Sanctum (Guards of the Shadowlands, #1)

Feb 02, 2013 Stacia ~ Mistress of Mediocrity rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of dark fantasy such as Shadows (Rephaim) and The Dark Light

Recommended to Stacia ~ Mistress of Mediocrity by: Isamlq

Shelves: young-adult, favorites, extremely-unique, urban-fantasy

THIS. This is absolutely not what I expected. But I mean that in a very good way.

It's dangerous to fall in love in hell.

4.5 stars. Believe what your friends are telling you about this book. It's all true.

Sanctum is unlike anything I've read before. It will be given a place of honor alongside various other books I've read featuring some sort of mystery involving a foreboding struggle with the darkness that surrounds the main characters. I love this stuff. These types of books are the ones whic...more

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Oct 16, 2012 Alexa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, debut, young-adult, 2012-reads, requested, favorites, poc, own

My review can also be found on my blog Collections.

I love the feeling of going into a novel, not knowing what to expect, and realizing right away that I'm going to like it. And that as I get further in the story keeps getting better and better, and that once I'm done I just want more people to know about the book and to read it too! Sanctum was that type of read for me. The characters were multilayered and extremely likeable, the world was fascinating, and the story made it hard to stop reading....more
My review can also be found on my blog Collections.

I love the feeling of going into a novel, not knowing what to expect, and realizing right away that I'm going to like it. And that as I get further in the story keeps getting better and better, and that once I'm done I just want more people to know about the book and to read it too! Sanctum was that type of read for me. The characters were multilayered and extremely likeable, the world was fascinating, and the story made it hard to stop reading. I can easily say that it is one of my top five favorite books this year! I'm so excited to read the next book in this series.

"Welcome to Suicide Gates!"

Those words and the frightening, otherworldly city where she first heard them have haunted Lela ever since she tried to end her life two years ago. Lela knows that place is where she could have ended up if she had died, but she doesn't realize how true that is until her best friend Nadia commits suicide. Lela starts having nightmares, visions, about Suicide Gates through her friend's eyes, and she becomes determined to save Nadia from that dark place even if she has to sacrifice herself in the process. The journey is nowhere near easy though. Suicide Gates is a harsh and bleak world. Everyone who ends up there must work hard to come to terms with what happened to them and to find strength within themselves so that they can finally move on. And not everyone is able to do that.

Lela's feelings towards Nadia were powerful and the driving force behind most of her decisions in Sanctum. She did everything she could to save Nadia, even if she later regretted the choices she made. This is one of the few books where I truly felt the strong bond a character has with a friend. I remember thinking that I wanted Lela to succeed, I wanted Nadia to be saved, and I wanted happiness for them both. It really was heartbreaking, and it made me just admire and adore Lela even more. She felt so real to me. She's been through so much in her life, yet she stays strong and focused for the friend who believed in her and made her a better person.

Not only is Sanctum about friendship and sacrifice, it's about love and overcoming gripping fears bit by bit. After Lela arrives at Suicide Gates, she's captured by the Guards of the city. They know she's different from the humans who are suppose to be there, and she's interrogated by their brave and intimidating Captain, Malachi. Lela and Malachi don't trust each other at first, but once they open up, Lela begins to feel safe around Malachi and he begins to feel protective of her. There's a gut-wrenching reason why Lela wanted to die two years ago, and when Malachi finds out he helps her overcome some of her fears of allowing anyone, especially a man, to touch her. He's so respectful and let's her be in control. I absolutely loved their relationship. It was sweet and beautiful and touching. They are amazing people and brought out every single bit of goodness in each other. They are also kickass and helped each other survive along the way to finding Nadia. They're the main reason why I cannot wait to read the next book.

Sanctum brings up many heavy, emotional subjects and there are plenty of terrifying moments, but it still manages to be filled with hope and love. And when a story is awesome and has wonderful characters and relationships, it makes me really happy. The ending freaked me out so much though. (I was scared and praying it wouldn't end at a cliffhanger!) It also made me pumped for book two. I wish I could talk more about the unique world in Sanctum, but it's complex and something you need to discover and experience yourself. I highly recommend Sanctum, especially to those looking for a dark, yet hopeful read. It's easily one of the best YA urban fantasy novels I've ever read!(less)

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Jan 07, 2013 Marg K. rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2-star-rating, recently-reviewed

Alrighty, I'm gonna make this short & sweet. Well, maybe not that sweet 'cos I'm rating this book 2 stars mostly due to the fact that it didn't make me want to cut a bitch.

Truth be told, there was pretty much only one thing that I really enjoyed about the book and that was the world of Sanctum. It was dark, gritty, and imaginative. It sort of made me think of a twisted, creepy, nightmarish version of Wonderland. It was rather cool, and I wish it had been more thoroughly developed & expl...more Alrighty, I'm gonna make this short & sweet. Well, maybe not that sweet 'cos I'm rating this book 2 stars mostly due to the fact that it didn't make me want to cut a bitch.

Truth be told, there was pretty much only one thing that I really enjoyed about the book and that was the world of Sanctum. It was dark, gritty, and imaginative. It sort of made me think of a twisted, creepy, nightmarish version of Wonderland. It was rather cool, and I wish it had been more thoroughly developed & explored. There were some fascinating ideas that could have been expanded upon in order to make this shadowy, hellish world the living, breathing entity it had the potential of becoming.

Unfortunately, there's not much more kudos I can give this book.

All of the supporting characters, including Lela's cookie-cutter love interest, were flat with one-note, static personalities. And Lela, despite being decently fleshed out and starting off on the right foot with me, slowly became less & less likable as the story progressed. I never hated her, but I also never fully connected with her. Plus, the more angsty & lovesick she became, the less invested I found myself to be in her mission to save her best friend. It also didn't help matters that Lela made some very stupid decisions and wasn't as much of a badass as she claimed to be (or as much as the book desperately tried to make the reader believe she was). I mean, in all fairness, she did kick some ass, but there was just something about her tough girl persona that didn't ring true to me (and it felt really forced at times).

