Author: Jen Minkman
Series: -
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages: 400
Publication Date: December 14, 2012
Source: ARC from Jen Minkman
All Hannah needs is a nice and quiet vacation after her first year of teaching French at a high school. She joins her brother Ben for the summer in their mom’s log cabin in Arizona. There, she meets Josh again, Ben’s childhood friend from the Navajo reservation. The little boy from the rez has grown up fast, and Hannah can’t help but feeling more for him than just friendship.
But fate apparently has something else in store for her. And it’s not peace and quiet. Night after night, Hannah is plagued by strange nightmares about the past of Navajo Nation and terrifying shadows chasing her. They seem to come closer – and why is Josh always present in her dreams?
Sometimes, the past has a way of catching up with you.
***
I wasn't fully aware of what genre Shadow of Time was before I started it. Fantasy
or chick-lit?
First half of the book is definitely chick-lit and I
loved it! I adored Hannah; she's funny, independents og ready for a great
summer. No teenage insecurity, but a young woman capable of standing on her own
two feet and she doesn't need a man to have fun. Her brother Ben is amazing and
almost as fun as his sister. Josh is fantastic and even though I thought a lot
about the age difference in the beginning, it's not that noticeable later on.
I like the slow romance that develops between Josh and
Hannah. Nice and easy they go from being childhood friends to having their
first kiss and then things escalate. They barely kissed before the words ‘I
love you’ are uttered and that's just too soon, even if an explanation follows
later on.
The most noteworthy part of the book was the writing.
It has a nice flow and it's both vivid and riveting - it completely captured me
and I'm definitely going to read whatever else Jen Minkman publishes. First half of the book
vanished between my fingers in no time and I loved every bit of it; Hannah
making friends, Hannah falling in love, Hannah enjoying her summer. It was so
relaxing and I kept wishing for a beach and warm weather. Slowly the paranormal
part was introduced into the story and it worked very well in the beginning,
but at some point it just got to be too much. Too much information came at me
at once about the Navajo's and Josh and even though it was thrilling, I had a
hard time remembering all of it.
Still, the story of the Navajo's is very interesting
and especially Josh's story is heartbreaking and merciless - I enjoy getting to
know him so well. Frankly, the story got a bit too paranormal, probably because
I kept feeling that the book mostly was a chick-lit and those two genres
doesn't cooperate very well for me.
At some point during the story something happens that
makes it impossible for Josh and Hannah to be together which makes Hannah extremely
depressed. Like really. She changes completely, as if Josh was her only reason
to be happy. It doesn't fit the Hannah I loved in the beginning and it just
annoyed the hell out of me, pardon my French. Too much teenage drama!
The ending seems a little rushed and it’s a bit too
easy. I get the message and symbolic of it, but it happens so fast compared to
the enormous build-up.
The first half of the book is a sure 5 star rating,
but due to the amount of paranormal stuff (in what I felt was primarily a
chick-lit), the easy ending and Hannah's break-down, Shadow of Time unfortunately only gets 3
stars (well, 3,5 stars).
Side note: I wasn't aware that the book was a self-published
before I read it and I haven't got the best experience with self-published
books. Shadow of Time is, however, the exception - it
wasn't filled with spelling mistakes, the story is coherent and it leaves no
loose ends. Way to go, Jen
Minkman!
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