Review: Simply Brilliant!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 8, 2013
I am ashamed of myself.Truly ashamed.Because when I read the first masterpiece, Girl in the Glass, I was truly blown away by how intense the story was. By how emotionally drained the author made me feel. How truly riveted and invested I was in the story, and in the characters, that I couldn't stop tears flowing, and I couldn't stop reading for the life of me.And it's taken me this long to read the next in the series.Zoe Brooks is an author that continues to amaze me. I was skeptical that she could make this one as sensational as the first. After all, I have been there, done that! You can't shock me, Zoe Brooks! You can't make me cry any harder than in the first!Damn....I was wrong.Anya's story continues. She changes her name to Judith, possibly hoping to purge from her past under her given and chosen names from before.  It seems like things have taken a turn for the better, and both her and her Shadow work and live contentedly.  That is, until her kind hearted employer and friend passes away from the illness that plagued her in the first novel.. and Judith's world comes crashing down again.You would think that she would have learned some lessons from the past. Yet Judith continues to choose the wrong men, who use her and abuse her. But finally, a worthwhile man comes along that could help her change her self-destructing ways. If she lets him.My theory on the Shadows was correct, but with a mystical quality that I did not predict which made them all the more magical. You will have to read this series to figure that one out on your own. My lips are sealed.An easy 5 star novel for me. Zoe Brooks still holds her magic wand in weaving this story straight into my heart. I thought I couldn't cry harder than the first novel, but she had me in sobs over one particular incident that took me completely by surprise and shocked me. I read on to the conclusion of this book, hoping that it was all a mistake, but alas... the world isn't fair or kind in fiction either. My heart was broken, and then full of hope. My tear ducts got a work out, and yet my heart also soared with joy at the end of it all.Go read this series. Read it now.* This novel was generously provided by the author for an honest review.*