And while we're on the subject of characters, let me just say that there is such a thing as too perfect. Malachi (aka The White Knight In Shining Armor) was perfect to the point of being completely unrealistic and nauseatingly lame. He said & did all the right things at exactly the right times and seemed to exist for the sole purpose of protecting & loving Lela despite having his world turned upside down and torn to shreds because of her constant meddling. The instant he laid eyes on her, Lela became the center of his universe for absolutely no apparent reason. He knew very little about her and repeatedly had to clean up her mess, and yet he was willing to sacrifice and throw away everything for her like none of it mattered anymore now that she was in his life. Ugh.

So yeah, if you haven't already realized it, I was definitely not a fan of the romance in this book. In fact, if asked to describe it, I'd say it was like a glob of Cheez Whiz on top of a Cheez-It cracker sprinkled with shredded double cheddar cheese. It was also extremely heavy-handed & unbelievable. And much to my disappointment, a half-decent story about the power of friendship & self-sacrifice was smothered by all the cheesiness and forced to take a backseat to lots of teen melodrama. Le sigh.

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Oct 17, 2012 Brigid rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone who doesn't mind a little dark YA.

Shelves: favorites, holy-god-full-of-awesome

Yay!! This is out now, so I can gush again!!

I could tell you all about how Lela is badass and strong willed and smart, and about how Sarah has written an amazing story of loss and redemption and courage and grief, but I know you're all skimming this paragraph to hear about the boy, right?

So let's talk about Malachi. He's insanely hot. I mean, he's a skilled fighter, a leader-of-sorts of his "people" (I use the term loosely), and he's a total badass, but he's also kind and clever and good. Is he...more

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Feb 08, 2013 Ashley (Nose Graze) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sanctum by Sarah Fine - Don't confuse what you want with what you need

BookNook — Young Adult book reviews

Oh my god, you guys!!! I did not expect this book to be so amazing. I bought this book completely on a whim. I never do that. I saw an ad for it on my Kindle screensaver, thought "That's kind of a cool cover," and bought it. Well, Sanctum blew me away.

I think I'm going to burst if I don't mention the romance right away, because it was incredible. I didn't expect a great romance from a paranormal story. Usually when I want a great romance, I look towards contem...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Arlene rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Arlene by: Alexa

Shelves: arc, read-2012, ya-fantasy, young-adult

The gift was helping me understand my friend and forgive her for leaving me.

Sanctum by Sarah Fine is one of those unique book experiences that blends both despair and hope in equal measure to deliver a hauntingly beautiful journey.

I was left floored with a gamut of emotions that I will now try to sort out in the best way possible. But first, let me state a clear and undeniable fact – Fine has an amazing writing ability. And, it’s not only because of how easily she continued to hook me into her...more The gift was helping me understand my friend and forgive her for leaving me.

Sanctum by Sarah Fine is one of those unique book experiences that blends both despair and hope in equal measure to deliver a hauntingly beautiful journey.

I was left floored with a gamut of emotions that I will now try to sort out in the best way possible. But first, let me state a clear and undeniable fact – Fine has an amazing writing ability. And, it’s not only because of how easily she continued to hook me into her novel as I traveled deeper and deeper into the dark city she created; but also because I came to care about the two main characters to such a profound level that when I turned to the final pages I felt slightly empty and sad to see them go… for now.

In Sanctum, we meet Lela who is a foster kid that’s had to endure a difficult life. When the novel begins, she meets Nadia and immediately comes to her aid when Nadia places herself in a precarious situation. From that moment, these two girls form a bond of friendship that shifts Lela’s outlook on life and has her building a better future for herself. However, all of that comes crashing to a halt when Nadia takes her life, leaving Lela confused and lost. As Lela deals with her grief of losing her best friend, she’s plagued with vivid nightmares of a dark and sinister place that is the Sanctum for souls who’ve ended their own live. After a horrific accident, Lela finds herself at a crossroads, she can either lead her soul to the Countryside or enter the Gates of the Sanctum in the hopes of finding Nadia and rescuing her from this city of despair.

Lela is such a strong and determined character in so many ways. Throughout the novel we get glimpses of the horrors she’s had to endure as a foster child and the violations she experienced at the hands of those who were suppose to protect her. It was heartbreaking to witness that the first time she finds a champion, a true friend, this person happens to be so broken inside that Lela loses her to the despair Nadia is suffering through. From the beginning of the novel to the very end, I was an adamant fan of this character. I rallied behind her as she fought her demons and sacrificed her existence for what she believed it. Loved this character!

Nadia was somewhat ambiguous to me. I didn’t get to know her enough before she ended her life and as the novel progressed, I felt like I was on that same journey with Lela to discover the reasons behind Nadia’s choice. In the end, when we discover the why, I have to admit that I was truly saddened for this character.

Malachi was such a complex character in the most rewarding of ways. I fell hard for him and admired the sacrifices he made while paying his dues in the Sanctum. He serves as the Captain of the Guard, but truly he’s more than the leader allotted by his title. He’s a guy that has a haunting past and is working toward a rewarding afterlife. However, he’s ever willing to forego his reward if it’s at the expense of someone he’s come to care about. There were so many layers to his character and having just pealed back a few, I’m left wanting to learn even more about him as his journey continues.

As far as the writing goes, I stand behind my earlier statement… Fine is amazing at crafting her setting in such intricate detail as she weaves her events that take the reader from a contemporary feel to a dark fantasy realm. I transitioned quite easily throughout her narrative and as the story progressed, I became more and more captivated and hooked. Everything blended to perfection – the plot, the characters, the narrative, the message behind the novel… Very well done and I can’t wait to read the next installment!
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Nov 26, 2012 Maja rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-favorites, made-me-cry, favorites, just-another-book-crush, my-flat-army, role-models, ya, reviewed-in-2012

4.5 stars
I have book ADD, I really do. Even when I like a book, by the time I reach the second half, I get impatient, eager to be done with it and be free to discover a new world. It’s a definite downside of having so many books to choose from, and it’s something I need to work on.

Therefore, I was more than a little surprised by the enormity of my despair when I reached the last page of Sanctum. It’s rare that a book leaves me desperate for more. Sarah Fine’s rich and imaginative world, althoug...more 4.5 stars
I have book ADD, I really do. Even when I like a book, by the time I reach the second half, I get impatient, eager to be done with it and be free to discover a new world. It’s a definite downside of having so many books to choose from, and it’s something I need to work on.

