A good day to write a review from our debut author, T. J. Swackhammer. This debut novel will out 10/20. I got chance to review her ARC's, so here it is, my review for her debut novel! Enjoy!
Title : City of Immortals Shadows
Author : T. J. Swackhammer
ISBN : 9781777334
Genre : Dystopian
Rating : 5/5 stars
Something is rotting in the city of Emaldin. Those outside of the Pod could tell you that, if they weren’t too exhausted to open their eyes. Citizens spend their days slaving away under the brutal, all-seeing eye of the Council for a chance to get closer to the towering structure at the centre of the city, and the safety and utopia it promises.
Valencia was supposed to be one of the lucky ones. Plucked from a life of crime, the Institute promised her a ticket to an easier life inside of the Pod, if only she could make it to graduation. Or so they claimed. Instead, she found herself reawakening at the bottom of a polluted river, back from the dead with a lethal touch.
For years, Valencia has kept her identity secret, slipping under the radar of the Council as the deadly shadow of one of Emaldin’s most dangerous, always believing that what happened to her was an accident to be made the best of. A weapon, for her to wield.
Until she realizes she hasn’t been the one wielding it.
Until the wrong life, at the wrong time, gets cut short.
On the run, she is reunited with Eli- a ghost from her past with the most nebulous of loyalties. She must work to untangle the web of deceit surrounding the Institute and find the truth of Emaldin… even if it means letting go of every truth she’s ever known
It's the first day of October and T.J. Swackhammer's debut novel got me hypnotized. I couldn't stop reading it and I was able to finish it in five hours less (maybe four hours fifty minutes, If I didn't wrong). This creation has such a wonderful idea! I didn't know how she ends up with this but she hijacks my imagination. How the main character reveals something hidden, something secrets, and lies inside the book, she did it all! She got me in the first chapter and it made me couldn't stop reading until I finished them all.
This ARC she gave to me is like a best seller dystopian-author, I suspect she's hiding her talent and having other creations inside her laptop. Well, I must say you need to show them up to the world. This one IS amazing, I wonder what the other could be. The last part you put there, I'm hoping they'll be the next book (and they MUST be because I see this is the #1 book), took me hours to let it go (I'm being overdramatic after I read books that touch my heart and my imagination, for this one, you GOT me!) before finally, I write this chapter because (believe me) when I couldn't get over it, my review will be filled with spoilers everywhere and we don't want that to happen.
I'm curious about the voice on the last part (this isn't a spoiler right? don't count it!) I'm making my guesses with some person but I'm not sure if they are the right person (That's why the second book is needed!)
For the romance, (yeah I love romance too, hahaha) I think you should strengthen the main character's romantic relationship, I mean I don't quite feel the chemistry she had there so yeah, I believe you need to add more spicy there (just a suggestion, but it's up to you to make the plot). Overall, I do love this debut novel of T. J. Swackhammer's and I can't wait to read the second book.
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