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Review of Spectral by Shannon Duffy




Spectral Summary

Convinced she’s a part of the witness protection program, sixteen-year-old Jewel Rose is shuffled around the globe with her family like a pack of traveling gypsies. After arriving at lucky home twenty-seven, she stumbles upon a mysterious boy with magical powers claiming to be her guardian . . . and warning of imminent danger. Despite the obvious sparks between them, Jewel discovers a relationship is forbidden, and the more she learns about dark, brooding Roman, she begins to question who she can even believe — the family who raised her, or the supposed sworn protector who claims they’ve been lying to her all along.

As she struggles to uncover who her family has really been running from, she is forced to hide her birthmark that reveals who she is. With new realities surfacing, unexplained powers appearing, and two tempting boys vying for her heart, Jewel battles to learn who she can trust in an ever growing sea of lies, hoping she’ll make it through her seventeenth birthday alive. 
 
**
 
 
I really, really enjoyed Spectral. I love stories that combine magic and reality, and Shannon Duffy weaved the two worlds together with ease. The build-up to Jewel finding out the truth about who she was was very well paced, and had the perfect amount of tension to keep the reader turning the pages. I actually finished the story in one sitting, because I couldn't put it down!

A review of a YA book wouldn't be complete without a mention of the love interests! Jewel was a lucky girl, to have two fabulous boys vying for her attention. First, Chase, who helped Jewel settle into her new school by fending off the mean girls, then Roman, the boy sent to protect her. Both of them were swoonworthy in their own ways - but I had quite a soft spot for Chase. ;)

If you like your YA books with a little bit of magic, and a whole lot of tension, give Spectral a try! 

Comments

  1. This sounds good, will add it to my horribly long TBR list ;)

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  2. This sounds good, although I'm a bit sceptical about the 'dark and brooding' love interest... ;)

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  3. Oh this sounds like an excellent book. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. great review! i love magic in the real world too!

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  5. I've got a soft spot for Chase too :) He was totally swoon worthy :)

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  6. Sounds interesting and I agree, the cover is amazing.

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  7. I like books like this too! I'll have to get this one.

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  8. Great review. Sounds like a fun adventure.

    .......dhole

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  9. Kyra, thanks a million for the review. I'm so glad you enjoyed "Spectral" and for sharing your thoughts on your wonderful blog. See you on Twitter!

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    1. Not a problem, I love to help out when I can!

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  10. I love it when magic is combined with reality. Thanks for the review.

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  11. Thanks for the review! I love that cover too.

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  12. Magic is like butter. Everything's better with it!

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  13. Finishing the story in one sitting is high praise.

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  14. Love the cover. Your recommendation makes me want to read the book. Anything you can read in one sitting has to be great. I think anything with a little magic is awesome.

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  15. Your review really tempts me with this book. I too like magic and reality - it's what I like to write, and also what I like to read - so this is probably perfect for me! Thanks. :)

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  16. Huge thanks for all your comments on Spectral - to those of you who are thinking of buying it, it's totally worth it!

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