Kira and Sophia have been best friends since they were five years old. They share an apartment together, and tell each other everything. Everyone loves Sophia, and she is often called the advice girl by people who know her. Kira believes she knows her friend better than anyone. But in a mysterious accident, Sophia loses her life. Kira is mourning the devastating loss when she finds a note addressed to her from beyond the grave. Kira realizes she doesn't know her friend as well as she thought, as she starts to uncover the truth. She falls into a deep depression, confused and lost, until a visit from a strange man puts her in the middle of a war between two secret societies. Kira soon understands that she is in danger, and doesn't know who to trust. She has to fight for her own life now.
The Advice Girl is the debut nove; from L.A. Shaw, and the first in the Dalara series. I thought it was an extremely engrossing story line, with all of the necessary elements to make a great story. There was love, mystery, secrecy, action, and the epic battle between good and evil. There was definately romance, but there was also the love between two friends, which was a refreshing addition to the typical boy-girl young adult romance. The prologue started the story off with a bang, full of a sense of pervasive evil and creepiness, and it lasted throughout the book, which I LOVED! The non-stop action and suspense kept me completely intrigued and I didn't want to put the book down.
In my opinion, it was very much a character-driven story. Sophia and Kira were the epitome of best friends, more sisters than friends. The story was told mainly from Kira's point of view and it had me in tears along with her at many points in the story. I frequently felt her grief, her feelings of loss, her fear as if it were my own. Sophia was almost ethereal at times, but still entirely believable and relatable. She was humble, but so much stronger than she herself realized, and I enjoyed that quiet strength in a character. Whether cast as good or as evil, all of the characters were very well-developed for their roles within the story.
I also like that there were times that you just weren't quite sure which side was the good side and which was the evil. There were things about each side that fell in the gray area, and that ambiguity definately added to the mystery and suspense of the story. There was just something about this book that really grabbed me. The characters, the story, all of it just worked so well together for me. My only real complaint with the book was that it wasn't longer! I just didn't want the book to end. Next up will be Invoked, the second in the series. In the meantime, definately grab a copy of this wonderful book!
Reading updates
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Started reading
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11 May, 2011:
Finished reading
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11 May, 2011:
Reviewed