Review: Rising Shadow by Jacquelyn Wheeler

Posted January 27, 2011 by shooting in Uncategorized / 3 Comments

Rising Shadow by Jacquelyn Wheeler

Review by: Lauren

Copy From: Eleni of La Femme Readers

Amazon Associate: Buy the book from this link, we get a small percentage

Summary: Ashlyn Woods just transferred to one of the most beautiful campuses on the west coast, where she can’t wait to start her life over as a normal college student. But her plans take an unexpected turn when she discovers that she is a Soterian: a person who develops amazing powers when the balance of good and evil shifts too far in evil’s favor.



Soon she and the other Soterians are studying martial arts and learning to use their powers to prevent California from being plunged into chaos. But they quickly discover that they’re up against a much more dangerous enemy than they anticipated.


And when Ashlyn meets Kai, a devastatingly gorgeous guitar player, she realizes she must sacrifice more than she ever imagined.

Review: If you read this blog on a regular basis, you know that not all of my reviews are set up the same…sometimes I add pictures, a product that fits the book, or even a song that I feel fits the book and would go on its “soundtrack.” For this one, I’m doing something really different…I’m setting up the actual review in a new way.

Pros- One of the things that I really enjoyed about this book is that Ashlyn is in college. I know this is a topic going around the blog world these days…and I happen to agree with the idea that more YA should take place in college. I’m in college now, so I get characters that I relate to more…but older readers are already reading “down” in YA and teens in high school like to read about people older than them, so what’s the deal? More college YA, I say! (Yes, I know that rhymed…)

I also enjoyed the political aspect of the story. I’m not really into politics and I won’t pretend to be, but it’s included in the book in a way that shouldn’t turn anyone off. After all, we all know that some politicians are corrupt and you can’t always trust someone just because they have money or are in office. Plus, the idea of an evil being working through the government isn’t all that hard to believe for a fantasy novel.

The powers that everyone had weren’t new by any means, but the idea of the Soterians in general was very unique and I liked that they had to work as a team despite who may have had the “better” powers. They all needed each other to get the job done.

Cons- There really weren’t that many cons for me. However, I do have to mention that Ashlyn and love interest Kai did fall in love really fast. This seems to happen a lot in YA these days, and to be honest, it gets old sometimes…it just doesn’t feel realistic or even necessarily “healthy.” In the book they do explain why Ashlyn and Kai are drawn to each other and why it’s good for them to be together…which helped the case a bit and didn’t make it too frustrating for me to read. So overall, it’s not really a con…but it’s something I wanteed to note for anyone curious in reading this and might find that troublesome. Don’t let it stop you from reading the book if this sounds like your thing…as it is a good story…but you are forewarned by the suddeness of their relationship.

And now…a picture before you go! The below photo is Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but it’s kind of how I imagine Ashlyn and the other female Soterians. “Kicking butt and taking names” if you will!!

3 responses to “Review: Rising Shadow by Jacquelyn Wheeler

  1. I am tired of the insta-love. Especially in YA but sometimes I can overlook it. I'm just looking for more variety. I like the idea of a college setting.

  2. Over on another blog I Swim For Oceans on Tuesdays there is a literary meme. A few weeks ago the topic was what do you hate in YA. The biggest was insta love and the love triangle. And not only the insta love, but how the inexplicable force that drew them together in the first book, fails them in the second book and they doubt each other etc. It is definitely overdone.

    This sounds really interesting. I thought it looked pretty dark but it sounds good. I'd love to get powers just because evil forces are around. I could walk into my son's class and be superwoman!

    Heather

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