Sanctum (Guards of the Shadowlands, #1)

by Sarah Fine

“My plan: Get into the city. Get Nadia. Find a way out. Simple.”

A week ago, seventeen-year-old Lela Santos’s best friend, Nadia, killed herself. Today, thanks to a farewell ritual gone awry, Lela is standing in paradise, looking upon a vast gated city in the distance—hell. No one willingly walks through the Suicide Gates, into a place smothered in darkness and infested with depraved creatures. But Lela isn’t just anyone—she’s determined to save her best friend’s soul, even if it means sacrificing her eternal afterlife.

As Lela struggles to find Nadia, she’s captured by the Guards, enormous, not-quite-human creatures that patrol the dark city’s endless streets. Their all-too human leader, Malachi, is unlike them in every way except one: his deadly efficiency. When he meets Lela, Malachi forms his own plan: get her out of the city, even if it means she must leave Nadia behind. Malachi knows something Lela doesn’t—the dark city isn’t the worst place Lela could end up, and he will stop at nothing to keep her from that fate.

• ISBN10: 1477810331
• ISBN13: 9781477810330
• Publish Date: 12 August 2014 (first published 1 October 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Amazon Publishing
• Imprint: Skyscape
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[kimbacaffeinate]

Five Caffeinated reasons to grab your earbuds and listen to Sanctum:

• Sarah Fine creates vivid imaginative worlds that come to life. In Sanctum, she leads us by the hand along with protagonist Lela Santos’s into the dark, grim world of Suicide City. Beyond the gates, you will meet those condemned to wander the city lost in their own despair, greed and hopelessness. Guards protect the city. These weapon-wielding guards are ruthless and show no remorse. They guard the city walls and contain those who try to create havoc or escape. Their fearless Captain is a human named Malachi and he leads the guards in hopes of earning his freedom.


• Lela our protagonist is strong, fearless and does not belong within the city walls. She snuck through the gates to save her best friend, Nadia. Nadia committed suicide and has haunted Lela’s dreams. Lela is not your typical young adult heroine. She will not hesitate to kick your ass and although untrained she is surprisingly good. She occasionally smokes, and will curse like a sailor but she is also loyal and tender. I found myself connecting with her and became caught up in her quest. Fine shares Lela’s past with us, and it is sad and dark making the light in her shine all the brighter.


• Malachi’s story ripped out my heart and I fell hard for him. Grab the tissues because you will need them. He is the leader of the guard but near the end of knowing and soon will be released beyond the gates. His interaction with Lela melted my heart. He is brave, fearless, and has compassion that knows no bounds.


• Amy McFadden was the perfect narrator for this story. She beautifully captured all that is Lela and Malachi. Her tone is pleasing and perfectly paced allowing me to slip  into the world. She gave each character a unique voice and I loved how it enhanced my experience.


• Sanctum is a dark story set in a hellish world where hope seems impossible and love improbable. Yet, Sarah Fine manages to write a beautiful romance between two characters whose lives have been shrouded in darkness and despair. It was beautiful, compelling and only left me wanting more. The story was perfectly paced with tension, danger and twists. Secondary characters like the judge only added to the story creating an atmosphere that kept me fully engaged.

This review was originally posted on Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[Angie]

I was pretty excited to finally get to Sanctum, but sadly, I found it mostly boring and at times annoying. Lela has bounced from foster home to foster home, but now she's been settled for a year. Her latest foster mother is great, she has an awesome best friend, and she's got a college scholarship! But then Nadia commits suicide and Lela can't let her go, especially after she starts having visions of where her friend wound up. Nadia feels like it's up to her to save Nadia from that dark place, even if it means giving up her own life.

Most of why I was excited about Sanctum was because it was about friendship! I was eager to see this tight bond between Lela and Nadia, and witness what Lela would go through to save her. Unfortunately, I never became invested in this friendship. They've only known each other for a year, but Lela seems almost obsessed with Nadia. It didn't feel like a believable friendship, like it was just quickly developed so that we could get to the meat of the story. I also didn't believe Lela getting a tattoo of Nadia's face on her arm. Face tattoos are creepy in the first place, and this one just felt like a convenient way for Lela to have a picture of Nadia to show around while she looks for.

As for the plot, Sanctum is of course Lela ending up at the Suicide Gates, entering the city, and looking for Nadia. It's a rescue mission, which could have been great, if I cared about Lela and Nadia. And if Lela didn't act like she knew the best way to go about saving her friend. I cannot stand when a character goes to a new place and acts like they know better than the people who have been there awhile. Whenever someone tells Lela what the best course of action is, she disagrees, and of course everything goes wrong. Then she's convinced that she's doing the right thing and they tell her NO, that's now how it works, and she just doesn't listen. There probably wouldn't have been any conflict if Lela would just shut up and listen, but it made it very hard to me to feel bad for her.

