Book Review: The Beckoning Shadow

[Vanessa Tilley]

Title: The Beckoning Shadow
Author: Katharyn Blair
Series: Book One
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy

The Beckoning Shadow is an amazing fantasy novel full of superpowered teenagers, some magic, quite a bit of action, with some romance peppered in.

Summary:
The Beckoning Shadow follows our heroine Vesper Montegomery who has the ability to search into a person to find their fears and bring them into reality. It is very interesting but also a bit terrifying when you read about it. Vesper is on the run after having left her family due to an accident involving her powers . Vesper walks into a diner looking for some food and ends up leaving with some superpowered new friends. While staying with her new friends, Vesper stumbles into the world of MMA and enters the competition where the prize is a coveted undo where someone can undo one event in their lives . Vesper teams up with the intriguing Sam Hardy who trains Vesper to win. The further Vesper gets in the competition the more she discovers the competition is not all it appears to be .

Thoughts:
I am in love with the author's writing style. I am not the quickest reader but I was so hooked by the first chapter that I honestly finished the book in one day which never happens! The plot moves at a nice pace by providing lots of action and including a mystery that keeps you guessing until the end. The chapters are a nice length so it does go by fairly quickly. Katharyn's descriptions of the superpowered teenagers and the fights are so amazing that you feel like you are on the sidelines cheering Vesper on.

The characters in The Beckoning Shadow are all very well developed. I love Vesper because she has an incredible gift but realizes how dangerous it is and refuses to use it unless absolutely necessary and even then she tries to only uses smaller fears so as not to traumatize her opponent. Vesper also is not afraid to admit when she needs help which is so hard for so many of us to do that makes me admire her courage. I enjoyed seeing the relationships develop between all the superpowered teenagers and the workers at the gym as they help Vesper on this journey.

The Beckoning Shadow reminds me of an MMA fight between X-Men and I highly recommend it to any fans of fantasy, X-Men, MMA or just want a good book that keeps you on the edge of your seat. I can't WAIT for the next book in the series to come out!!!