I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review for my stop on the blog tour, which you can find at Donnie Darko Girl.
In Finding Esta, Luna has grown up with cruel parents who have never shown her love and aren't proud of her for anything - including her job as a journalist. When she decides to travel away from home to investigate a cold case, she has no idea just how much this decision will impact her life.
The beginning was slow for me up until Luna leaves for Cornwell. Nothing much happened, and I spent that time feeling horrified by Luna's parents' abysmal behavior towards her and also feeling depressed with her isolation from other people. She has an extreme sensitivity to sunlight and can't touch others without feeling pain, so to avoid questions as well as pain, she doesn't have friends or a significant other in her life.
While Luna has isolated herself from the living, she has Ada and Flo. These two characters are Shadows, ghosts who don't like to be called ghosts. They were in purgatory called the Shadow Lands - at least I believe the Shadow Lands are purgatory because the souls of people who commit suicide reside there. Ada and Flo add humor and sparkle to Luna's life and to the book overall.
I was taken by surprise when I found out vampires come into the story. I knew going in this is a paranormal story, but from the synopsis, I never would have guessed there would be vampires. I'm happy to say they have been given a fresh new twist that made reading about them a lot of fun again.
This book was completely different from what I was expecting. It was original and fresh with well developed and interesting characters. If I had been pulled in right away rather than later, then I would have given this another star in my rating.
If you enjoy the urban fantasy and paranormal genres, definitely give Finding Esta a try. This is the first in the beginning of a series, and I'm looking forward to reading the next installment.
0
