Thursday, 26 March 2015

Shipwrecked and Dark of the Moon by Siobhan Curham (Young Adult, 10E/10E, short 'n' sweet review)

Book #1

Book #2
 June 2013 & July 2014, Electric Monkey, 352 & 336 pages, Paperback, Review copy

Summary for Shipwrecked from Amazon
I jump at the sound of a whispered voice over my shoulder. But when I turn all I see is sand, and the towering, green wall of the rainforest. I guess it must have been the breeze, but I can’t help shivering. I have the weirdest feeling we’re being watched. Grace Delaney and her fellow dance students are en route to perform on a South Pacific cruise-ship when a freak storm hits and they find themselves stranded on a deserted island. With the tropical heat rising, passions and tensions swell to breaking point. And the island itself is quietly steaming with a terrible secret . . .

Shipwrecked is a heartpounding new series from rising star Siobhan Curham. Combining romance, mystery, secrets, betrayal and even voodoo in a steamy, tropical island setting, these books for teens promise to set the pulse racing.

Summary for Dark of the Moon from Amazon
This time, there’s no fire in the dream. All I see is a hazy yellow glow. Then a beautiful girl’s face slowly appears. She’s smiling at me, but a tear is trickling down her cheek. She opens her mouth to speak, but before she can say a word a snake slithers out from between her lips, its fangs bared.

For Grace, being shipwrecked on a deserted island has brought two good things: new friendships . . . 
and Cruz, her soulmate. But as her romance with Cruz intensifies, so do the strange happenings on the island. A girl haunts Grace’s dreams – but what does she want? And will she ever let Grace leave?

Love, betrayal and voodoo darkness, beneath a seething sun . . 

Nayu's thoughts
Despite the covers minimal sn*ke sightings and not a lot of voodoo (which I don't like at all) these two books are ace! I know Siobhan through emails and tweets, so I couldn't not read these books. The idea of being shipwrecked on an island sounded pretty cool, but it got scary rather fast. Reading in daylight only helped it not be overwhelming, and despite the covers there are minimal sn*ke sightings and not a lot of voodoo, which I can't stand and often has me not finishing a book. I can't even watch the sometimes cute Disney version of The Princess and the Frog!
 
A-hem, back on topic I was glad to be able to read these in a couple of sitting purely because there was always something more to find out and learn. I wanted everyone to get off the island. I wanted to know they were all safe, and out of the clutches of those they encounter, some of whom seem nice but are majorly evil. The reader in me wants to know what happens next (after the stories end), but the writer in me likes and appreciates that the reader can imagine to their heart's content whether the teens have a happily ever after following their nightmare of a shipwreck.

Suggested read
Siobhan's other books include Finding Cherokee Brown (Young Adult, 10E/10E)

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