Saturday, February 05, 2011

REVIEW: 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.Part murder mystery, part grief narrative, and part heart-stopping, headlong romance, Low Red Moon is a must-read for teen paranormal fans. As breathless as Twilight and as spooky as Shiver, this is a book to be devoured in one sitting—by an acclaimed YA author making her paranormal debut under the pseudonym Ivy Devlin.

I wasn't quite sure what to make of this book before I read it. I'd been reading really mixed reviews of it - some LOVED it and others really couldn't get on it with it at all. When it arrived, I was amazed by how pretty the book is. I love that shiny read cover, and there's little illustrations on the pages in red ink. Every time the word 'moon' is mentioned, it's printed in a red font. I love little details like that. And despite the other reviews, I was still really looking forward to this one as Ivy Devlin is the pseudonym for one of my FAVOURITE EVER authors. And honestly? As soon as I started reading, I couldn't put this book down and loved every minute of it. Yes, it's going to be one of THOSE reviews, all fan-girly and gushy. I'm not even going to apologise for it.

Avery Hood is kind of an outsider. She's lived out in the woods away from town with her quirky parents and doesn't have many friends at school. And she's all right with that, until one evening she finds her parents murdered and she is the only witness. Only the trauma of it all has meant that Avery's brain has shut down and she doesn't remember any of it. Packed off to live with a grandmother who was never close with, Avery tries really hard to remember exactly what happened that last night and who did this awful thing to her family?

As Avery's memories start to resurface, she's further confused by the arrival of new boy, Ben. They're both immediately drawn to each other in this irrestistible and emotional way. But it is not all flowers and romance beween the two, especially as Ben can't remember the details of the night Avery's parents are murdered either. Will Avery get to the bottom of who murdered her parents and why? Will she be able to trust Ben?

Honestly, I loved it so much. I'm not usually a fan of characters in YA books who have this immediate connection with each other. I usually find it worthy of eye-rolls and ridicule, but Ivy Devlin completely made me believe it in Low Red Moon. There's such tension and chemistry between Avery and Ben that *I* was hooked immediately. I was drawn into their relationship so much that I was furiously reading page after page hoping for more page-time between these two. Sometimes I'd re-read my favourite passages. There's just so emotion and feeling, especially on Ben's part that really made my heartbeat race.

But there is more to this story than just the romance. The mystery of the murdered parents left me guessing right to the very end with some fun twists and turns. The mystery seems be part of this expansion of the forest that Avery's father loved so much as well as the forest's importance to the werewolves in this story. Personally, I really loved this new relationship between Avery and her grandmother. I liked seeing them become used to each other again and growing in their relationship after a long estrangement and suffering through such a traumatic bereavement together.

A HUGE thank you to Bloomsbury for sending me this copy for review. Highly recommended from me.





7 comments:

  1. This sounds amazing! I can't wait to read it...
    Thank you for posting this :)

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  2. Zoe - This one IS amazing, you should read it soon! :)

    Luisa - Thank you! :)

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  3. Oh this one has been on my TBR pile for a long, long time now. So glad to hear that you loved it because I'm sure I will too (and frankly, I couldn't be bothered about the mixed reviews - for once I'm going to ignore it and get to reading this one as soon as I can). Can't wait to read it. And I love the cover for it too.

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  4. Tammy - it is a great cover, isn't it? It's beautiful inside as well. Really loved it.

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  5. This one sounds awesome - I'm going to add it onto my wish list right now. Thanks for a fab review :D

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  6. Jesse - Thank you :) I hope you read it soon and love it. It really is wonderful.

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