The Book of Shade

I can't stop talking/thinking/recommending The Book of Shade by K.C. Finn.  I was fortunate enough to receive a review copy on Sunday evening.  I started the book that night and had finished it by Monday night.  I can't remember the last time I just devoured a story like that.  I normally read pretty fast as it is, but I rarely devote all of my time to a novel these days just because you know, the whole Mom-thing.  But, I abandoned most of my cleaning duties for the day, and during nap times, down-time (I definitely threw in a movie at one point), I read-read-read!  And then, after the kids went to bed, I stayed up to just before midnight and finished the book.

The Book of Shade is an urban fantasy, paranormal NA- basically any of my friends that read and loved The Hunger Games, Divergent, Harry Potter, (insert big deal YA book here)-- I text them instantly telling them to buy this book.  One of my new Cedar Falls book worm friends downloaded an ecopy off of Amazon.com and has already finished (and loved) it.

Lily Coltrane is the protagonist and the novel is written in first person from her perspective.  She is off to her first year at Uni (this book takes place in a small English town called Piketon) and is very concerned about doing well in her classes.  She hits it off right away with her roommate, Jazzy, and all seems to be going well.  Here's the book synopsis:

Lily Coltrane’s to-do list for starting university life is pretty simple:
1. Make friends
2. Meet a cute guy
3. Survive her first year in Modern History
In the little English town of Piketon this seems more than achievable, so much so that Lily even joins The Illustrious Minds Literary Society, an extra-curricular club that promises a truly unique social experience. What Lily doesn’t bank on are the Society’s monthly visits to the mysterious Theatre Imaginique at the edge of town, a dark venue that houses the most obscure cavalcade of carnival performers she has ever laid eyes on.
Stranger still is the emergence of the theatre’s enigmatic proprietor Lemarick Novel, a stupendous showman with a frosty wit who never seems to smile, and who raises a plethora of questions in Lily’s fearful mind. How does he levitate with no sign of wires or mirrors? How do the lightning bolts that shoot from his hands look so real? And why, of all the people in the theatre, do his pale eyes keep locking on hers?
The answers to this and more lie buried in heritage and blood. The Book of Shade is opening, and Lily Coltrane will read it, whether she wants to or not

 I don't want to give anything about this novel away-- but it is good.  I am on my toes waiting for the next installment.  You can read my review on Goodreads here.  I cannot recommend this book to those who love this genre more.  READ IT!  It's the best thing you will do for yourself this cold winter.


And guess what?  The eBook is available on Amazon for .99 cents until January 18th!  (freaking steal!)  There are also paperback copies available on Amazon as well.