Therefore, I was more than a little surprised by the enormity of my despair when I reached the last page of Sanctum. It’s rare that a book leaves me desperate for more. Sarah Fine’s rich and imaginative world, although grim and depressing, captivated me entirely. She almost (but not quite, I’m not crazy) made me want to visit Suicide City and look around for myself. It is where suicide victims end up, condemned to wander the city, lost in their own despair. Can you imagine a more hopeless place in this world or the next? And for the very few conscious enough to want to escape or cause trouble, there are the guards, merciless creatures led by a human, their fearless Captain, Malachi.

Enter Lela, a worthy, if somewhat unconventional heroine. She came to Suicide City willingly, to save he best and only friend, not knowing what she might have to do, but ready for any kind of sacrifice. From the very first page of Sanctum, the readers know they won’t be getting a Mary Sue: she smokes, she curses, and she beats up bullies with terrifying ease. It takes a while for her tender side to be revealed, but she is lovable from the very start.

And Malachi… oooops, there goes my dignity! I haven’t felt so strongly about a fictional character since Sean Kendrick and I doubt I will anytime soon. With his warmth and Lela’s unflinching bravery, it’s no wonder they’re my new favorite couple. Which brings me to the girl I can’t stop thinking about – Lela Santos. Some would say she’s damaged beyond repair, and in some ways, they’d probably be right. But there’s so much love and hope in her, despite not having had an ounce of luck her entire life.

Sanctum is a dark, dark book, and although most of it happens in this hellish, unreal place, the horrors described are very real. Brief glimpses of Lela’s past were more than enough to make me want to run the other way, but I guess I absorbed some of her astonishing bravery because I kept reading even when it made me sick. This is where I truly applaud Fine; a lesser writer would have chosen a safer, less controversial road, especially when writing for young adults, but I could tell that Sarah Fine doesn’t believe in pulling any punches, and I admired her for it.

I’m sorry, guys, I’m very much aware that this review is all over the place. It was hard for me to put into words how much I loved this book. On December 6th, Sarah will share Malachi’s journal entries on several blogs, including The Nocturnal Library, so make sure to stop by. If you haven’t met Malachi yet, you’ll definitely want to after that.
Brava, Ms. Fine! I’m thoroughly impressed.

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Jan 03, 2013 Hanna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favourite-reads

....bleach...?

Lots of things reminded me of Bleach (in a good way):
Lela = Ichigo

Nadia = Orihime/Rukia in season 1

Guards = Soul Reaper

The City = The Soul Society

Zones = Districts

Mazikin = Hollows

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Nov 12, 2012 Theresa rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this book. The idea of a female friendship so strong that a girl would forge a path through hell (or something very similar to it) to save a friend is story that needs telling as often as possible. But, as too often happens, angsty teen-romance ends up taking over the narrative and shoves aside anything that could have been meaningful in this story and reinforces the basically sexist assumption that anything can be fixed if a girl can only find the right boy.

"Sanctum" is...more I really wanted to like this book. The idea of a female friendship so strong that a girl would forge a path through hell (or something very similar to it) to save a friend is story that needs telling as often as possible. But, as too often happens, angsty teen-romance ends up taking over the narrative and shoves aside anything that could have been meaningful in this story and reinforces the basically sexist assumption that anything can be fixed if a girl can only find the right boy.

"Sanctum" is a book that attempts to deal with some dark themes. Both rape and suicide figure heavily into the narrative and Fine tries to deal with the subjects as sensitively as possible. Lela starts off as a very sympathetic character as she has overcome a lot in her short life. Shuffled from one foster home to another, she has suffered the worst kinds of abuse from the people who should have been protecting her. Lela almost succeeds in killing herself after being repeatedly assaulted by foster parent but is able to overcome her past with the help of the unexpected friendship of Nadia.

Nadia is the golden-girl as far as the outside world is concerned. She's beautiful, popular and grows up with the kind of affluence most kids can only dream of. But she and Lela are kindred spirits thanks to dysfunctional homes and their unlikely friendship, while baffling to the outside world, makes sense to the two girls. Lela feels an uncommon loyalty to Nadia because she goes against the in-crowd pressure to only maintain friendships within her own clique and pushes Lela to hope for more in life than just getting-by.

But Nadia, like many other teens, gets bogged down in despair and after finding that numbing herself with drugs doesn't work, she takes her own life. Lela doesn't intentionally follow Nadia into the afterworld, but after a fatal accident sends her to the afterlife she recognizes the Suicide Gates from her own suicide attempt and, instead of drifting into the quiet ease of an undefined paradise, she runs into the dreary Shadowlands in hopes of saving Nadia.

If "Sanctum" has stayed with the story described in the synopsis, it could have been a great book. But after the initial set-up, one that happens to be pretty good, Fine drops the ball and moves on to a very Twilight-ish romance that undermines everything I had liked about the book up to that point. My main issue with "Sanctum" comes from the fact that Lela is so traumatized by her rape that she can't stand to have anyone touch her- until she meets Malachi.

Malachi, the love interest, fits the mold of the teenage dream: the good looking bad-ass who happens to be oh-so sensitive to the needs of a damaged young woman. Malachi is also, despite looking like a teenager, much older than Lela. The love story doesn't quite follow the mold of the Edward-Bella dynamic but I was very much bothered by the fact Lela's problems could be essentially cured by the insta-love storyline. Lela flashes back to her rape often. Every time she is touched by anyone, including Nadia, she freezes up in panic. I can appreciate these moments because they have the ring of authenticity to them, even though I do think they could be triggering to any rape victim that reads the book. So it's problematic that her aversion to touch could be overcome shortly after meeting Malachi (at least when he touches her) even when she cannot tolerate a hug from a friend she'd literally go to hell for. Much is made of Malachi's sensitivity to Lela's fear of being touched, but the fact that Lela's trauma is mostly overcome by her desire for Malachi does not do justice to the emotional journey of a rape victim in my opinion.

"Sanctum" isn't just about the grim topics of rape and suicide; Fine also tries to tackle the nature of the afterlife. I've read a number of books that have tried to address the notion of where a soul goes after a person commits suicide and Fine's version, while not totally unique, has its own flair. Instead of demons her afterlife is populated by creatures known as "Mazikin" (demons by another name really) and her purgatory (the "Shadowlands" in this case) has an interesting mix of hope and despair. In some respects I liked this part of the story because it had something to say about setting aside superficial concerns and focusing on the things that really matter. But much of the story is told in an info-dump fashion and the clunkiness of the writing tends to detract from the overall flow.

