In Another Life (Shadow Falls)

by C C Hunter

[chymerra]

I like reading Young Adult books. I know, how weird is it that a 40 something (hey, not giving my actual age out here!!) woman likes to read about teenagers. But I do. So when the publisher approached me to review In Another Life, I jumped on it.

What attracted me to In Another Life was the cover. It is an eyecatcher. A turquoise blue cover with black writing, it caught my eye. This is a book that I would buy because of the cover.

I felt awful for Chloe in this book. She had to deal with the fallout from a bitter divorce. She also had to deal with her mother’s illness (breast cancer and depression). She had every right to be upset with her father. She also had every right to question Cash when he laid the facts out in front of her. If someone I barely knew came up to me and said: “Guess what, you are the kidnapped daughter of my foster parents.” I would have had the same reaction. I liked her.

I liked Cash but man, did he annoy me at points in the book. Like his obsession with proving that Chloe was Emily. I get why he was doing it. I do. But, during certain parts of the book, I was like “Just drop it, dude“. I did think that his first interactions with Chloe were borderline stalkerish. I also thought that his attitude towards his foster parents sucked. I mean, they wanted to adopt him and he noped out of it. But it did make sense. What he went through as a child scarred him. I didn’t blame him for not attempting to form relationships.

Chloe’s parents disgusted me. Both of them. Her father was so wrapped up in thinking with his “little” head that he almost lost his relationship with his daughter. And her mother. I couldn’t stand her. She was constantly bad mouthing Chloe’s father. Constantly. Every scene that she was in, I could feel the bitterness rolling off the pages. Even when they were at the police station, she couldn’t stop. At that point, I had enough. I wanted to smack her upside the head and say “Helloo, focus on your daughter, you bitter harpy“.

The main plotline was well written. I had no problem following along. Keeping Cash’s section in 3rd person was a smart move. It would have made it harder to read if it was in 1st person like Chloe. There was a slight lag in the middle but the author was able to get the plot back on track.

I did figure out the mystery angle early in the book. With the introduction of Rodney and the not so subtle clues that were dropped, it only made what I suspected even more concrete. But, figuring out the mystery angle did not take away from the enjoyment of reading the book.

I thought that Cash and Chloe’s romance was very sweet. I had a couple of “awww” moments while reading the book. I liked that the author kept the book PG too.

The end of In Another Life was what I expected. Everything (and I mean all the storylines) were wrapped up. I did get a laugh at what Chloe did to Cash. Also, the epilogue was wonderful to read.

I would give In Another Life an Older Teen rating. There are sexual situations (not graphic). There is language. There is violence. There are triggers. They would be adoption, kidnapping, divorce, and child abuse. I would recommend that no one under the age of 16 read this book.

I would reread In Another Life. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank the author, the publishers, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review In Another Life.

All opinions stated in this review of In Another Life are mine.