Martinez a thumbs up for a very captivating and thrilling read!!