Then there's the matter of this romance. Obviously Lela falls in love with the first hot guy she sees, Malachi. He's leader of the Guards, and he's suppose to be so scary, but Lela is immediately drawn to him, as he is to her. Then Lela, who has had terrible things happen to her in foster care and cannot stand to be touched, suddenly wants his hands all over her. I don't think so. This girl wouldn't even hug her BFF who she was willing to die for, but it's totally okay for this sexy stranger to be all over her? It was insta-love wrapped up in the healing power of love.

Sanctum has a really great premise, but a really annoying execution. Lela just jumps into this rescue mission without any thought. She doesn't think anything is weird about her having visions, and doesn't even consider if her visions are even real. She just goes for it and ignores those who know better than her. She also doesn't consider what getting Nadia out of there means. She could very well end up somewhere worse, or completely disappear. Lela doesn't know anything! It was just frustrating.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

Look I hated this book. Not because it was bad, it wasn't. It was one of the most intricate and imaginative plots I've ever read. Not because I didn't finish it, because I flew through the pages. But - it was just straight up depressing. Kind of like If I Stay by Gayle Forman - great but just makes you feel too sad.

Sarah Fine is an amazing writer. The quality of writing is incredible. But I can't read anymore of this series. I'm easily depressed as it is - I try not to make it worse if I don't have to.

If you're not easily triggered give this a shot. And if you are - then read her other stuff. Start with Reliquary for instance. Just as incredible - but happy.

[Ashley]

BookNook — Young Adult book reviews

Oh my god, you guys!!! I did not expect this book to be so amazing. I bought this book completely on a whim. I never do that. I saw an ad for it on my Kindle screensaver, thought "That's kind of a cool cover," and bought it. Well, Sanctum blew me away.

I think I'm going to burst if I don't mention the romance right away, because it was incredible. I didn't expect a great romance from a paranormal story. Usually when I want a great romance, I look towards contemporaries. But Sanctum has it all: great plot, great world building, and an insanely delicious and jaw-dropping romance. Honestly, the romance does start off a little fast, but I seriously did not care at all. Because Malachi—oh-so-sexy Malachi—is the sweetest, sexiest, most badass of all book boyfriends.

The deep voids of his eyes were surrounded by thick, black lashes and full of confidence and threat. It was as if he'd already assessed my weaknesses and ticked off all the possible ways to kill me, so now he could relax and be friendly.

"I never said I didn't want you to touch me! That is exactly the problem. Every time you put your hands on me, I don't want you to let go.

"You can be selfish. It makes me feel wanted. And I..." He chuckled softly. "I want you to want me."

Malachi is sweet, selfless, tender, but also the hot Captain of the Guard that can kill guys with his bare hands. He's deep and thoughtful, but without being corny or cheesy. So many of the scenes with Malachi—especially towards the end—had me giggling and squealing like a crazy, love-struck girl!

Okay, I'll attempt to pull myself together and talk about Lela. Lela was a fantastic main character, and extremely likeable (most of the time). She's strong, sensitive, damaged, and also kicks some ass. I loved her dedication to Nadia. It was just so... admirable. At times it made me feel bad, because I seriously wondered if I would go through all that for one of my friends. I mean, we'd all like to think we would, but if it comes down to it, would we actually give up eternal happiness to travel through hell (with no guarantee that we could go back)? I really think this makes Lela one of the most selfless characters I've ever read about.

But the thing I loved most about Lela was how she held her own. She wasn't a poor, pathetic, wimpy character that needed rescuing. Lela was strong, stubborn, and determined. Sure, sometimes she was a little foolish, or maybe a little too self-sacrificing, but I still loved how independent she was. She makes some incredibly difficult choices that had me sitting there in awe.

Sanctum is one of those books that will have you highlighting every other line. It is riddled with deep, thought-provoking messages about life, death, loss, and love. So many passages forced me to just stop and think for a minute. I swear, you guys, this shit is deep.

They're so absorbed in their own sadness that they can't see past the darkness.

She once told me that everybody carried their secret savages beneath their skin, and some people just covered them better than others.

I think some people like the disease better [than the cure]. It's more familiar, and they don't want to give it up, even once they know they can be healed of it.

"Mercy is not a right. Mercy is a gift from one to another. It can't be earned."

I kind of expected Sanctum to be good, just because of the high ratings, but I don't think I expected it to be this good. Sanctum was so imaginative, dark, scary, and provocative. It has a deliciously swoony romance that will bring you to your knees, and is riddled with tough decisions and sacrifices. Book 2: bring it on. (Seriously, I want it now, please.)