Another thing that never really makes sense is how Malachi came to be the captain of the Shadowland Guards. He's human, they're not, and the how and why he came to lead them or why they don't like him isn't particularly clear. Fine offers one explanation here:

"Was it just me, or did the Guards at the Station seem less than eager to help him?" I wondered because he'd come to rescue me after what I'd done.

Raphael somehow read my mind. "Don't worry, it's not you. Malachi is a controversial character among the Guard. He is their Captain, but he is not one of them. They were created to function as a unit, but he often operates alone or with Ana, who is human like him. He is the most merciless of them all but also the most principled. He has changed some policies for dealing with the Mazikin in recent years, and the other Guards do not like it. He comes from a different place then they do, and his future is different from theirs. As it has been with all their human leaders, it is hard for the other guards to understand him, and some of them don't try."

I don't know about you, but that last paragraph was too vague to be compelling, or convincing, to me and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the "most merciless" and "most principled" part of that quote.

The rest of the book follows in much the same vein as the previous paragraph with a lot of generalized explanations that don't really flesh out the story. And, unfortunately, Lela loses a lot of her good qualities as the book goes on in her determination to do things her way. Part of the idealization of Malachi's character requires him to cater to every whim of Lela's, no matter how pointless, and much of the story seems aimless as a result. The ending only adds an extra level of silliness with a deus ex machina twist that only serves to set up the story for a sequel rather than follow the narrative to a logical conclusion.

If Fine had kept the story primarily about Lela and Nadia I think "Sanctum" could have been something special--though some tweaks to the writing would have also been necessary. I'd hoped for a story about an unbreakable friendship, but Fine unfortunately chose to toss an interesting concept and instead write another generic teen romance.
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Feb 15, 2013 Ails rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Jan Bethel, Ira, Jill, Lexie, Erika, Stephanie, everyone!

Shelves: must-read, reviewed, favorites-ultimate, favorites-all-time, favorite-female, favorite-male, swoon-worthy

"My plan: Get into the city. Get Nadia. Keep us safe. Find a way out. Simple."

IT'S BEEN A LOOOONG TIME SINCE I FELT THE RUSH OF ADRENALINE FROM READING A BOOK. I miss it. I need it. I am C-R-A-V-I-N-G for it. Craving for that pumped up feeling and the need to stay up late merely because I can't put it down.

THANK GOD I STUMBLED UPON THIS BOOK.

I'm not going to lie. If it wasn't for 'Angelfall,' I wouldn't have found & read Sanctum. I googled "Books similar to Angelfall on goodreads" (Ohhh...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Keertana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc-galley-and-first-reads, swoooon, rainy-day-re-reads, kick-ass-heroines

Sanctum is one of those books where you think you know what you're getting into when you start it, but it manages to surprise you at every turn. You see, I had this craazy idea that Sanctum was a paranormal/fantasy story of sorts about this girl who went into a mysterious land to rescue her best friend; I suppose that, from the surface, that is exactly was this book is. Yet, it's also so much more multi-layered, deep, and provocative than I ever imagined a paranormal/fantasy novel to be. It's a...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Jessie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-favs, 2013, couldnt-stop-reading, 2012-publication, ulti-favorites, won-t-order, reviewed

This book was a pleasant surprise. I have to admit, I wouldn't have read this if it weren't for all the high ratings. The concept of the storyline was utterly refreshing, I've never read a book with the same idea.

I loved the characters wholeheartedly. Lela was a strong and selfless girl, I loved her determination and love for her best friend, willing to do anything just to get her out of her miserable state.

Malachi was also strong and selfless. He can be deadly and dangerous, but he can also b...more

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Oct 17, 2012 Lili rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, review-on-tynga-s-reviews, signed, dark-and-gritty

I’m struggling to write a review for this book because I loved it so much. Completely unexpectedly, this is a journey full of hope, darkness, despair, and redemption that’ll make your heart beat ten times faster than usual. Seriously, I may have hyperventilated out of both anxiety and eagerness several times as I read because my eyes couldn’t read the words fast enough.

The world building in this book was one of many things that completely blew my mind. This book essentially takes place in a re-i...more I’m struggling to write a review for this book because I loved it so much. Completely unexpectedly, this is a journey full of hope, darkness, despair, and redemption that’ll make your heart beat ten times faster than usual. Seriously, I may have hyperventilated out of both anxiety and eagerness several times as I read because my eyes couldn’t read the words fast enough.

The world building in this book was one of many things that completely blew my mind. This book essentially takes place in a re-imagined Hell, except it’s not exactly Hell and more like a bad afterlife. This dreary place is the place that people who commit suicide go. They enter the Suicide Gates and they do not leave the Shadowlands until they have learned their lesson and are no longer hung up on their suicide. Then, they can be judged and go to a better place where they can have a happy afterlife instead of being stuck in the eternal rut that every citizen of the Shadowlands eventually finds themselves in. Lela went to this place to save her best friend, Nadia, who she wholeheartedly believes deserves to be happy because she was her rock that just temporarily went down a bad path. Thus, we meet a self-sacrificing, strong, determined heroine that kids can look up to because she took all of her negative experiences and somehow found a way to turn them into positive personality traits.

As dark as this story seems, this is one powerful read that cannot be ignored. Sarah’s incredible writing style and world building led the way for phenomenal characterization and character growth throughout the novel. Both Lela and Malachi are two of my favorite characters that I have ever come across. Though both have somewhat disturbing backgrounds, they have used their experiences to strengthen their resolve and personalities. Both Lela and Malachi are broken souls that somehow manage to piece each other back together again in a slow burning, heart stopping, action packed romance that’ll leave you yearning for more. They are each other’s lights at the end of the tunnel, each other’s saving grace, and they’ll melt your heart as you watch their romance slowly progress in a manner that is most definitely believable.

