Cover Reveal, Giveaway + Review: A Light Amongst Shadows

I've never taken part in a cover reveal before, so this is going to be exciting! The cover I am revealing today is for A Light Amongst Shadows, the first book in the Dark is the Night series, by Kelley York and Rowan Altwood. It's the story of James Spencer, who is sent to Whisperwood School for Boys, a place for troubled youth, by his parents. There he gets embroiled in a mystery surrounding the school, and the ghosts within it.

This book is probably one of my favourites so far this year, so you'll definitely want to read it! It has the perfect mix of romance and plot, and the paranormal aspect, quite honestly, scared the shit out of me.

As well as the cover reveal, there's also a giveaway of a copy of the book going on, link at the bottom of this post. So, without further ado, here's the cover!

RELEASE DATE: 1st June 2018

SYNOPSIS: James Spencer is hardly the typical troubled youth who ends up at Whisperwood School for Boys. Instead of hating the strict schedules and tight oversight by staff, James blossoms, quickly making friends, indulging in his love of writing, and contemplating the merits of sneaking love poems to the elusive and aloof William Esher.

The rumours about William’s sexuality and opium reliance are prime gossip material amongst the third years… rumours that only further pique James' curiosity to uncover what William is really like beneath all that emotional armor. And, when the normally collected William stumbles in one night, shaken and ranting of ghosts, James is the only one who believes him.

James himself has heard the nails dragging down his bedroom door and the sobs echoing in the halls at night. He knows others have, too, even if no one will admit it. The staff refuses to entertain such ridiculous tales, and punishment awaits anyone who brings it up.

Their fervent denial and the disappearance of students only furthers James’ determination to find out what secrets Whisperwood is hiding...especially if it prevents William and himself from becoming the next victims.

PREORDER LINKS (US)

AMAZON | iTUNES | BARNES AND NOBLE | KOBO

AUTHOR LINKS

Kelley York

FB page | FB group | website | twitter | tumblr

Rowan Altwood

FB page | twitter

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY


REVIEW

Spoilers? teeny tiny ones

Goodreads

The school bells chime as they have every day before, but the sun seems a little brighter when I wake to it shining upon William’s face.

Content Warnings: discussion of past CSA, drug abuse, torture, murder

I know it's only April and this is likely going to be a bold statement, but I'm going to open up this review by declaring that this is probably one of the best books I'll read all year, if not the best book. That being said, I still don't know how I'm supposed to review it. I swear, the more I like a book the harder I find it to review, and I really really liked this one, so I'm finding it near impossible to review.

Firstly, I'm going to start with the plot. The plot in this book is the perfect mix of romance and mystery. Sometimes, I feel like plot kind of gets shunted to the side in favour of romance, or it's forced into such a slowburn nothing happens for 75% of the book, and everything in the last 25%, and I get bored. This book has the perfect balance of all that, keeping the mystery and paranormal side of things moving, while still developing the romance. (As a side note, the paranormal aspect scared the absolute shit out of me, so that's a good sign. But equally, that could be because I'm so easily scared. Did I ever tell you about the time I couldn't look in a mirror in the dark for at least a week after watching episode 1x06 of Supernatural (the Bloody Mary episode)? So, yeah.)

Secondly, the characters. I loved each and every one of the main characters (that I was supposed to, obviously. I wanted the rest of them to burn in hell, but. Y'know), especially James and William, but an honourable mention goes to Oscar (*sobs*). James was by far my favourite though. I particularly liked how his attempts at being discrete involved reciting love sonnets to William in the middle of a crowded hallway. Congrats James, no one's ever going to realise you're into William like That. Also, special mention to how he completely just gives up trying to be discrete right at the end and goes around calling William 'darling' and 'sweetheart' in front of all his friends. James is the prototypical Disaster Gay.

Finally... well, yeah. I don't have anything more to say than this really. I loved the plot and the characters and the romance, and just the whole entire book. If there's one 2018 release you definitely need to read this year (and, let's be real, that's an understatement, I know), it's this.