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Rising Shadow

di Jacquelyn Wheeler

Serie: The Soterians (1)

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2811833,408 (3.57)1
Ashlyn Woods has just transferred to one of the most beautiful campuses on the west coast, where she can't wait to start her life over as a normal college student. But her plans take an unexpected turn when she discovers that she is a Soterian: a person who develops special powers when the balance of good and evil shifts too far in evil's favor. Soon she and the other Soterians are studying martial arts and learning to use their powers to prevent California from being plunged into chaos. But they quickly discover that they're up against a much more dangerous enemy than they anticipated. And when Ashlyn meets Kai, a devastatingly gorgeous guitar player, she realizes she must sacrifice more than she ever imagined.… (altro)
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I went into Rising Shadow completely blind, all I knew about the story was that there was a race called Soterians that are created when evil begins to outweigh good in the world. Interesting premise! After reading so many books in a row about paranormals, and people with special powers, I was looking for a different take on the subject. My hope was that the Soterians would sate my need for some superhero goodness with a bit of a twist.

The story starts with a flash forward look at the ending, and therefore begins with a big bang! As I opened the first page, I was immersed. Jacquelyn definitely picked the perfect opening to the book. It pulls you in and makes you want to keep reading. Sadly, this pace doesn't continue throughout the book. As I was getting to know the characters and their friends, the story was getting slower and slower paced. There were pages I found my eyes glued to every word, and then other pages where it seemed as though nothing was going on.

One thing that I did love about this book was the cast of characters and their diversity. From the hot headed Michael, to the sweet and patient Rebecca, I found myself adoring the way they interacted with one another. It was refreshing to see romance present in the book without it overpowering the overall story line. However my one gripe was that Ashlyn was often extremely selfish when it came to the team. I kept trying to remind myself that it made her more human and realistic, but honestly it was a bit frustrating to read.

Overall I enjoyed Rising Shadow enough to finish it and I did love the ending! If the pacing had been a bit better, I truthfully would have loved the story even more. Jacquelyn Wheeler has created a new world, complete with the superhero twist that I was looking for! I'm looking forward to diving into her new book, Merger and finding out what happens to Ashlyn and her crew. ( )
  roses7184 | Feb 5, 2019 |
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.

Quick & Dirty: Great idea but I felt a big disconnect with the story and I had a hard time getting through it.

Opening Sentence: Suddenly, the road ahead of us was a mosaic of red brake lights, and traffic slowed to a stop.

The Review:

Ashlyn Woods has just gotten into her dream college. In high school she partied a little too much and didn’t get the grades she needed to get into a good college. So she went to community college for two years and worked a crappy job to save up to go to UCSB. She will start her junior year there and can’t wait to leave her old life behind. She had a crappy boyfriend she broke up with and friends that weren’t very supportive. Upon arriving to her new life Ashlyn makes some new friends and even meets a great new guy. Then things start to get weird.

The balance between good and evil has shifted and someone needs to help restore it. Turns out Ashlyn is a Soterian: a person that develops supernatural powers to help restore balance. Ashlyn has always dreamed about flying and now she actually can, and that’s not her only power. With a team of other Soterian’s by her side she fights to stop an evil villain that could destroy the world as we know it. But once everything goes back to normal so will Ashlyn. She doesn’t know if she will be able to deal with living her dreams and then have them taken away. Is it worth loving and losing then to have never loved at all?

Honestly, I had a really hard time with the characters in this book. Ashlyn is the protagonist and I felt that she was a really weak character. She was really wishy-washy when it came to making decisions which really bugged me. One moment she would be this strong confident women and the next moment she would be totally insecure. She has worked so hard to get where she’s at and then all the sudden she makes a whole bunch of life changing decisions at the drop of a hat. It was like she was bi-polar and that really didn’t work for me.

Kai is the love interest in the story and I don’t really get why Ashlyn was so smitten with him. I get that he is good looking and wants to be a rockstar, but once again Ashlyn is suppose to be this put together girl and dating someone like him didn’t really fit. He dropped out of college to pursue a music career and now he has decided to move across the country because he feels like it. Sure, he was sweet and trusting but really he had nothing else going for him. Their love was total instalove and there was no development at all. They meet one time and the next time they see each other they are professing their undying love for each other. So suffice to say, I wasn’t a huge fan of them being together.