With all of the sheer amazingness of this dark and gritty world, it is obvious that this book will not be for everyone. Those who are uncomfortable when dealing with heavy subjects such as suicide should not read this book. But, with that being said, I feel compelled to point out that someone close to my heart was once suicidal and I did not find this book overdone or disrespectful in the least. While suicide is a large part of the story, it does not glorify it or mention it in disturbing manners. It is part of the plot, it’s always in the back of your mind, but it’s not in your face and it’s never rude in the way it addresses the subject. Such a thing is something that I highly respect because it’s not easy to come across in young adult literature these days. I also want to mention that there is some violence because there are plenty of fight scenes against an evil force invading the Shadowlands and there are slight mentions of sexual abuse. No abuse is detailed, but it is hinted at in reference to Lela’s previous foster father. Clearly, this is not a book for younger teenagers, but anyone that is mature can read this book without any problems.

Full of rich detail, an explosive romance, and amazing detail for this gritty, dark world, this book is a much read for any fantasy lover that is looking for something new. Tackling big subjects in a respectable manner, it’ll make you ride an emotional roller coaster that you’ll never want to get off of. This book will forever have a place on my favorites shelf and comes as a high recommendation to those willing to take it on. Among my most anticipated sequels, I am anxiously awaiting the next book in the Guards of the Shadowlands series to see what Sarah has in store for Malachi and Lela (and us) next.(less)

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Mar 02, 2013 Christianna Marks rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, own-it

This review can be originally found at The White Unicorn: A YA Book Blog

Sanctum is hands down the best book I've read in 2012, and that's saying a lot, because I've read a lot of awesome books this year. I honestly wish that I could write this review riddled with spoilers, just so that I could get all of my thoughts out there, out of my own head. I won't though and the reason why is a clear one. I tend to always be able to tell you what is going to happen at the end of a book by the time I reac...more This review can be originally found at The White Unicorn: A YA Book Blog

Sanctum is hands down the best book I've read in 2012, and that's saying a lot, because I've read a lot of awesome books this year. I honestly wish that I could write this review riddled with spoilers, just so that I could get all of my thoughts out there, out of my own head. I won't though and the reason why is a clear one. I tend to always be able to tell you what is going to happen at the end of a book by the time I reach the middle of it. It's both a blessing and a curse, but Sanctum kept me guessing what was going to happen till the very last page. And why in hell's name would I want to spoil that magic for you?

Firstly, Sarah Fine is a masterful world builder. What lies beyond the suicide gates is terrifying and yet has an air of also being comforting in some very odd ways. You feel as if you have been dragged through those gates along with the characters and that you are fighting, bleeding, and exploring yourself right alongside them. The thing that is so spectacular about the world which Fine creates is all in the details. Yes, the big flashy parts of the worlds pull you in, but it's the small things that keep you interested! From the habitation of apartments to the tattoos on people’s bodies to the interior of the dark tower. She also references “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and I’m a huge fan of anything that Joss Whedon touches, so well done there!

It’s no secret that the book deals with suicide. It lets you know that right on the flap of the book, but it’s the way that Sarah Fine deals with this seriously heartbreaking issue that makes me want to stand up and cheer. There is a hopefulness to this book, even when things seem so dire, so odd and so sad. It’s the way she describes the world that these people end up in that allows you to hope that no one you know ever has to deal with this and gives you hope for the ones that do. It’s as beautiful and it is bloodthirsty and that’s a hard balance to master and Sarah Fine has done it in spades!

And the characters don’t get me started about the characters. Lela and Malachi will soon (if they already aren’t) be on everyone’s minds. I loved both of their personalities, their strengths and their weaknesses. They seemed real and tangible. Like friends that you wish you could have and defiantly the friends you would want beside you while being behind the suicide gates. I also appreciated that Fine didn’t stray away from her secondary characters. Nadia and Ana were just as well imagined as the main characters. I especially loved Ana’s character. She was a feisty little thing. Plus, the vehicle of the romance actually helped develop the characters well. For the most part it didn’t detract us from the story line and also gave us some much needed brakes from what was actually going on in the plot.

I honestly could keep going on and on about this book, but that would mean that you would still be here reading what I have to say about the book, instead of actually going out there and getting your hands on a copy. And that would be truly sad. Go, go now and get your hands on this true gem of a novel. You have no idea how badly I want to get my hands on book two!
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Jan 14, 2013 Sandra rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Every YA lover

Recommended to Sandra by: Keertana

I should leave my last status in this review because I'm not the passionate reviewer and this says a lot of this book:

"I've just finished this and I can't help keeping smiling. I'm actually swooning like a girl!!
I really enjoyed this one! It's a new favorite! No matter if I'm not rating 5. I loved it!
Where is the next one? I want to read it!"

A proper review maybe should have a summary but not mine.

I never read synopsis just in case they tell me too much. I even quite deftly skim through reviews...more

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Apr 14, 2013 Eunice rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: cool-covers, damn-gorgeous-males, death-tragedy-suicide, favourites, ghost-and-zombies, kick-ass-heroines, out-2013, paranormal, tear-jerking, ya-romance, young-adult

4.5 stars

When I started this I didn't really know what to expect. I've seen a lot of my friends loving this and I just thought maybe I'd enjoy it too but nothing really extreme. So imagine when at the middle of the book I realized I was already in love with ~~Malachi~~ this book? This book is so much more than I have initially thought. There were so many layers in this story that you wouldn't though it would've when you read the synopsis. Don't take this as just some usual and normal paranormal book...more 4.5 stars

When I started this I didn't really know what to expect. I've seen a lot of my friends loving this and I just thought maybe I'd enjoy it too but nothing really extreme. So imagine when at the middle of the book I realized I was already in love with ~~Malachi~~ this book? This book is so much more than I have initially thought. There were so many layers in this story that you wouldn't though it would've when you read the synopsis. Don't take this as just some usual and normal paranormal book out there because this one is definitely not. It offered me a lot more than I have truly expected. Sanctum turns out to be a very very pleasant surprise for me.

The world-building is definitely a highlight I enjoyed very much about this book. I've read a lot of stories where different versions of the places where dead people go - Underworld, Hell, Sheol, Purgatory - were described. In this novel, Sarah Fine created her own version of it but exclusive for those souls who committed suicide. And I tell you what, it was one hell of a version! It was something I haven't seen before, how things work there - souls wandering around, their wants and desires so intense they made something out of it. It was sinister and unnerving but oddly very interesting in a way that you would also want to explore it.

