Shutter by Courtney Alameda

Shutter

by Courtney Alameda

Micheline Helsing is a tetrachromat -a girl who sees the auras of the undead in a prismatic spectrum. As one of the last descendants of the Van Helsing lineage, she has trained since childhood to destroy monsters both corporeal and spiritual: the corporeal undead go down by the bullet, the spiritual undead by the lens. With an analogue SLR camera as her best weapon, Micheline exercises ghosts by capturing their spiritual energy on film. She's aided by her crew: Oliver, a techno-whiz and the boy who developed her camera's technology; Jude, who can predict death; and Ryder, the boy Micheline has known and loved forever. When Micheline and the boys are infected with a curse, she learns that she has a week to save them, or they will die.

Reviewed by jesstheaudiobookworm on

4 of 5 stars

Share
4.5★ Audiobook⎮ I can’t believe I almost turned down listening to this because I thought it would be too creepy for me to handle. It was definitely creepy, but it was so worth it. I’m still not able to do more than glance at the cover, though.

Shutter’s protagonist is Micheline Helsing. *Ahem* As in Van Helsing. She’s descended from Abraham Van Helsing, of Dracula fame. One of her best friends is Oliver Stoker, a descendent of Bram Stoker. Together, they kick ass.

Right off the bat, this reminded me of A Study in Charlotte. You know, the “teenagers descended from famous literary folk and continuing the family legacy” angle. As far as angles go, that’s one of my favorites. It was that angle that made me decide to give Shutter a shot. This entire novel had the feel of a Marvel movie. It was action-packed and it used past fictional [to us] events as a foundation for world-building.

When any type of paranormalcy is central to the plot, world-building is extremely important. Alameda’s world was well-thought-out, explained, and executed. Her characters never got lost in the plot. I found the more minor characters to be just as interesting as Micheline. They each had their own distinct personalities. I’d go so far as to say that they each deserve their own spinoff novel (or at least a novella).

The father daughter relationship in Shutter also reminded me quite a bit of This Savage Song. I enjoyed Micheline as a character. She was brave and badass. I guess this is supposed to be YA because of the main character’s age, but that wasn’t overly obvious. I think any age could listen to this and enjoy it, especially fans of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

There’s a prequel (#0.5) to this novel, but it hasn’t been recorded as an audiobook, to my knowledge. I’m really hoping it will be one day. I’m so in love with all of the concepts presented in Shutter. Everything about it is unique and electrifying. I feel like Alameda could do a lot more with these concepts and with the characters. I really hope she chooses to expand on this idea. I’ll definitely be there if she does.

Narration review: I hope she doesn’t take offense to this, but Pamela Lorence’s voice added to Shutter’s overall level of creepiness. But because this is a horror novel, that’s a compliment! I guess it would be more fitting to say that her voice added to the atmosphere of the story. Her voice is thin and light, like a wisp of something on the back of your neck. It gave me chills. It reminded me of how an angry person is always scarier when quiet than when loud. The only character I wish she would have voiced just a little differently is Ryder. I was dying to hear his Australian accent. Then again, I will always support a narrator choosing not to perform an accent rather than attempting an accent they aren’t comfortable performing. ♣︎

➜ This audiobook was graciously gifted to me by its narrator, Pamela Lorence, in exchange for a review containing my honest thoughts and opinions. Thanks, Pamela!

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 23 October, 2016: Finished reading
  • 23 October, 2016: Reviewed