*I received a free copy of this novella, with thanks to the author. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*
Blurb:
FAMILY DRAMA…
FORBIDDEN LOVE…
A SECRET WORLD…
Years before Lilly Ashton was recruited, Ada Hughes had already caught the eye of the demon hunters. But what led Ada, the quiet and sweet girl from Diabolus Venator, to be recruited to fight supernatural creatures?
When children start to go missing in a fishing town, Ada Hughes fears for her two little brothers’ safety. Tide Springs was never really safe for them but she has a plan to escape their toxic family environment.
While battling her own loneliness and ignoring her forbidden love, Ada is faced with one more unexpected twist. Mythological beings and an ancient demon-hunting order will change her life forever.
She is suddenly afflicted with questions… Is this a new reality or just a hallucination? Will she be able to face this new world while being confronted with the secrets of her hometown?
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TIDES is the first novella in the WORLD OF SHADOWS Origins series, a YA urban fantasy series about a demon-hunting organisation. If you like character-driven novels you are going to love exploring the background stories of the World of Shadows’ characters. Filled with supernatural vibes, action, mystery, and romance this supernatural world will take you by storm.
This short novella packs a lot of action and emotional impact into its 75 pages!
The reader is introduced to main character, Ada, as she attempts to protect her younger brothers from their father’s violent alcoholic outbursts, and suppress her feelings for her best friend’s boyfriend. These would be challenge enough in any young adult’s life, but when you add in the children going missing around the town, and her father’s insistence that monsters are rising from the sea, and the tension ratchets up a few levels!
Ada’s inner struggle with her love for her father and her disgust and fury at his behaviour is well-balanced and sensitively handled. The author makes it clear that such situations can be far more complex than Ada’s friend Tayee’s casual ‘lock him up’ solution. Ada still remembers happier days with her father, and still hopes that the man she once knew is still in there somewhere… very natural and relatable to anyone who has ever been locked in an abusive cycle.
There are no punches held here in either the realistic or paranormal content, so if domestic violence, child abuse and children being literally eaten by monsters are triggering, then this might not be the story for you. However, it works very well as a taster for Patricia Morais’ demon-hunting World of Shadows series and all of the supernatural fantasy thrills therein.
Ideal for fans of YA urban fantasy, this origin novella really whets the appetite for the rest of the series, which is currently only available in Portuguese but will hopefully be joining Tides in English translation soon.
‘”Ada,” Tayee said. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I just overheard the old lady from the inn gossiping about your father. She’s been complaining to everyone that he woke her up screaming. Apparently, he drank so much last night that he was walking by the docks at 3 A.M. screaming he saw sea monsters.”‘
– Patricia Morais, Tides
You can find more from Patricia Morais at her website here, or follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
Tides is available on Amazon right now!
Bookshine And Readbows 