cakereads's review against another edition
1.0
The premise is great: A ghost sets Delia, who can see ghosts, on a journey to find a serial killer together with a good-looking policeman, set in 19th century San Francisco. I was so excited - ghosts!! hot policeman!! San Francisco!!
But the book fell so flat for me - especially after seeing that it was blurbed by [a:Rae Carson|4074051|Rae Carson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1284052029p2/4074051.jpg] whose book [b:The Girl of Fire and Thorns|10429092|The Girl of Fire and Thorns (Fire and Thorns, #1)|Rae Carson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1323448113s/10429092.jpg|13282366] I absolutely adored.
My main issue with Delia's Shadow is that the plot is far far too convenient, and the characters don't actually do anything. It's like things happen and the characters are just along for the ride. They don't actually do anything to drive the plot along. For example,
Characters are flat, the romance is bland, the plot is unexciting. Pity because Moyer writes beautifully. Look at this for example:
There were some scenes that did chill my blood - - and Moyer does a great job of setting the scene and putting the reader in 19th century San Fran. But meh.
/tldr This book reads like a very boring Criminal Minds episode that went on for far too long with some ghosts and blood thrown in for good measure.
But the book fell so flat for me - especially after seeing that it was blurbed by [a:Rae Carson|4074051|Rae Carson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1284052029p2/4074051.jpg] whose book [b:The Girl of Fire and Thorns|10429092|The Girl of Fire and Thorns (Fire and Thorns, #1)|Rae Carson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1323448113s/10429092.jpg|13282366] I absolutely adored.
My main issue with Delia's Shadow is that the plot is far far too convenient, and the characters don't actually do anything. It's like things happen and the characters are just along for the ride. They don't actually do anything to drive the plot along. For example,
Spoiler
why doesn't Delia try to find out more about the ghost? And Gabe and Jack are terrible cops - they hardly do anything to track down the killer! What about seeing if there's any connections between the victims?Characters are flat, the romance is bland, the plot is unexciting. Pity because Moyer writes beautifully. Look at this for example:
A murder investigation was a macabre jigsaw puzzle, splashed with bloog and the remnants of someone's life.
There were some scenes that did chill my blood -
Spoiler
the scene at the fair for example, and the descriptions of the corpses and Aileen's torture/tldr This book reads like a very boring Criminal Minds episode that went on for far too long with some ghosts and blood thrown in for good measure.
rachel_abby_reads's review against another edition
4.0
It was well written, PG rated, and enjoyable. My only caveat is that the crime would not (and possibly could not) have been solved without supernatural intervention.
impalalove's review
4.0
Delia's Shadow had an interesting murder-mystery, enriched with the ghost of one of its victims, being one of the titular characters, Shadow. I did have impressions of who might have committed the crime, but I never had confirmation -- therefore the plot kept you guessing with its several plot twists. It's the characters that suffered a bit in here -- they're particularly intriguing, but I was more interested in the other characters than the main lead, Delia.
But then, she is only an instrument to the real character of the story -- Shadow herself.
But then, she is only an instrument to the real character of the story -- Shadow herself.
13books2go's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
colls's review against another edition
3.0
This was a light read about hauntings, ghosts and serial killers -- light in that it was an easy read, not that the subject matter was all rainbows and sunshine.
Delia and Gabe make a rather dull couple (they're so polite! blech.) and the romance side of things is almost non-existent. The book focuses more on tracking the killer and having dinner with family and friends.
It's engaging enough that I'll probably check out the next in the series, but the plot and characters don't have a lot of depth.
Delia and Gabe make a rather dull couple (they're so polite! blech.) and the romance side of things is almost non-existent. The book focuses more on tracking the killer and having dinner with family and friends.
It's engaging enough that I'll probably check out the next in the series, but the plot and characters don't have a lot of depth.
youaremerlin's review against another edition
1.0
I have so many complaints about this book I don't even know where to start. Instead of boring you and wasting my time with an endless list I'll cover its issues with one blanket description: badly written. I've read book twice as long in half the time. That's how difficult this book was to get through. I almost didn't finish it and I wish I hadn't started it. Please don't put yourself through the same pain I went through. I've read book I got from Kindle for free that were better written then this.
acrabtree's review against another edition
5.0
I read this all in one day. I'm usually into more 'fantasy' than 'paranormal,' but this was worth the excursion into a different genre.
resareads's review against another edition
3.0
“Ever since I was a small child I’d caught glimpses of people my parents couldn’t see, or faces peering at me from corners in an otherwise empty room.”
