Novel Of The Week: Shadow, Shadow by V.B. Marlowe

I got the chance to review Shadow, Shadow by V.B. Marlowe thanks to Xpresso Book Tours, who kindly sent me a copy of this awesome 1st chapter of Shadow Pines trilogy.

Let's go staight to the review and my thoughts on it, shall we?

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Shadow Pines seems like a perfect town's postcard: is calm and quiet, there're not committed great crimes, just every now and then someone disappears, but that happens everywhere in the US, right?

The protagonists are four teenagers, who couldn't be more different from each other: 

• Harley Fox: the stereotype of the trouble maker, her mother has been missing for years and she can't get along with her stepmother. 
• Brock Ethan and Gianna Mancini: the most  popular and admired people in high school. Brock is kind, has good grades and is a good athlet while Gianna is in every single school's club, she loves being the center of attention. 
• And then there's Teaghan Porter, who's very shy, solitary and has been bullied for most of her school life.

On the day of their 16th birthday, they all receive a letter from Mr. Enigma novelty shop, which just opened in town, saying to visit the shop on the day of ther birthday for a special gift.
When the group arrived, they found attending them Ava-Kaya, the wierd and only employee of the shop, who hands them a wood box for each one, saying that's a Shadow Box and they 
can use it for trading someone' soul to the Shadow world: it could be anyone, someone who bullied 
them, someone they hate, really anyone! 

Of course, in a first time the guys didn't belive her, but Teaghan is the weakest of the group (since she's 
always teased by a group of girls) and is the first who uses the box...the only problem is that now the 
others also must use the box and trade someone to the darkness or a loved one will be choose...

What I liked

I loved characters and plot's development, how having the power over people changed them in a good or bad way. 
The idea of handing to a group of teenagers with different families and lives' issues such a huge power is brilliant and I liked a lot how this idea turned out.

What I did not like

Maybe there where too many unsolved and unanswered questions, but since it a trilogy, I'm positive they'll be explained in the next books.

This kind of novel, well written and with plot twists, is the kind of novel that once you start reading it is unputdownable, every word I read made me wanted to read the next one, so I ended up finishing it in just a couple of days. 

My Vote: 8/10