Review: Fading Into the Shadows by Kelly Hashway

Book Blurb:

When sixteen-year-old Ella Andrews’s best friend, Avery, goes missing, she’ll do anything to get him back—starting with punching the no-brain cop who couldn’t care less about the disappearance.

Ella’s convinced Avery’s been kidnapped, and she tries everything to find him—even following a strange shadow to another world where the constellations are real-life figures in the sky. But three star groups have fallen and are destroying the world.

The fallen constellations are not the only enemy. Melanie, the princess of Stellaris, is forcing Ella, Avery, and an army of other kids kidnapped from their world to fight the rogue constellations, even as the land is draining away their life. The longer they stay, the more they fade into substanceless shadows—a fate worse than death.

Can Ella save Stellaris before there’s nothing left of her and Avery?

My Review:

4 Out Of 5 Stars

Genre: Another-World, Mystery, Romance, Royal-Court, Supernatural, Teen--

Ella knows her best friend Avery would not just run away, regardless of what the police are suggesting. Filled with worry, Ella hears someone in her house so she goes to investigate, thinking it must be Avery. What she finds instead is a person shaped shadow that is beckoning her to follow it into nowhere. Figuring that she has no other option and her curiosity is peaked, Ella follows the shadow into the unknown.

This was a really cute fast read, filled with adventure, danger and of course some pg-level romance. I sat down with it one afternoon and realized I reached the end without realizing that time passed. If you are looking for some fun that is unlike any other story I have read before, than this is a good choice.

The world building was hands down the best part of the story. Constellations come to life; I mean what could be more different than that. Ella finds herself in a kingdom at war, where almost all the adults are gone (dead?) and kids have been taken from her world to fight a war they may not win. The entire story was fast paced with new and different twists on the creatures and the other mysterious characters like the Princess, who I was not a big fan of regardless of everything. Ella (and not to mention the amazingness that was Avery) turns into a kick-ass soldier here to save the day (if she was lucky) and I did enjoy the ride.

This was the first book I have read by this author and I was not disappointed. I do feel like the story may be best intended for pre-teens or young teens because even though the main characters were 16, they felt younger and the content in general felt like it would be for a younger reader. I saw the romance coming from a mile away; it was pretty obvious who would win Ella’s heart. Think of this as a kind of Percy Jackson type story, but with a romance. I look forward to see what else the author has going on.

I received this title in return for my honest review.