Lela Santos, the main character, is definitely one of the most loyal and determined characters I'd ever met. Her decision to enter the Suicide Gates willingly to find her best friend and save her was very brave and...crazy. Yeah, that's what I thought at first but as the story went on we got our chance to see more reasons to Lela's actions and decisions. I was able to see how their friendship started and developed, how deeply Nadia had gone through her walls and at the same time saved her. Through that I was able to understand her and greatly connect with her. She was a very well portrayed character.

Malachi, ah, how do I start with this one? Well, he's very Aiden St. Delphi and Dimitri Belikov of a character! Ha! He was dedicated, strong and could be really dangerous at times but he was also just as gentle and caring to people he cared so much about. He was so genuine and selfless and although he has an awful haunting past I saw that he was a character that is moving on and learning from it. His character development as a hero and love-interest is striking. He was a very very lovable character.

And the ending! Did you know that I put this on hold for almost a month because I was so so afraid the ending would turn into a cliffhanger in a very awful situation? Well, yeah I wanna smack myself after I finally read it! Because it was a very very lovely one and cute too! Yet it still made me wish that the second book is already out, I just couldn't get enough of Lela and Malachi after that kind of ending. Haha! They're definitely one of my favorite couples now!

So if you haven't pick this up yet go pick this up now! I'm sure you'll get a very wonderful and fantastic reading experience with this one. I highly recommend this.

This review is also posted at Book Overdose (less)

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Jan 15, 2013 Sam rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Sam by: Alexa, Heidi, Rachel, Maja, Octavia, Keertana, Lucy.... pretty much everyone.

Shelves: fantasy-or-paranormal, fantasy-or-pn-favourites, favourite-boys, 2012-favourites

"If you kill yourself, you go where the monsters are."

Sarah Fine’s Sanctum is nothing short of original, with a whole world dedicated to the lost, wandering souls of suicide victims. Beyond the Suicide Gates lies the Shadowlands, patrolled by the ferocious Guards and their human captain Malachi. We follow Lela Santos’ inadvertent journey into Suicide City in an attempt to rescue her best-friend Nadia. It is a dark story, both gritty and emotional, but never dull or draining. Fine has a natural w...more

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Oct 23, 2012 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everybody! Please read this :)

Recommended to Jessica by: Alexa

Shelves: 0-faves, 05-literary-crush-worthy, 24-ebooks, 25-hawt, 26-love-the-writing

Oh wow! This was pure awesomeness!

LOVED the concept! I haven't read anything like this before. Great worldbuilding, great characters and a love interest to die for. I couldn't get enough of this story and I'm dying to get my hands on the sequel! Hurry up Sarah, I need more of this! Good stuff!

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Nov 15, 2012 Amie Beamer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012, favorite-books, read-ya

Mrs. Beamer's Review:

The most unique YA book of 2012! Wow. I haven't enjoyed a book this much since The Hunger Games! It's one of those books I didn't want to end. While it took me a little longer than usual to get hooked, once I was...there was NO turning back. Planes could have landed in my backyard and I wouldn't have noticed. I was captivated.

There are many, many layers to this story. Most of the book takes place in (something resembling our idea of Hell). The two most powerful story lines,...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Jill rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Jill by: Ails

Shelves: 2013-read, young-adult, pnr, ebook, urban-fantasy, dystopian

Woooo. So I'm done and ready to spazz and rant.

Lela is your broken but bad ass heroine. Until she met Nadia who became her best friend (and technically the only friend she ever had.) When Nadia commits suicide, Lela got visions where her best friend is. Determine to get her back, she chose to go where she is and save her instead of the place she was supposed to be. Somehow Lena reminds me of Saba with her plan. :)

“My plan: Get into the city. Get Nadia. Find a way out. Simple.”

Anyways..

I really...more

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Dec 01, 2012 Andi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle

Let me start by saying this book started strong, with an interesting and unusual premise. Imagine where you go after committing suicide. The Suicide Gates open to something far worse than purgatory. Nadia ends up there, and Lela decides to try to get her friend out.

But Lela's a little TOO capable for a high school student with no weapons or self-defense training. I just didn't buy her crazy ability to fight her way out of scrapes. Then she teams up with Malachi and convinces him and Ana to help...more

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Oct 26, 2012 Lori rated it 5 of 5 stars

I started this book around 8 pm and couldn't stop reading until I finished at 3 am. SO GOOD, YOU GUYS.

The premise immediately drew me in. It's different and thought-provoking, and I really wanted to know what exactly Nadia had done for Lela that Lela would go after her through the Suicide Gates.

I loved both Nadia and Lela from the very first scene in the Prologue. The beginning felt a little like a contemporary, which surprised me because I initially thought the setting was 100% fantasy, but i...more
I started this book around 8 pm and couldn't stop reading until I finished at 3 am. SO GOOD, YOU GUYS.

The premise immediately drew me in. It's different and thought-provoking, and I really wanted to know what exactly Nadia had done for Lela that Lela would go after her through the Suicide Gates.

I loved both Nadia and Lela from the very first scene in the Prologue. The beginning felt a little like a contemporary, which surprised me because I initially thought the setting was 100% fantasy, but it totally worked. I was hooked pretty much from the moment Lela demonstrated what a badass she is.

I empathized with Lela's frustration and her desperation to hold onto her friend when she felt her slipping away. Lela is this amazing mix of ridiculously badass and intense vulnerability, which made her even stronger to me. Yes, she made mistakes and, sometimes, they were pretty stellar, but she always acknowledged fault. She was never passive when being active was the better alternative, and she never gave up on Nadia.

I also LOVE Malachi. I honestly wasn't sure if I would, because I'm usually half-and-half on love interests, but Malachi won me over. He takes badass to a whole new level. He's practical and efficient and merciless, while at the same time principled, sympathetic, and human. That's pretty impressive. Usually, love interests who do crazy things like stalk/threaten the MC is an Epic Turn off, but Malachi's job pretty much required him to threaten her and, to be completely fair, she would have bashed in his face (or other parts) if he hadn't, which makes them even to me.