This book was a pretty bad read for me. I have my little list of pet peeves that I can’t stand in books and this hit pretty much all of them. It seemed that everything conveniently worked out, and it was very predictable. Also, I felt that the writing was too descriptive. There was really nothing left for the reader to imagine on their own. I obviously didn’t connect with the characters very well. I felt that for their age all of the characters should have been more mature and put together and they just weren’t. So that all being said, I know that there are people who would not agree with me. This book actually has decent reviews on Goodreads so if you are intrigued by the synopsis, by all means give it a try and hopefully you have a better experience than I did.

Notable Scene:

I was falling in love with Kai, the most amazing person I’d ever met, and he was falling for me, too.

Pull, pull, pull, breathe.

I had inexplicably levitated, and Rebecca was reading people’s feelings, meaning that we were either crazy or freaks of nature.

Pull, pull, pull, breathe.

Speaking of freaks, I had professor Gordon’s class again tomorrow. I had to decide whether I was going to drop the class or just tough it out.

Pull, pull, pull, breathe.

Gordon kept pressing me to come to his office hours…

And then suddenly, I knew what I had to do. The connection was so simple, so clear now. I jumped out of the pool and ran to the locker rooms, where I showered and dressed as quickly as I could. I practically sprinted to the religious studies building. I wasn’t sure whether he would be there that early, but it was worth a shot.

I found his office and knocked on the door. As soon as my knuckles touched the wood, the door opened, and Professor Gordon was standing there with a slight smile on his face.

“Come in, Ashlyn. We’ve been expecting you.”

FTC Advisory: Jacquelyn Wheeler provided me with a copy of Rising Shadow. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )
  DarkFaerieTales | Aug 17, 2013 |
I had previously heard about this book and when an ARC tour of it was announced I didn't hesitate to join. The idea of the Soterians is very unique and was a joy to learn about. It started out decent but felt like the author was trying too hard to push into our heads the idea that something was up with Ashlyn, the main character. But at about 60 pages in, that feeling fades away and it really starts picking up. New characters are introduced throughout the book and just when I thought I had everything figured out there was a twist in place.

As far as the action and romance went, Wheeler couldn't go wrong. The characters of Ashyln and Kai were meant to be together.

This novel involves a lot of politics. If you aren't a politcal person and think that just because this books talks a lot about politics that it won't be for you, then you are wrong. The Soterians can be helpful in any situation(I am sure of it!!), it just so happens in this book, its a politcal backdrop(I hear the next one is financial).

It's exciting to see YA go into a different direction. I've never read anything quite like this, and I think that's one of the reasons why I enjoyed it so much. It's new and refreshing.

I look forward to the sequel, titled Merger, which was released March 18th. ( )
  ssalach21 | Nov 19, 2010 |
Prior to receiving this book, I hadn’t read any reviews, opinions or buzz on it, which is extremely unusual considering it’s usually what strikes my interest for books in the first place. Since the buzz was low and I had no preconceived notions to go by, I was a bit worried that I might end up hating it, but fortunately, my worries were for nothing.

Rising Shadow, though not one of the most spectacular books I’ve ever read, pleasantly surprised me by how much it pulled me in. I was expecting the story to include paranormal villains and some kind of mystical “self-discovery” mission, but this story had neither. In fact, the main villains of the story are very real and very believable. I enjoyed the idea that instead of dark powers and mythical creatures, the Soterians fought against bona fide evils- politicians, robbers, etc.

Only one thing bothered me enough to mention- the fast relationship between Ashlyn and Kai. While I appreciated that even the main characters acknowledged that their feelings escalated entirely too quickly, I didn’t like how fast the word ‘love’ had been introduced into their relationship. I would’ve much preferred to see them progress more, but on the other hand, it’s easy to see why Jacquelyn wrote them like that.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. Complete with a cast of butt-kicking characters, awesome powers and realistic missions that balanced out the real evils of the world- Rising Shadow is definitely worth checking out! ( )
  katiedoll | Sep 7, 2010 |
I went into Rising Shadow completely blind, all I knew about the story was that there was a race called Soterians that are created when evil begins to outweigh good in the world. Interesting premise! After reading so many books in a row about paranormals, and people with special powers, I was looking for a different take on the subject. My hope was that the Soterians would sate my need for some superhero goodness with a bit of a twist.

The story starts with a flash forward look at the ending, and therefore begins with a big bang! As I opened the first page, I was immersed. Jacquelyn definitely picked the perfect opening to the book. It pulls you in and makes you want to keep reading. Sadly, this pace doesn't continue throughout the book. As I was getting to know the characters and their friends, the story was getting slower and slower paced. There were pages I found my eyes glued to every word, and then other pages where it seemed as though nothing was going on.

