Review: Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus

Shadow Hills 
By: Anastasia Hopcus

Release Date: July 13, 2010
Publisher: Egmont USA
Hardcover, 400 pages

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

His love captivated her... his secrets might kill her.


Since her sister’s mysterious death, Persephone “Phe” Archer has been plagued by a series of disturbing dreams. Determined to find out what happened to her sister, Phe enrolls at Devenish Prep in Shadow Hills, Massachusetts—the subject of her sister’s final diary entry.

After stepping on campus, Phe immediately realizes that there’s something different about this place—an unexplained epidemic that decimated the town in the 1700s, an ancient and creepy cemetery, and gorgeous boy Zach—and somehow she’s connected to it all.


But the more questions she asks and the deeper she digs, the more entangled Phe becomes in the haunting past of Shadow Hills. Finding what links her to this town…might cost her her life.


My Review:

Right from the start I was hooked by the rich descriptions of an intimidating private school and a very creepy but also intriguing cemetery. Hopcus' writing is uniquely descriptive and flows beautifully giving me something to aspire to as a writer.

In a literary world full of werewolves and vampires Hopcus has created something original and just as entertaining. I love the werewolf and vampire stories just as much as the next girl but it's nice to take a break from them every now and then. With a mix of mythology, science and a touch magic Shadow Hills is engaging and unpredictable, and the mystery surrounding the town of Shadow Hills and it's residents is compelling enough to keep you reading long into the night.

I found most of the characters to be well thought out and developed. My favorites being Adriana and  Persephone. Adriana greatly reminded me of the "mean girls" I made a point of staying away from in high school so I was kind of surprised and shocked that I enjoyed her character so much. Sure, she's self-centered and looks out for herself before all others but as long as things are good for her, she'll take the time to watch your back. I like that she's an honest character who is true to herself and doesn't feel the need to apologize for it. As long as people realized that this is how she is and accepts it then for the most part she can accept you. (Of course that is only if you're not direct competition for her.)

I decided I liked Phe the moment she stood up for herself against Corinne. I love strong, female characters who refuse to let people intimidate or walk all over them. Phe seemed to be well grounded with a tendency to act before she's fully thought things through but I guess that's a common trait among all teenagers. I was surprised and pleasantly so by Phe's love of music and how it is consistently present throughout the book. Being passionate about music myself I really enjoyed all the mentions of different bands and songs.

The intensity of the relationship between Zach and Phe left me slightly confused. While I thought their relationship was sweet and endearing I was kind of confused by how quickly they seemed to fall for each other. I wasn't sure if there was some kind of supernatural  force that caused their intense attraction for one another or if it was just teenage hormones working on overdrive and I'm still not sure.

Overall I really loved this book. I intended to take my time with reading this one, but I couldn't bring myself to put the book down until it was finish and even then I found myself wanting more.

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