They had a wonderful dynamic. Lela challenged all the darknesses Malachi had lived with and adapted to after his long years in the dark city, and Malachi challenged Lela's own perceived worthlessness and her long-standing fear of intimacy. And while this was all going on, the plot never lost momentum. It didn't fall prey to the dreaded "romance-replaces-the-plot" malady that afflicts so many YA books. Lela never once wavered from her goal to save Nadia despite her growing feelings for Malachi, and the overarching conflict happening inside the dark city was never forgotten.

Speaking of the dark city, it was terrifyingly bleak. The Guards were at once awesome and horrible, and the Mazikin were just... freaky. The entire concept of the city, of the afterlife in general and how there might be other cities out there for other reasons, is so interesting and different, and I loved that it never came across in a preachy way. Suicide was handled respectfully and objectively (with exception to Lela's opinions, obviously)--and I've had enough suicides happen in my family to be extremely sensitive about this topic.

I'm still confused about what, exactly, the Mazikin are. I mean, their roles made sense in the context of the book's plot, but there are still a lot of questions, like how they first appeared in the dark city, why they only appear there and not in other cities, and why it's so important to them to leave their own world for others. I'm sure these questions will be answered eventually, though, because this is a trilogy :P

The ending wasn't a cliffhanger, which I greatly appreciated, but it's also a fantastic lead-in to the second book. This is what sucks about reading the first book in a series right when it releases--I have to wait a whole year for the next one! GAH!

Okay, enough rambling about how awesome this book is. You guys will just have to read it to find out for yourselves. So what are you waiting for?!(less)

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Feb 18, 2013 Sarah (saz101) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, 2012-releases, urban-fantasy

First Thoughts:
It took me an age to warm to this book, but once I did? Wow.
The world is terrifying and fascinating, the characters' pain is palpable and the romance? Phwoar. Book 2, please!

In Sanctum, Sarah Fine's début offering, nightmares walk the streets of a hellish city, normal girls can be fierce warriors, and tortured boys so much more. The world of Sanctum is terrifying and fascinating, the characters’ pain palpable, and the romance? Phwoar.

"Would you risk your afterlife to save your bes...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: characters-i-love, funny-stuff, kindle, read-in-2013, so-much-fun, swoon, series-to-finish, 2013-reading-challenge

HOLY SEXUAL TENSION, BATMAN

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Feb 12, 2013 Rashika rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: good-female-leads, guys-one-cannot-help-falling-for, good-romances, mind-blown, others, read-2013, series-i-am-still-reading, totally-worth-it, ya, 2013-favorties

~~OhMyGawd.~~
This book has reduced me to a total fangirl, even though it has been a few weeks since I've read it. How do I talk about a book that has totally blown my mind. All the pieces of my poor brain are scattered. I am a zombie.
description

So. Umm. This book happens to be flawless. It has excellent world building (that's saying something, I don't focus on that stuff most of the time). The author described the Shadowlands so well I had no problem what so ever visualizing them. I think one of the better th...more ~~OhMyGawd.~~
This book has reduced me to a total fangirl, even though it has been a few weeks since I've read it. How do I talk about a book that has totally blown my mind. All the pieces of my poor brain are scattered. I am a zombie.
description

So. Umm. This book happens to be flawless. It has excellent world building (that's saying something, I don't focus on that stuff most of the time). The author described the Shadowlands so well I had no problem what so ever visualizing them. I think one of the better things about the setting is the author doesn't use hell as a setting she uses another place that doesn't tie to any specific religion. That way there is no discrimination. It annoys me how in so many books the world building on hell and heaven is based on what the Bible says yet everyone believes in a heaven and hell and every belief has one, then why focus on how it is viewed in one religion but not the others?
I was glad when this was not the case in this book.
The characters. HOW DO I DO THIS? HOW DO I EXPLAIN HOW GREAT THE CHARACTERS WERE? Somethings cannot be put into words. Lela is such an interesting character. She loves her friend so much.
"By my second day at Warwick High School, if you’d told me I would choose to go to hell for its queen bee, I might have believed you."
In so many books, friends seem like a prop, something to convey the humanity of a character but they don't drive the story. They don't serve a lot of purpose except someone to confide in perhaps or giving the main character something to worry about.
Their friendship is the driving force of this story. Lela went to "hell" for her friend because she didn't think Lela deserved that. (of course she isn't crazy enough to actually kill herself for her friend, she died by accident)
Malachi is one of the best things that ever happened to me. OMG. For 4 weeks I've been fangirling over him. I will continue to do so for a while because characters like him are so DAMN rare. I've read the ending over and over again like a 100 times because of Malachi. He is your bad ass killer who isn't a jerk face. He doesn't stop being a jerk because he fell in love because he ISN'T one. He has had terrible things happened to him and becoming the leader of the guard didn't made him numb. What Lela did was make him feel alive again (yes I see how cliched that sounds, you are going to need to read the book to appreciate Malachi's character).
"After a few more seconds, he released his grip and smiled in an amiable, I-could-kill-you-with-one-hand sort of way.(less)

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May 22, 2013 Michele (Reading Lark/CanadianTwiMom) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-fantasy, hardcover, own-it, reading-lark, dark-gothic, favourite-epic, fictional-crush, hot-romance, mature-ya

My review can also be found on Reading Lark: http://readinglark.blogspot.ca/2013/0...

I can easily tell you why I loved Sanctum so much – Sarah Fine’s writing reminds me of another of my favourite authors, Julie Kagawa. Both paint pictures with their words…both insert TONS of adventure into their respective stories…both make their books hard to put down…both have unique worlds they have created…both have kick-ass and self-sacrificing heroines…and both have swoon-worthy objects of desire that make...more

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May 20, 2013 Charlotte rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: 13 and up

Shelves: favorites, romance

WHERE IS THE SECOND BOOK? I loved reading this immensely, and I thought the entire thing was just...perfect. Although it took a few chapters to get 'warmed up', once the story got going IT REALLY GOT GOING.

Lela is a teenage girl in high school with a dark and troubled past who has been experiencing frightening visions of another world ever since she tried to hang herself two years ago, but she proves her heart is in the right place when she saves Nadia - the school's 'queen bee' - from a greedy...more

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Apr 02, 2013 Kara rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: this-is-why-i-read

This book has made me do two things I feel like I haven't done in a very long time. First, I read it straight through. Then, when I got to the end, I immediately started back at the beginning.

