Sunday 5 February 2017

Book Review: Summer Shadows

I am very sorry to say that this is the final book review to Joss Stirling's savant series.
For any of you who have read this book series, you will understand how disappointing it is to hear that there will be no more books, but as they say all good things must come to an end.

Summer Shadows (2016) is a fantasy novel set in the savant world centred around Summer Whelan.

Summer is best friends with Misty Devon and Angel Campbell who us readers met in the previous two novels Misty Falls (2014) and Angel Dares (2015).

Summer has always been a very quiet and thoughtful character in the past couple of books, a person who doesn't say a lot, but when she says something, she means it with her heart and it holds a lot of meaning.

When you first start to read this book, you are introduced to an amazing Benedict wedding (I am not going to say whose wedding this is, I'm leaving it as a surprise) that will get you smiling. In this first chapter the plot already starts to build up creating mystery, making you want to know more.

You immediately start to feel sorry for Summer, a 17-year-old savant who has not yet found her own soulfinder unlike her two best friends. While she is deeply happy for her friends that they will both live a happily ever after with their boyfriends who they adore, that streak of jealousy is lingering with her and she can't help but to feel disappointed that she doesn't feel she can live a normal savant life even if she were to find her soulfinder.

You may be wondering, why doesn't Summer feel she can live the normal savant life, but this is because of her home life which she had been keeping a secret from all of her friends.

Summer lives a demanding home life with a mother who is a rare type of savant that the entire community is warned of. She is known as a vampire savant who feeds off of the emotions of other people.
While we haven't specifically heard of this term before, in the first savant book, Finding Sky (2010) Sky was captured by Daniel Kelly. His son Sean is one of these species of vampire savants who was feeding off Sky's emotions when they were heightened due to the fear that she was experiencing. This can have an emotionally draining effect on the person and in serious cases, it can permanently damage the person.

Due to Summer having to care for her mother and needing to take on more responsibility compared to the average teenager, her home life can be pretty stressful. With having to help run her Dad's social and business gatherings, while being bought up by a Nanny who acted like the only true parent in her life, it is clear she has had a tough upbringing.

With the constant demands building up, Summer's only escape that she has been hoping for, is to go to Oxbridge University. A place where she can study literature and no longer has to live with the home demands. However, unsurprisingly her Dad does not want her going to a university too far from their home in London.

The real reason why Summer is needed to help with her mother so much is because of her savant power. She has an extraordinarily strong gift to be able to read people's minds, however when she releases her powers to its full extent, she can take over the person and make them do what she wants. This means, when her Mum starts to cause trouble, she is the person who is able to help the most to control and stop her.

While Summer is experiencing her own problems at home, trouble is also occurring in the Benedict household with Victor, who has run-away to Afghanistan to try and rescue his soulfinder who is in prison, for a crime that she didn't commit.

Since Summer is the only person who can help find Victor through tracing him with her powers (the only savant that currently the Benedict family know of, since Victor is able to hold such Strong shields), Summer's help is very much sought after. However, the only way Summer can convince her father to let her leave for a few weeks in order to find Victor, is to agree that she would apply to a university in London rather than leaving home. So this is exactly what she does,

Summer leaves for Afghanistan with Saul and Will Benedict along with Lucas, Scott and Hal Robinson who are undercover specialists, all of whom are savants except for Hal.

The journey of searching for Victor starts off rocky, with Summer and Hal often annoying each other extremely easily, however due to the need for team work so that the mission could be a success, Summer and Hal had to learn to rely and trust each other. This turned out to be easier than expected with Summer secretly liking Hal, with his good looks and boyish charm.

Hate can easily turn into love, especially in the savant world and sparks start to fly when Summer realises that Hal is not only a savant but also her soulfinder. The question is, with Summer's home life, will she accept Hal into her world and does Hal truly love Summer?

On Summer's journey, a bigger danger occurs with her being kidnapped by a savant gone bad, while another threat to the savant community will leave you clinging to your book, not willing to put it down.

I will admit, there was a main scene in this book, towards the end when I did spill a tear. Joss Stirling managed to up the level of danger and spin plot turns in many directions in this final novel. 

I was sad at the end, having to put the book down, but the ending to this amazing story will leave you happy at the way author Joss Stirling chose to finish the series.

For any bookish lovers who enjoy a story filled with romance, adventure and fantasy, you must give these stories a try and if you have started to read the savant series then you mustn't miss out on this grand finale!