Official Review: Wraith: A Shadow World Novella

[Hendmosaad89]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Wraith: A Shadow World Novella" by Julia Banks.]

---

2 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Incomplete and misplaced are the proper words to describe this book. I will try my best to explain why.

Julia Banks is the author of The Shadow World Series, and Wraith is its first installment. Wraith has been released and published by the Liddell Press on February 2015. The author has provided excerpts from the second installment of this series called Shift. Julia Banks writes paranormal thrillers and romantic suspense books.

Kira is an Alaskan pilot that has lived all her life having dreams that convey only the future. Her dreams aren’t like wishes or goals, nor are they glimpses of previous days. No, her dreams are visions of the future, and she never knows what to do about them. Lately, she has been dreaming about the kidnap of a little girl called Annie. This time she decides to act and try to save this girl's life, even if it would endanger her own life or the life of the man she loves, Hunter Jackson.

This book's original genre is stated in the website Crime, Mystery, Thriller and Horror. However, when I finished the book the word misplaced came to my mind. This book is nowhere near this genre. In my opinion, this book belongs to the genre Fantasy because there are absolutely no elements of the original one. On the other hand, this book does contain the correct elements of a fantasy book. Its global atmosphere is about restless ghosts who steal children away and trap them in something called the void.

I wholeheartedly believe that this book had great potential, but it needed some refinements. There were some things that I admired about this story. The premise was good; it grabbed my full attention right away. The writing style was also good; it was smooth and easy to follow. The way the author merged the character's history with its present was excellent. The plot was relatively new to me. I had no clue where the book was heading, and that raised the book a notch in my scale. I guess I could say that the pace of the story was okay, and even though the author jumped a bit at the end and didn’t say what happened, the story still moved smoothly.

However, what I didn’t like the most about this book was the ending. I thought this book was incomplete because, although the plot was great and it had a small vibe of mystery, the ending felt cut off. The protagonist was literally saying how she thought something was off about Annie's kidnappers, and how she was going to follow them then suddenly, the end! Off to the prologue of Shift, the second book in the series. Moreover, the length of this book bothered me a bit. The story was too short to have room for a prominent theme or proper character building.

I really thought I was going to like this story; it had well written characters with a touch of romance and a new mysterious plot. Usually the best of fantasy books have these elements and more.

I'm not sure I can recommend this book to anyone really, but it may appeal to readers who like short and quick fantasy stories. Finally, I advise the author to stretch the book a bit and maybe come up with a more exciting ending. I am disappointed to say I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars.

******
Wraith: A Shadow World Novella
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | Hassle-Free Sample

Like Hendmosaad89's review? Post a comment saying so!