Review: Taken at Dusk by C.C. Hunter
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.
Quick & Dirty: Really fun YA paranormal with an engaging story, fun characters, and a really good premise. The drama is a little over done at times, but overall I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.
Opening Sentence: They were here.
The Review:
Kylie Galen has been at Shadow Falls all summer now, but she still hasn’t been able to figure out what she is. With new powers and traits emerging all the time she honestly has no idea what she is going to end up being. On top of that her current ghost that needs help can only seem to remember a cryptic message: someone lives and someone dies. If Kylie can’t figure out the ghost’s past and help solve the mystery someone she loves is going to die.
Kylie is also torn between the fairy who left her behind and betrayed her trust. Or the werewolf who she wants to give her heart to, but it is forbidden for him to be with anyone but another werewolf. She cares about both of the boys but she can’t choose both of them. Kylie has some tough decisions to make and someone is going to get their heart broken.
So Kylie is our wonderful heroine and for the most part I love her. She is kind and caring but she also doesn’t take crap from anyone. She’s not afraid to speak her mind and be honest with people. She has a lot of fears but she is usually willing to face them head on. My only problem with Kylie is the love triangle. She can never make up her mind and she goes back in forth so much it drives me nuts. Honestly, I wish that the love triangle would end. I feel that it adds unneeded drama to the story and it is a little annoying. There is enough drama in her relationships with both boys that she doesn’t need the added drama by being torn between them as well. I think that it takes from the story versus adding to it. But with that being said I love everything else about Kylie and can’t wait to see what happens next in her story.
Even though the boys drive me nuts I still have to talk about them. First off we have Derek. He is a fairy and had been drawn to Kylie ever since they met, but he can also feel her emotions and at times it is overwhelming for him. When he realized that she was attracted to Lucas he pushed her away and left Shadow Falls to get away from her. He is now back and things are awkward between them. Kylie doesn’t know how to act around him, which was sad to me. I missed their easy conversations and the fun they had together. I think Derek is a total hottie, but I also thought he turned into a little bit of a jerk in this one. I am hoping he will redeem himself in the next book.
Next we have Lucas. My feelings for Lucas are very hot and cold. There are times when I totally adore him and then there are times when I can’t believe Kylie likes him. There are a lot of times when he acts before he thinks and Kylie always seems to get hurt because of it. I realize he has an impossible situation, but honestly I felt that Kylie deserved better most of the time. The one thing Lucas does have going for him is that him and Kylie have really hot chemistry. He also can be really sweet and when he messes up he does try to make things right, which I respect. Overall, I have to say that I am Team Lucas.
This was a really fun book and a great addition to the series. I loved the action and the mystery. It is fast paced and once you start it’s really hard to put down. One of my other favorite parts about this book is the friendships that Kylie has developed with her roommates. They are so fun together and they have so many funny teenage girl moments that I loved. Overall, I really love all of the characters. Even though I’m not a fan of the love triangle, the romance in this book is actually really well done and very sexy. Like the two books before this one there is a wonderful cliffhanger ending, but lucky for me all of the books have been released so I don’t have to wait to read the next one. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that is a YA Paranormal fan, and fans of the series it will not disappoint.
Notable Scene:
“Let’s make a deal,” Della said. “You give Lucas a chance and I’ll give Steve a chance.”
Kylie smiled. “Are you that worried about me, or do you just need an excuse to go after the good-looking shape-shifter?”
“Maybe both.” Della grinned. “We got a deal?”
Kylie considered it, and mentally she stopped trying to hang on, stopped trying to fix something that didn’t seem fixable, and opened herself up to other possibilities. “Yeah.”
Della started walking, and Kylie took a step. Then the cold grabbed her. She turned and watched Jane Doe’s spirit materialize in the beam of sunlight.
The woman met Kylie’s gaze. “Do you know?”
“Know what?” Kylie asked.
Della turned around. “What?” She stared at kylie for a second and the said. “Oh Shit. Not again.” She backed up. “I’m not freaking out. I’m not. Really, I’m not freaking out.”
Kylie held up her hand to silence Della and stared at the spirit as she edged closer.
“Do you know what I am?” Jane spoke in a hushed tone that seemed to whisper through the trees. The blue jay in the tree chirped extra loud.
“No,” Kylie said. “I don’t.” Then the bird chirped oddly and fell from the tree and landed with a lifeless thud at the spirit’s feet.
FTC Advisory: St. Martin’s Press/Macmillan provided me with a copy of Taken at Dusk. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.(