Rating (Out of 5): ~4
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance with Dark Themes
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: 2017
Spoilers?: No.
Goodreads
Synopsis:
In the first book of the
Shaw Confessions, the companion series to the New York Times
bestselling Mara Dyer novels, old skeletons are laid bare and new
promises prove deadly. This is what happens after happily ever after.
Everyone thinks seventeen-year-old Noah Shaw has the world on a string.
They’re wrong.
Mara Dyer is the only one he trusts with his secrets and his future.
He shouldn’t.
And both are scared that uncovering the truth about themselves will force them apart.
They’re right.
Everyone thinks seventeen-year-old Noah Shaw has the world on a string.
They’re wrong.
Mara Dyer is the only one he trusts with his secrets and his future.
He shouldn’t.
And both are scared that uncovering the truth about themselves will force them apart.
They’re right.
The Cover:
I love these covers. They're very pretty and eye-catching, dark and ominous, and I appreciate that it's not embarrassing or cliche with a girl in a dress. It also works with the previous series, and each book in the series follows the same imagery, which I love.
Review:
I was surprised to hear that this series was continuing, as I didn't
really think it needed to be, originally. I also didn't really
consider not picking it up—I really enjoyed the first trilogy, and
had no qualms about reading more. I was intrigued, but a tiny bit
wary.
Upon starting this book, I had no idea so many people disliked it. I
understand some of it, though—it does play with a lot of
problematic themes (suicide, drugs, sex, self-harm, to name a few),
and it has a lot of really awful, unapologetic characters, including
the protagonists. But... I never minded those things. I even liked
the story because of those things. One of my favorite things about
the first series was how violent and bad Mara could be.
Now, to confess—it has been such a long time since I originally
read the series, that I remembered very little of it. I barely
remember how it ended, or any of the big reveals, or much of it at
all. I don't think that hindered my reading of this book too much,
though. (Re-reading would have helped clear up some topics, but oh
well, my copies are in a box somewhere.)
This series is in Noah's point of view. His father has just died,
he's moving to New York with Mara and some of their friends, and
suddenly other Gifted people are committing suicide all over the
place, only he doesn't think it's by their choice.
It's interesting being in Noah's head, instead of Mara's. They're
both very dark characters, and they've experienced a lot of bad
things. As the story progresses, we learn more about what his father
was up to, what the Professor might have been doing, and what each
character knows and hasn't been honest about. And Noah starts
discovering, and accepting, some things about Mara that he didn't
realize before this.
There are several surprises in this book. Following Noah as he
discovers things is surprising, and a little rough at times. He
doesn't want to deal with things, and he has his own moral code, but
he's forced to make some decisions here. A big reason for why I want
to continue this series, not only to discover all of the secrets and
find out who is behind all of this and what they want, is to see Noah
do something about it. He understands how The Game works, but he
hasn't wanted to be a part of it. He's always wanted to kind of give
up, to not be the Hero everyone claims he is. But now he's being put
in a position where he might have to do just that.
I do really love Noah and Mara's relationship, and I enjoy how dark
and rough and gritty, and psychological, this series can be. But I
might actually want to know how the plot line wraps up more than
anything else. It's surprising to me, but I want to know where this
is going to go next.