One thing that I did love about this book was the cast of characters and their diversity. From the hot headed Michael, to the sweet and patient Rebecca, I found myself adoring the way they interacted with one another. It was refreshing to see romance present in the book without it overpowering the overall story line. However my one gripe was that Ashlyn was often extremely selfish when it came to the team. I kept trying to remind myself that it made her more human and realistic, but honestly it was a bit frustrating to read.

Overall I enjoyed Rising Shadow enough to finish it and I did love the ending! If the pacing had been a bit better, I truthfully would have loved the story even more. Jacquelyn Wheeler has created a new world, complete with the superhero twist that I was looking for! I'm looking forward to diving into her new book, Merger and finding out what happens to Ashlyn and her crew. ( )
  roses7184 | Aug 25, 2010 |
Recently, I was lucky enough to be part of a book tour for Rising Shadow, by Jacquelyn Wheeler (courtesy of International Book Tours). The blurb on the jacket of the book peaked my curiosity and I was interested in the philosophy behind “Soterians” described as people who develop powers when the balance of good and evil shifts too far in evil’s favour. I liked the idea that neither side could triumph, just like yin and yang there must always be a balance.

The main protagonist is Ashlyn Woods, a young college student who just transferred to a campus on the west coast. I have to say, it was nice to read about an older person (a lot of YA books are featuring 13-16 year olds so it made a change to read about a 20 year old going to college. Ashlyn quickly realises that she is different and after a strange incident, she discovers that she has special powers. She then hooks up with three other students who develop different abilities and together they form a unit. Later on in the book, we are introduced to another unit and this definitely made it more interesting as the two units worked together to maintain the balance between good and evil. I liked the suggestion that these units exist everywhere and so it might have made it even more interesting if we could have seen units in other countries or included some kind of power shift that was international instead of just happening in California.

This book was definitely a plot driven novel rather than a character driven novel. It centred around politicians who wanted to see their evil plans put in motion once elected. I did like the twist at the end though when the main culprit was revealed. One thing that did frustrate me however, was the introduction of the mythical creature “Deimos” towards the end of the book. I’m guessing this was a reference to the devil and how he should be feared but although his name was mentioned and alluded to several times towards the end of the book, nothing ever came of it. At first I was thinking “what was the point of adding him in the first place?!” On reflection, perhaps it was a ploy by the author to introduce him now, as he would feature heavily in the sequel.

Although this book was somewhat refreshing (no vampires/zombies/ wolves/ ghosts/angels in sight) it did feel a little lengthy to me. I’m not sure if this was because I was having a rough time at work and had to meet a deadline to send it on to the next reader or not, but it was a thick book. And sadly not what I call a “Just another chapter” kind of book. You know the kind, when you race home from work to read it, when you can’t stop reading and suddenly it’s the early hours of the morning. Don’t get me wrong, it was entertaining but I’m not sure if I really want to read the sequel when there are so many great books on my TBR pile at the moment. Personally, I think this story would work better visually as its very action based and I’d love to see it as a TV series. Just like the Vampire Diaries books didn’t work for me, I love the TV series with a passion.

This is a very mixed review and so I would always encourage people to read the book for themselves and make up their own minds.If you visit the Soterians website, you can actually download a PDF version of the book for free. The sequel “merger” is out now and I believe there is a goodreads contest to win a copy.
 

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One evening by the campfire, an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.
“The battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, jealousy, regret, arrogance, self-pity, fear, resentment, inferiority, lies, and ego.
“The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, benevolence, truth, and compassion.”
“Which wolf wins?” his grandson asked.
“The one you feed,” the grandfather replied.
~ Old Cherokee Tale
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Chapter 1: Starting Over
New Year’s Eve
Approach to the Golden Gate Bridge
Marin County, California
Suddenly, the road ahead of us was a mosaic of red brake lights, and traffic slowed to a stop. “What is this?” Rebecca shrieked as she hit the brakes.
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Ashlyn Woods has just transferred to one of the most beautiful campuses on the west coast, where she can't wait to start her life over as a normal college student. But her plans take an unexpected turn when she discovers that she is a Soterian: a person who develops special powers when the balance of good and evil shifts too far in evil's favor. Soon she and the other Soterians are studying martial arts and learning to use their powers to prevent California from being plunged into chaos. But they quickly discover that they're up against a much more dangerous enemy than they anticipated. And when Ashlyn meets Kai, a devastatingly gorgeous guitar player, she realizes she must sacrifice more than she ever imagined.

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