Title: Nightfall GardensSeries: Nightfall Gardens
Author: Allen Houston
Genre: YA Paranormal
Published: May 10th, 2013
Page Count: 250 pages
Format: eBook
Source: From author in exchange of my honest opinion.
Summary:
Vain Lily Blackwood and her shy brother Silas wonder if their family will ever settle in one place long enough to lead a normal life. When a mysterious stranger arrives claiming to be their uncle, they discover their parents have been hiding a secret that turns their world upside down.The two are kidnapped to Nightfall Gardens, the family’s ancestral home, a place shrouded in ancient mystery, where they meet their dying grandmother and learn of an age-old curse placed on Blackwood females.
Lily must take over as protector of the house and three haunted gardens that hold mythical beasts, fairy-tale nightmares and far worse. If she doesn’t, the evil trapped there will be unleashed and bring on a new dark age.
While she deals with malevolent ghosts inside the house, Silas is put to work in the gardens, where one wrong step means death.
Along the way, they search to unlock the secrets of the house and to stop the creatures in the gardens before time runs out and the world is destroyed.
*The Reader’s Review*
My rating: 4/5 stars
Oh, this book is GOOD. It took me a long time to finish it, but it wasn’t it’s fault at all (I’m turning into such a slow reader, boo). I remember back when I started Nightfall Gardens that I felt the book tingle, a term another fellow blogger came up with to describe that feeling when you KNOW a book is going to be a good read. Like a love at first pages kind of thing.
Nightfall Gardens was a really creative book. I loved the idea behind a place that kept inside its boundaries all the evils imaginable. Nightfall Gardens is like the gates to hell, and the house inside is ruled by generations of Blackwood females, cursed to protect the world from these dark beings. The house is surrounded by three gardens–white, shadow and labyrinth — each dangerous in their own way with different nightmares to keep you up at night, yet even the house itself is haunted and home to many evils, so there’s really no safe place.
This book is told from Lily Blackwood’s and her brother, Silas, points of view. I don’t know which POV I liked best because they both have intriguing parts in the story and I liked them equally. What I can say is that Lily Blackwood does have more character growth since she goes from being a vain selfish girl to a girl determined to break Nightfall Gardens’ curse. While Lily is inside the house, getting ready to take over once her grandma passes away, Silas is outside, tending to the gardens and learning about the evils who want to rip her sister to shreds.
So yeah, Nightfall Gardens sure is a dark and creepy read. It’s destined for the younger side of YA readers, but I think many will enjoy this book. It doesn’t have any romance yet, but it lightly hints on it so I’m pretty sure we’ll get a bit in the second installment. I’m actually looking forward to a bit of romance an,d between you and me, I’m crossing my fingers for my hunch about something between a certain evil and Lily to come true. I guess I better grab the sequel soon and find out!
