The Shadow Keepers by Marisa Noelle

Today is my stop on The Shadow Keepers blog tour!

This brilliant novel comes out on the 30th July and is definitely one not to be missed. Here is the creepy blurb:

Sixteen-year-old Georgia Boone has seen the shadow creatures in mirrors and other reflective surfaces since she was six-years-old. But no one–not even her brother, the person she’s closest to in the entire world–believes her. She is all alone in the hellish world where crow-like creatures hunting her everywhere she goes.

When an afternoon of shopping ends in violence and blood, Georgia is sent to the UK’s most prestigious mental health hospitals: Brookwood Hospital. There, she’s forced to face her fears and answer the question:

Are the shadows real, or is this all in her head?

At Brookwood, the shadow creatures are more present than ever and are getting stronger every day. Only with the help of a mysterious boy who lives inside the mirror world might she be able to prove that she’s not hallucinating and stop the shadows from destroying the human world.

I was gifted an ARC of The Shadow Keepers by Marisa Noelle and Magnolia Press earlier this month and I raced through it in a few days! The Shadow Keepers was so hard to put down, and the creepy premise ensured that I was always thinking about it, even when I couldn't read on. Tensions and stakes run high as Georgia races to uncover the truth about the terrifying shadow creatures who have haunted her for most of her life. 

I don't think I've read many non-contemporary YA novels which features mental health so prevalently, and it was really clever how the character's mental health struggles became integral to the plot - they made them stronger, rather than being purely another plot-point or issue to 'get over'. The topic as a whole was sensitively handled and I felt like I learnt some new things about mental health conditions as a result of reading.

Having said that, readers should bear in mind that as mental health is so important within The Shadow Keepers, the novel does include subjects like self-harm and suicide. If this isn't something you're comfortable reading, it would probably be best to avoid this novel. They're not a large part of the plot, but do come up.

You should definitely read The Shadow Keepers if you like:
- creepy monsters
- slow-burn romance
- seeing mental health in non-contemporary stories. 

From a writing perspective, The Shadow Keepers is brilliant for:
- world building - I could completely believe in the monsters and shadow world that Noelle created. 
- pacing - this story is paced just right, with plenty of action and tension, but also some great character driven moments to help back the pace off and give you a respite between the horror. 
- keeping the reader guessing about who they could and couldn't trust!

I really enjoyed The Shadow Keepers and am now even more excited about Noelle's second novel, The Unadjusteds, which comes out later this year.

Here's a little bit about Marisa Noelle:

Marisa Noelle is the writer of middle grade & young adult novels in the genres of science-fiction, fantasy & mental health. The Shadow Keepers is her first novel. The Unadjusteds is due out in November 2019 & The Mermaid Chronicles – Secrets of the Deep at the end of 2019. When she’s not writing or reading or watching movies, she enjoys swimming. In the pool she likes to imagine she could be a mermaid and become part of some of her make-believe words. Despite being an avid bookworm from the time she could hold a book, being an author came as a bit of a surprise to her as she was a bit of a science geek at school. She lives in Woking, UK with her husband and three children.

If you want to read more, you can preorder The Shadow Keepers from here. The tour continues tomorrow at Kimothy Wish.