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Shadow Hills Anastasia Hopcus Books

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Shadow Hills Anastasia Hopcus Books

Thirteen months ago, Athena Archer died. The loss of a beloved older sister would be profoundly life-changing for anyone; for Persephone Archer, it has been so much more. Athena's death is what started everything for Phe - the whole chain of events that brought her here to Shadow Hills.

The nightmares began almost immediately after Athena's death. Already weighed down with crushing grief and her parents' growing indifference, Phe started having vivid, recurring dreams, almost always at 3:33 am. A few months later, she found Athena's diary and learned a shocking truth: Athena was also having disturbing dreams in the months before she died -exactly the same dreams Phe is now having, in fact. It was Athena's final diary entry that led Phe to the Devenish Preparatory Academy and, more importantly, to Shadow Hills, Massachusetts.

Phe arrives at Devenish looking for answers, but what she finds at first are more, and more troubling, questions. Her dreams, once merely disturbing, now seem to have been prophetic. The graveyard she sees in the dreams turns out to be real and located in Shadow Hills. What's more, those buried within its confines all died in the same year, victims of a mysterious epidemic. During Phe's first exploration of the graveyard she meets the dark and mysterious boy who has recently come to play a prominent role in her dreams - a boy she could not possibly have known existed before she came here to Shadow Hills. Zach Redford is sweet and handsome and Phe suspects he knows a lot more about her connection to Shadow Hills than he is willing to tell her.

Shadow Hills is an intriguing blend of gothic horror novel, mystery and tender romance. Ms. Hopcus does an excellent job providing just enough information in each chapter to make the reader feel as if they are learning something and to keep the story progressing, but she also manages to hold some revelations back for the novel's dramatic ending. Clues and discoveries tantalize and keep the pages rapidly turning. The eerie atmosphere and slow-building feeling of menace are delicious and all encompassing and that has a big part in making this first novel and thoroughly engrossing read.


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Shadow Hills Anastasia Hopcus Books Reviews

Persephone "Phe" Archer has been having dreams since her sister died. Nightmares, really. And when she found out that her sister had been having them, too, Phe knew where she had to go Devinish Prep in Shadow Hills. Her sister had written about it in her journal, had even requested information from the school. And Phe just knows that there are answers there, answers she can't find at home in California. But as soon as she steps foot on campus, she knows this isn't your average boarding school. For one, the nearby cemetery is just a little too nearby. As is the hospital. And when she meets Zach, a strange, beautiful boy who seems to attract metal like a magnet, Phe falls hard -- and her curiosity is intensified. When Zach finally confesses what Phe already suspects -- he's different, descended from the people who survived the epidemic that wiped out Shadow Hills in the 1700s -- he puts her in danger. But Phe isn't exactly average either, and as her visions -- and her feelings for Zach -- intensify, she realizes that even if it kills her, she's going to uncover what's going on in Shadow Hills. This paranormal mystery will have you guessing until the very end, and while I wouldn't want to go to school in Shadow Hills, I absolutely can't wait to visit Devinish Prep again in a sequel. (Please?!)
Much as the town after which it is named, this book is cloaked in darkness, guarded secrets permeating every aspect of the story in dense layers that allow only a few pinpricks of light representing concrete information to shine out, their luminescence guiding us through a world full of furtive glances, scientific anomalies, and increasingly unusual behavior. There's something eerie about Devenish Prep, something hidden beneath the crisp uniforms and expensive tuition, and luckily for us, we get to accompany Phe as her curiosity sometimes overwhelms her common sense and we are all delved into a situation from which there is no way to escape without being fundamentally altered by what we've learned. Questions lead not to answers, but rather to more questions, and for every step we take towards the light and knowledge, we find the darkness right on our heels, keeping parts of us constantly obscured by shadow and unsure of which direction to head to find sure footing and complete understanding.

Persephone has a good head on her shoulders - intelligent and strong in personality, and though she swoons and fawns over Zach in typical teenage-girl fashion, she isn't reduced to incoherent babbling or overwhelming silliness and angst. She is however afflicted with an extremely overdeveloped sense of inquisitiveness, often landing herself in situations that could have been easily avoided, but she has a good heart and the best of intentions, putting those for whom she cares most above her own safety. Phe is as special in Shadow Hills as Zach would be outside of it, and both bring separate but fascinating challenges to their relationship. From the brief moments of illumination we have regarding their individual histories and abilities, it's clear the attraction humming between the two of them is the easiest part of their connection, and underneath the initial doe eyes lies a set of challenges all the more daunting because we haven't the slightest idea as to the full extent of them. Phe and Zach are clearly in mile one of a marathon, finding their breath after the beginning sprint, but facing miles of pavement yet to pound.

One of the more intriguing aspects of the story is the somewhat believable explanation for the paranormal occurrences. Instead of expecting us to merely accept the existence of the supernatural, Ms. Hopcus provides a great deal of data to support the unusual nature of the people of Shadow Hills, making the events more interesting as a result of their potential plausibility. Though we are provided copious amounts of information, our actual knowledge isn't even in the realm of absolute, an array of potential outcomes laid out before us like a choose your own adventure novel, only we as readers are denied the ability to choose and remain instead only witnesses to Phe's decisions, left to follow as she dictates but partners in the journey just the same.

Shadow Hills is fairly typical with regard to the teenage relationship, but Ms. Hopcus has carved out a unique niche in the paranormal aspect of her world and filled it with tier after tier of unique possibilities supported by a solid base of main and secondary characters. Arriving at the end of this story is like being in a room with three white walls and one brightly painted - we've been given enough information to bring the story in this first installment to life, but we end up facing multiple blank canvases, our fingers just itching for access to next book and the pages that might bathe those walls of taunting potential in vibrant color.

Rating 4/5
Thirteen months ago, Athena Archer died. The loss of a beloved older sister would be profoundly life-changing for anyone; for Persephone Archer, it has been so much more. Athena's death is what started everything for Phe - the whole chain of events that brought her here to Shadow Hills.

The nightmares began almost immediately after Athena's death. Already weighed down with crushing grief and her parents' growing indifference, Phe started having vivid, recurring dreams, almost always at 333 am. A few months later, she found Athena's diary and learned a shocking truth Athena was also having disturbing dreams in the months before she died -exactly the same dreams Phe is now having, in fact. It was Athena's final diary entry that led Phe to the Devenish Preparatory Academy and, more importantly, to Shadow Hills, Massachusetts.

Phe arrives at Devenish looking for answers, but what she finds at first are more, and more troubling, questions. Her dreams, once merely disturbing, now seem to have been prophetic. The graveyard she sees in the dreams turns out to be real and located in Shadow Hills. What's more, those buried within its confines all died in the same year, victims of a mysterious epidemic. During Phe's first exploration of the graveyard she meets the dark and mysterious boy who has recently come to play a prominent role in her dreams - a boy she could not possibly have known existed before she came here to Shadow Hills. Zach Redford is sweet and handsome and Phe suspects he knows a lot more about her connection to Shadow Hills than he is willing to tell her.

Shadow Hills is an intriguing blend of gothic horror novel, mystery and tender romance. Ms. Hopcus does an excellent job providing just enough information in each chapter to make the reader feel as if they are learning something and to keep the story progressing, but she also manages to hold some revelations back for the novel's dramatic ending. Clues and discoveries tantalize and keep the pages rapidly turning. The eerie atmosphere and slow-building feeling of menace are delicious and all encompassing and that has a big part in making this first novel and thoroughly engrossing read.