First of all, I would like to say thank you to A.G. Howard for sending me a signed ARC (This comes out on April, BTW.) of The Shadow Girl by Jennifer Archer. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect from this one when I found out that I won it from A.G. Howard's giveaway so I didn't really know what I was getting into. I did read the synopsis on Goodreads but for some reason it was still a bit vague for me so I was pretty much intrigued and excited at the same time. Anyway, the novel is told in Lily's POV.
To start with, Lily is a 17-year-old girl who has been hearing another voice, Iris, in her head since she was 4. She's pretty much normal except for the voice thing. Honestly, this voice thing kept me thinking the entire time I was reading the novel. I didn't know whether she's supposed to be insane, a clairvoyant, a ghost or whatever. I pretty much wanted to spoil myself by reading the ending the entire time. Haha. Anyway, I did like the fact that she didn't doubt her sanity in the story. Plus, the fact that she didn't exactly exhibit any signs of abnormality in the entire novel is just awesome. I really felt bad for her though. She lost her dad and her mom just kept on lying to her. I get that she was just scared of losing her girl and everything. I was just a bit disappointed in her. I think she should have believed in her daughter's love a bit more. Anyway, I loved Lily. She wasn't the typical whiny teenager with all these angst. And the fact that she wanted to find out everything even if it meant searching for the truth on her own makes her all the more awesome. She didn't really depend on anyone. She was pretty much independent even if she was sheltered her entire life. I think she is one of those well-written characters that I just can't hate. And I have to be honest, I'm biased when it comes to female characters. It's very rare for me to like heroines for some reason.
Moving on to Ty Collier. The boy who suddenly came into Lily's life. He's pretty much a mystery up until the last half of the novel. He is actually another one of the reasons that kept me hooked. I wanted to find out how he was connected to everything. Anyway, I liked the mystery surrounding this character. I know mysterious guys are pretty much cliche in novels but I think sometimes a good book just needs a good mystery guy. I don't want to delve too much into his character since I might end up spoiling the novel. Just read the novel when it comes out. Haha.
Lastly, there's Wyatt. Wyatt is Lily's best friend but he does not know anything about Iris. I liked Wyatt. I was rooting for him the entire time (not that I wasn't smitten by Ty) since he reminded me so much of my best friend. I have a guy best friend and he's very protective. I loved the fact that he was there for Lily whenever she needed her. I think he's very real as a character. Guy best friends are supposed to be like him in real life not just someone who happens to be the female character's best friend who ends up becoming her boyfriend just because he's a guy. Again, I don't want to say more because I might end up spoiling the novel. Ugh! I suck at reviewing books especially the ones I liked. I hope I give justice to this one though.
Anyhow, I'm so happy I got to read this before it came out. I think it was well-written. It's not exactly something you'd call fast paced but it wasn't slow either. I think the pacing of the novel was just right for this type. I was expecting a typical paranormal YA novel but it was more than that. It was more paranormal/sci-fi/mystery/drama. I was seriously hooked. I liked the fact that the mystery behind Lily and Iris' existence was not revealed until the very end. I was biting my nails the entire time I was reading. I ended up finishing this at 5am because I seriously needed to find out the Why's, What's and How's of everything. Anyway, if you're looking for a paranormal/sci-fi/drama/mystery novel then you should definitely read this. This is my first Jennifer Archer novel and I must say that I would definitely read her other works as well. It kept me hooked and intrigued the entire time I was reading. It was like I badly needed to put the pieces of the puzzle together. And something like that is definitely A.W.E.S.O.M.E.
RATING: 5/5 STARS
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