When the walls of lies begin closing in, who do you trust?
There is nothing worse than failure, especially one that results in your school being attacked by a ruthless enemy. Still reeling from the aftermath of the previous night, Sam and her cousins must deal with another crisis: Alexia has run away.
To top it off, there are new players in town. The young Arcadians will be forced to work closely with the prestigious Nox Elite. But they will soon find out that nursing a bruised ego is nothing compared to fighting a faceless enemy, battling personal demons, and dealing with revelations that will forever change their lives.
*Note from the author: Due to strong language and mature content this book is recommended to readers 17+.
The Phoenix Shadow
by M.H. Soars
Series
Arcadian Wars #2
Genre
Young Adult (16+)
Paranormal Romance
SciFi / Fantasy
Publisher
Independent
Publication Date
July 20, 2015
The Prophecy of Arcadia, the first book in this series, was an exciting entry into the world of the Arcadians, aliens that inhabit earth. This book continues the story of the war between the Arcadians and the Myserians, both alien races that are now secretly on earth. I was given this book by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I was a bit forgetful about all the events that took place in book one, but after rereading about a fourth of the book, I felt I was better able to review this one. Sometimes authors get bogged down in retelling everything from previous book, but that wasn’t the case here, although at times I was wishing for a bit more info for me to make more sense of certain events. That being said, I think this book was much more tightly written than the first, and that is always a good thing. Last time I felt like there was just too many things going on to keep track of it all, and this time the writing was paced much better for my taste. Very well written, as well.
The premise of a group of older teenagers from another planet being raised on earth in order to become protectors for the Ones that the Arcadians Prophecy is about, was an interesting idea for me. The prophecy is about a male and female human that are soulmates and will be joined as one under the light of the full moon. Then they will fulfill their destinys to save their planet, and in doing so, save Earth, as well. But first they have to be protected from the villains, shadow beings, named Myserians. Myserian’s are able to possess human bodies. They have also introduced a new drug into the teen social scene of the town. Mix the drug with a possessed human, and they become lethal weapons against other people, as well as Arcadians. And it’s not pretty!
I enjoyed the characters, and actually I think they are the favorite part of the read for me. The story is told from several prospectives, but mainly Sam and Matt’s, two Arcadians that are protectors of Alexia, whose prospective is also told. All of these are told in the first person prospective. Alexia is the female One(or Chosen) but due to spoilers, I won’t give away who the male is. There are several more teenagers that are part of the story and each one has a part to play. Literally. Because they have all been lying to Alexia about who they are to her, and who she really is, since they were all children. There is of course adults in the book as well, some were nice but still deceptive, while others were not nice, but ended up being good after all. In other words, Alexia can’t trust anyone, and the other teens start feeling that way about the adults that have always been in their life.
There is at least three romances playing out in the read as well. Alexia and her soulmate, Samantha(Sam) and Matt-although that one is on shaky ground-, and another one as well. This book, as with the last one, is full of lots of action and sketchy things things happening with people that should have inspired trust. There’s deaths and near deaths, and lots of human teens being compromised by the Myserians. The question here is, will Alexia ever get told about the prophecy and her part in it, or will she stay in the dark as she did in the last book?
Due to spoilers, I don’t want to go any further into the actual story. I did enjoy this read and actually think I liked it a bit better than the last one. We do get answers to questions from the first book, and I was glad about that, as well. This is billed as mature YA, but due to sexual situations, I am not sure about that designation. It’s probably best for the mature 16+ group. Good read, but I suggest you read the first one before this one, as they do go in order.
The review copy of this book was supplied by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.
About M.H. Soars
I always knew creative arts were my calling but not in a million years did I think I would become an author. With a background in fashion design I thought I would follow that path. But one day, out of the blue, I had an idea for a book. One page turned into ten pages, ten pages turned into a hundred, and before I knew, my first novel, The Prophecy of Arcadia, was born.
I live in Florida with my husband and baby daughter. I’m currently working on the Arcadian Wars series, the Elements series, and the Love Me, I’m Famous series.
Arcadian Wars is a YA Paranormal/SciFi Romance series. It follows the life of a group of teens who possess incredible powers and have a very important mission: save their planet and in the process, save Earth too. The first book, The Prophecy of Arcadia, and the novella, The Fall of Arcadia, are already available. The second book, The Phoenix Shadow, will be published in the summer of 2015.
Elements is a new YA Paranormal Romance series. It focuses on two sisters who hold the key to stop a full-blown war between elemental beings and humans. Look for the first book by the end of 2015.
Love Me, I’m Famous is a NA Contemporary Romance series and each book will be a standalone focused on different characters. As the name of the series suggests, at least one of the characters in each book will be somewhat famous. The first book is slated to be published later in 2015.
To learn more my projects you can visit my website, sign up for my newsletter, or follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
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