This is one of the more successfully creative stories I've read in a while. Sarah Fine has a created a believable, or even plausible, underworld of what hell/purgatory is like. And every time you think "wait, how does x-y-z" work, it's explained.

But far beyond that, it's a fun story. Sure, it's about hell...more This book has made me do two things I feel like I haven't done in a very long time. First, I read it straight through. Then, when I got to the end, I immediately started back at the beginning.

This is one of the more successfully creative stories I've read in a while. Sarah Fine has a created a believable, or even plausible, underworld of what hell/purgatory is like. And every time you think "wait, how does x-y-z" work, it's explained.

But far beyond that, it's a fun story. Sure, it's about hell and demons and eternity, but it manages not to be (too) dark. It managed to be at times cute and touching and funny It manages to feel like how a human would feel upon entering hell, when the real world is still so much a part of you, the "culture shock" for lack of a better word. I'm not good at visualizing things, but I could see the world that the author created. I could imagine the Mazikin, Raphael, Ana, Malachi (Malachi. Good Lord - Malachi!)

And, more importantly, it made me realize what I want to be when I grow up. Lela Motherfucking Santos! I figure, I'm already stubborn and make rash decisions, so being all-around-awesome can't be too far behind right? Here was a character who was flawed, but wasn't defined by her flaws. Even though she struggled with assorted feelings of guilt and low-self-esteem, kept fighting for what she wanted in spite of those things, not letting herself, and ultimately her story, be weighed down by self-pity. Don't get me wrong, self-pity is real and can really affect how people behave, but it in this age of Bella and Ana, it was nice to read about someone who saves themselves for a change. Besides how can you not love someone who starts her story with this:
On my first day at Warwick High School, if you'd told me I would choose to go to hell for any of the students, I would have laughed. Or maybe I would have stabbed you with a ballpoint pen (it was kind of a rough day).

The biggest problem with the story is that you have to take Lela's word for it on how awesome a friend Nadia is. The beginning glosses over why Nadia is so important to Lela, but that's crucial for the whole plot of the story. So if you're not ready to commit to the whole idea of Nadia being the most awesome best friend in the history of best friends, you're going to be left with a pretty bad case of "I don't understand why she's going through all this." Nadia as a whole was an undeveloped character, although that sort of makes sense as the story is told from Lela's POV, and she doesn't understand Nadia like she thought she did. Still, for the reader, it's somewhat unsatisfying. I also felt like Nadia's story at the end was a little too summarily dismissed. But those things did not detract from my overall enjoyment of the story.

I would be remiss if I didn't talk about Malachi, so look away now!!! (view spoiler)

Ultimately, Sanctum is about how far you'd go to save someone you love, and what happens if you can't. And how to forgive yourself for your shortcomings and failures. I think that's a theme that will resonate with me for a while.

At the end of the day, Sanctum kept me fully engrossed. And that's really all I've ever wanted out of a book.(less)

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Oct 18, 2012 Bethzaida rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arcs

Freaking amazing!!!!!!!! I'm going to try to write a worthy review of this book. I don't know if I can though. Sanctum was just too amazing.

Full Review

I know if I'm going to like a book just by reading its first few pages. With Sanctum Sarah Fine had me by the first few sentences. This book was that amazing. The plot was incredible too. It took twists and turns I wasn't expecting. I could not guess what was going to happen next. I (no lie) chewed off some of my nails trying to stay calm.

Anothe...more

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Jan 03, 2013 Krispy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: rec-ed-with-reservations, ya, paranormal, poc-mc

3/3.5 stars

Disclosure: ARC won from a contest, and I'm Twitter/blog friends with Sarah Fine.

A YA debut with an interesting spin on the After Life and the monsters and denizens therein. Characters had depth, though sometimes they fell flat thanks to a tendency towards info-dumps, but they were interesting and easily liked (for the ones meant to be liked). I also really appreciated that the main players were people of color. The Dark City is a fascinating concept, and I like how it further deepens...more 3/3.5 stars

Disclosure: ARC won from a contest, and I'm Twitter/blog friends with Sarah Fine.

A YA debut with an interesting spin on the After Life and the monsters and denizens therein. Characters had depth, though sometimes they fell flat thanks to a tendency towards info-dumps, but they were interesting and easily liked (for the ones meant to be liked). I also really appreciated that the main players were people of color. The Dark City is a fascinating concept, and I like how it further deepens the exploration of suicide and its cause and effects, but I wish there was more meat to the background of the Mazikin. The situations are pretty serious and dark, but they felt realistic instead of melodramatic and it played well into the themes of suicide, healing, self-worth, and redemption. It was a dark book that wasn't overly dark. I liked that the heroine's drive was based on female-friendship (instead of the usual romance), and I liked that the central conflict between Lela and Nadia had no easy answer. The themes were generally well done, although once in a while I felt events in the narrative undercut them. I wish there was a little more background about Nadia, but I also understand that sometimes people will do things that from the outside perspective don't make sense or can't be understood.

CONS: I wanted more from the Mazikin. They were never more than a nebulous kind of evil (although they were quite creepy), and as such I didn't care enough about the "plot" they brought into the book - which is problematic considering they bring in what appears to be the overarching plot of the series. I almost wish the focus had remained more on the character-driven arcs (i.e. Lela and Nadia's relationship or even Lela and Malachi's new relationship) because Fine does a good job showing complex, nuanced relations. In fact, one of my favorite aspects of the book was the beginning, where the story reads more like a YA Contemporary than a YA Paranormal.

Some of the sections read a bit clunky because of long paragraphs of exposition, and the pacing tended to plateau more often than I would have liked before hitting conflict again. The love story was decent (and I like both parties involved), but the level of devotion the protagonists form given the short amount of time was difficult to fully buy. Also, can't say I liked the way the book ended; it seemed a little too cute/pat and to me it felt like it undercut the seriousness of the event that brought Lela into the Dark City (allowing her to try to rescue Nadia).

CONCLUSION: A generally solid debut. Recommended for those curious about dark paranormals who don't want anything too dark or too gory and for those who want a paranormal that has action-y & romantic bits but also tries to be thoughtful about serious issues like depression, suicide, and abuse.(less)

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Sanctum (Guards of the Shadowlands #1)

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