This is our first glimpse into the mind of our heroine, Delia, as the book begins. From the start when ghosts begin following the clairvoyant, but naïve girl Moyer does not slow down the rise of events that lead to the book’s ending. While the story’s end comes predictably to a close the journey Moyer takes the reader on to get there is paced near perfectly and the two narrators add depth to the plot without muddling the mystery. Through narrators Delia and Gabe Moyer has not only created a mystery that will keep you turning pages, but characters that feel real and emotional. Unfortunately, Moyer’s strong character development does not carry over to the villain which leaves this otherwise impeccably crafted mystery falling flat and feeling hollow.
Delia is traveling back to her home town of San Francisco after a childhood sense of seeing ghosts has come back to her, stronger than ever. She feels the time to return home and deal with her six sense is at hand and with the wedding of her best friend and death of her foster-mother on the horizon, the timing seems right. What Delia doesn’t know is that friend Sadie’s fiancé and his partner Gabe are in the middle of a murder investigation. And Delia’s ghost is a key witness. As the serial killer that’s been hunting for decades begins to escalate his threats Delia and Gabe join forces physical and paranormal to stop the killer before it’s too late.
The characters in this novel are all well rounded and that helps the plot to move along, I genuinely felt for Gabe and Delia as well as Sadie and her fiancé. They alone make this a charming mystery, and the inevitable love side-story that develops between Gabe and Delia doesn’t feel as forced as it might otherwise. Everything leading up to the mystery was done well and the plot arc left the author with plenty of rooms to throw a few curves and develop the killer. Unfortunately, Moyer doesn’t take advantage. More time is spent setting the scene of San Francisco than developing the motives of a murderer. Moyer set up plenty of possibilities from bringing in myths of Egyptian gods, to the mystery of what happened in the killer’s childhood, to the possibility of ghostly possession. But all these threads are left untied to the rest of the plot when the case finds its end. Making the solving of this mystery a disappointment.
It does feel like Moyer is setting this book up to be part of a series, and maybe a later installment when answer some of these questions. While this mystery ended on an empty note the writing and the characters would bring me back to Moyer should Gabe and Delia return. While not the best mystery out there, I was pleased with the19th century San Francisco setting and the story moves along quickly enough it doesn’t get boring. A good read for the fall, especially in the dark.
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher.
This is our first glimpse into the mind of our heroine, Delia, as the book begins. From the start when ghosts begin following the clairvoyant, but naïve girl Moyer does not slow down the rise of events that lead to the book’s ending. While the story’s end comes predictably to a close the journey Moyer takes the reader on to get there is paced near perfectly and the two narrators add depth to the plot without muddling the mystery. Through narrators Delia and Gabe Moyer has not only created a mystery that will keep you turning pages, but characters that feel real and emotional. Unfortunately, Moyer’s strong character development does not carry over to the villain which leaves this otherwise impeccably crafted mystery falling flat and feeling hollow.
Delia is traveling back to her home town of San Francisco after a childhood sense of seeing ghosts has come back to her, stronger than ever. She feels the time to return home and deal with her six sense is at hand and with the wedding of her best friend and death of her foster-mother on the horizon, the timing seems right. What Delia doesn’t know is that friend Sadie’s fiancé and his partner Gabe are in the middle of a murder investigation. And Delia’s ghost is a key witness. As the serial killer that’s been hunting for decades begins to escalate his threats Delia and Gabe join forces physical and paranormal to stop the killer before it’s too late.
The characters in this novel are all well rounded and that helps the plot to move along, I genuinely felt for Gabe and Delia as well as Sadie and her fiancé. They alone make this a charming mystery, and the inevitable love side-story that develops between Gabe and Delia doesn’t feel as forced as it might otherwise. Everything leading up to the mystery was done well and the plot arc left the author with plenty of rooms to throw a few curves and develop the killer. Unfortunately, Moyer doesn’t take advantage. More time is spent setting the scene of San Francisco than developing the motives of a murderer. Moyer set up plenty of possibilities from bringing in myths of Egyptian gods, to the mystery of what happened in the killer’s childhood, to the possibility of ghostly possession. But all these threads are left untied to the rest of the plot when the case finds its end. Making the solving of this mystery a disappointment.
It does feel like Moyer is setting this book up to be part of a series, and maybe a later installment when answer some of these questions. While this mystery ended on an empty note the writing and the characters would bring me back to Moyer should Gabe and Delia return. While not the best mystery out there, I was pleased with the19th century San Francisco setting and the story moves along quickly enough it doesn’t get boring. A good read for the fall, especially in the dark.
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher.
wordnerdy's review against another edition
3.0
http://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2013/08/2013-book-213.html