Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus

Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus
"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."- summary from GoodReads

With the completion of this book, my top reads of 2010 are changing and this one is way up there. Hopcus has a compelling debut with Shadow Hills, which is full of the paranormal, history, science, romance, and mythology. That may sound like too many things in one place, but Hopcus handles it all deftly and makes it all fit together and be understandable.

Phe is a wonderful character and a great heroine to follow in this suspenseful story. She's strong and smart, but also has her flaws. The other characters in the book are filled out fantastically and are fun to read about. Hopcus creates this wonderful, haunting world that makes you sad when you have to turn the final page and leave the town and all its inhabits behind.

I honestly can't say enough good things about it. Back when I read it as part of a 1-ARC tour, my preview said this was sure to be a hit and that Egmont is a publisher to keep an eye on. Featuring two original books published by them in one week should be evidence enough of that. Please go pick up a copy of Shadow Hills; you won't regret it, and will be eagerly anticipating the sequel!

FTC: ARC received as part of Around the World tours. Amazon link is an Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.