Shantallow by Cara Martin - Book Tour & Review + Giveaway
Shantallow
Cara Martin
Published by: Cormorant Books
Publication date: May 26th 2019
Genres: Horror, Young Adult
Tanvi isn’t the girl of Misha’s dreams; she’s the girl from his nightmares. She has appeared in his chilling dreams before he even meets her; when he DOES meet her, he falls for her.Their relationship turns stormy, bordering on abusive, and takes a dramatic turn when they are held captive by a group hoping to extract money from Tanvi’s wealthy family.But there is something more sinister at work, and the kidnappers and their victims find themselves struggling for survival as a supernatural force from Misha’s nightmares makes itself known in the real world.
My Review
Shantallow is billed as a young adult horror novel. After reading the synopsis, I was sold. YA and horror are two of my favorite genres. I was really looking forward to this book. Unfortunately, I struggled with it a bit, and I didn't like it as much as I had hoped I would.
This book takes a while to really get going. The first 40% or so is more like a teenage drama playing out, rather than the straight-up horror I expected. Once it did get going, though, it was intriguing enough, and I did like the horror aspects of the story, but still felt a little let down by it.
I didn't really like any of the characters. Misha is a bit of a jerk. He does some awful things, and he reminded me a bit of my ex-husband. Tanvi is a bit wishy-washy at times. I wanted her to be...different, I guess. I expected more from her.
The supernatural element was pretty nifty, though. I just wish it had carried through the entire story rather than coming in way later. The first half of the book was a bit bland and made me want to give up multiple times. But the last half kept me interested enough to finish, so that was a bit of a redemption.
I'm rating Shantallow 3 stars. It wasn't really what I expected, and I almost put it in my "did not finish" pile, but the ending was the saving grace.
If you're a fan of YA horror, give Shantallow a go. While it wasn't necessarily my cup of tea, it's not a bad read, and other readers may enjoy it more.
Author Bio:Cara Martin is the author of several acclaimed novels for young people published under the name C. K. Kelly Martin. Her most recent novel, Stricken, was released in 2017. A graduate of the Film Studies program at York University, Cara has lived in the Greater Toronto Area and Dublin, Ireland. Within the space of 3500 miles she’s worked a collection of quirky jobs at multiple pubs and video stores, an electricity company, a division of the Irish post office, a London toyshop, and an advertising analytics company. She’s also been an image editor for a dot-com startup that didn’t survive the 90s, and a credit note clerk for Canada's largest national distributor of General Merchandise. Cara currently resides in Ottawa, Ontario with her husband and is still afraid of the Child Catcher from the film adaptation of CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG.
4 Comments
Sounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being on the tour! :)
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! :)
DeleteFascinating cover
ReplyDeletePlease try not to spam posts with the same comments over and over again. Authors like seeing thoughtful comments about their books, not the same old, "I like the cover" or "sounds good" comments. While that is nice, putting some real thought and effort in is appreciated. Thank you.