Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin

Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin
"The only thing Avery Hood can remember about the night her parents died is that she saw silver—deadly silver, moving inhumanly fast. As much as she wants to remember who killed them, she can't, and there's nothing left to do but try to piece her life back together. Then Avery meets the new boy in school—Ben, mysterious and beautiful, with whom she feels a connection like nothing she's ever experienced. When Ben reveals he's a werewolf, Avery still trusts him—at first. Then she sees that sometimes his eyes flash inhuman silver. And she learns that she's not the only one who can't remember the night her parents died."- summary from Amazon

I quite enjoyed this paranormal(ish) debut. The mystery was really intriguing, but there didn't seem to be enough emphasis on the paranormal aspects of the book. It seemed much more like a thriller than anything else. Which isn't bad at all- like I said, I really enjoyed the book- but it's a bit misleading.

I liked the characters and Devlin does a really great job of showing everything from Avery's perspective- her grief over her parents, adjustment to a new life with a grandmother she barely knew, first love. The more realistic aspects were handled well, which can usually be a problem when it comes to paranormal books. So it was refreshing to see this here. Devlin's prose is very detailed and atmospheric and I really enjoyed that.

The romance was rushed and unexplained. The two characters barely spend any time together yet have this connection that Devlin tries to explain but it just doesn't really come together all that well. It felt unrealistic and if there is a sequel, I'd like to see them spend together and get to know each other.

The climax was really fast-paced and the villain behind it all surprised me. I seriously thought it was one person, and then another, but I never expected the guy it ended up being, but it still made sense. It wasn't completely out of the blue. The ending makes me think there'll be a sequel, but I don't think I've heard any talk of there being one so I'm not sure. This particular adventure is over, but it seems like there could be more trouble brewing.

Overall, it was a very suspenseful book with some redeeming qualities; the paranormal aspect has been done before, but this had a little twist on it, which I liked. It's an above average read, but by no means perfect. I think there really could have been some fleshing out, especially since the book (and I believe it's a hardcover) is only 196 pages long.

FTC: Received ARC at BEA (signed!). Link above is an Amazon link; any profit goes toward funding contests.