Review: Reborn (Shadow Falls: After Dark #1) by C.C. Hunter

Thanks to Kimba’s awesome post recently, I thought I’d try to mix things up here. My reviewing format tends to be the same formatted/freestyle set-out which I’m finding repetitive so I’ve made some minor changes to my style for something a little different, let me know what you think – any and all feedback is always welcome.

Reborn

Author: C.C Hunter

Series: Shadow Falls: After Dark #1

Pages: 400

Publisher: St Martins Griffin

Amazon

Release date: 20^th May 2014

Synopsis: (Goodreads): Return to the beloved world of Shadow Falls, a camp that teaches supernatural teens to harness their powers—and where a vampire named Della will discover who she’s meant to be.

For Della Tsang, Shadow Falls isn't just a camp: it's home. As a vampire who's never fit in with her human family, it's the one place she can truly be herself. But when a mysterious new guy arrives at camp, Della’s whole world is thrown into turmoil. Chase is a vampire with secrets, who knows more than he’s telling. But the more time she spends with him, the more she begins to trust this attractive stranger—and feel drawn to him. But romance is the last thing she wants—as she keeps telling Steve, the hunky shapeshifter who won’t stop trying to win her heart. And if Della isn't careful, he just might succeed.　 When a new case puts everyone she cares about in danger, Della’s determined to do everything she can to save them . . . even if it means teaming up with Steve and Chase, who leave her more confused than ever. With their lives on the line, will Della and her friends survive—with their hearts intact? 

Review: 4 out of 5 stars

Reborn is a spin-off from C.C Hunters Shadow Falls series which I absolutely loved and follows the MC of that series best-friend Della Tsang, a reluctant snarky vampire with familial, acceptance and anger issues; she doesn’t allow herself to like or love easily out of fear of being hurt or shunned.

The setting of Reborn is Shadow Falls, a camp for supernaturals learning to hone their abilities, accept what they are be it a werewolf, chameleon, fae, Vampire etc and live a perfectly normal life once they are out in in the normal world living with humans.

The characters are all fabulous, I adored them in the first series and I enjoyed catching up with them again in the sequel. I loved Della’s devoted best friends Miranda & Kylie, Derek, Lucas and Perry make cameos, camp leaders Holiday and Burnett are amazing and treat Della like a family member and we have a love interest in Steve who was wonderfully protective and Chase Tallman who I’m not sure whether I like, distrust or despise; he’s going to take some time to grow on me.

The plot was well structured and follows Della in her search for any possible family members, her parents have no idea she is a vampire; believing she is just a rebellious teen so she yearns to have relations who she can turn to and who understand her vampiric side, Della also has a ghost following her and some mysterious health ailments so it is ongoing drama as she tries to sort through a few issues. It was fast-paced and entertaining with a bit of a twist thrown in to surprise us.

C.C. Hunters writing is engaging and wonderfully detailed, I did feel a few things were repetitive and there were similarities between this series as a spin-off and Shadow Falls but it was to be expected since it is the same world so I wasn’t overly fussed.

What I loved:

• Della’s feisty, kick-butt wanting to beat everyone up attitude, it won’t be for everyone but I sympathised with how she felt and just wanted to hug her.
• The vivid details we are given about the camp and surroundings, you get a clear picture in your mind of the set-out, water falls, cabins etc. which I enjoyed.
• Steve – loved the tidbits we got about him in the previous books, adored his interactions with Della despite her constantly trying to push him away.
• The beautiful friendship Della has with Miranda and Kylie – they are just as good as family.
• The different supernaturals and C.C. Hunters unique twist on each of them.

What I wasn’t a huge fan of: 

• The secrets Della was keeping, she was hesitant to let anyone in.
•  The possibility of a love-triangle between Della, Steve and Chase – I wasn’t a fan of it in the Shadow Falls series with Kylie, Lucas and Derek so I think I’m going to feel the same here, it makes it tough when there are two guys who are perfect for the MC yet one will lose out; the only difference here is I still don’t trust mysterious Chase.
• Della’s cousin Chan – I won’t go into details to avoid spoilers but I was shocked by his character.
• The sorrow I felt with the way Della’s family treated her, especially her father. Who believed she was an unappreciative, uncaring teen.
• The close similarities between this book and the previous in the Shadow Falls series - ghost hauntings, reluctant relationships and friendships. 

Overall, Reborn is an entertaining start to the After Dark series, I’m excited to see what happens in the sequel, Eternal which has an anticipated October 2014 release date.

Memorable quote: “We’re vampires and we’re no more monstrous than any other species. Humans included. Good, bad, evil isn’t species-specific. Don’t you ever question that.”

Thank-you kindly to St. Martin's Griffin via Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review Reborn by C.C. Hunter. 

About the author: C.C. Hunter grew up in Alabama, where she caught lightning bugs, ran barefoot, and regularly rescued potential princes, in the form of Alabama bullfrogs, from her brothers. Today, she's still fascinated with lightning bugs, mostly wears shoes, but has turned her focus to rescuing mammals. She now lives in Texas with her four rescued cats, one dog, and a prince of a husband, who for the record, is so not a frog. When she's not writing, she's reading, spending time with her family, or is shooting things-with a camera, not a gun.

C.C. Hunter is a pseudonym. Her real name is Christie Craig and she also writes humorous romantic suspense romance novels for Grand Central. www.christie-craig.com