Shimmering

The Dark Origins #1

by D.L. Miles

Ember Reed is a fifteen-year-old shape-shifter, a creature with the ability to transform into any animal, despite it’s shape or size. At least, she should be able to; Ember can’t quite change her entire form, only bits and pieces. This has earned her the nickname “sucky spook” at the Sagefall Recreation Center, a place where supernatural beings go for training.

Living the life of an outcast, Ember pretends to be content with only having her cousin Jayd as a friend and keeping her nose buried in fictional stories. But when she goes to the bookstore downtown and finds a girl going through her first Shift, Ember realizes that she might have the chance to make a friend.

Ember also realizes that this girl may be in trouble, because the most powerful people of her community have been starting to disappear. After she witnesses the kidnapping of her classmate she decides to do whatever she can to save her new friend, but while trying to keep this girl off the kidnappers radar she seems to have fallen right onto it.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Paperback

First published January 23, 2013

About the author

Miles is a Sun Scorpio with the heart of a Moon Pisces. She began her publishing journey in 2012, admittedly maybe a little too soon. Her eclectic taste comes through in each book she writes, ranging from soft fantasy romances to dark brooding poetry to serial killers that hold a grudge.

Reviews

[Cassidie · Rating 4 out of 5]

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Actual Rating: 4.5

Ember Reed is a fifteen year-old spook, a Shifter. By definition at least, as she has a hard time with shifting even parts of her. However, soon her abilities starting to evolve and become something they wouldn't be supposed to according to everybody. It proves to be right, though, when everything gets messed up and dangerous.


It had caught my eyes a long time ago for its colorfulness and abundance in different types of preternatural creatures and it didn't have me disappointed. There were witches and psychics, vampires and shifters and elves and many many others mentioned. They were all really detailed, had many curious abilities and traits.

I also adored the plot. It was full of twists and mysteries that wouldn't let my attention languish. Albeit, I didn't always like how these twists ended up to be. The whole book was peppered with the thought that "They are not who they appear to be," which I found a bit annoying.

On the other hand, as much as I doted on the plot was I not content with the characters. All of them seemed childish to me, even the older ones. The only one, who I suppose, was meant to really be childish is Ember whom I found a little annoying but altogether I liked her. She was just fifteen and a bit sophomoric, that's all. Anyways, she was kind and nice to even her bullies and wasn't chicken at all.

In conclusion, I did like it very much, yet I think the characters could have been a little bit better and also I was annoyed by the unpleasant way it turned out to be in the end in terms of characters.

[Chels · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was only average for me. It didn’t suck me into a new world or make me attached to the characters. It was a good idea though. The plot was pretty cool and some of the characters were ok but it was nothing special.

I found the main character, Ember, to be really annoying and whiny, Boo I have no friends, boo everyone makes fun of me. She gives them a reason to be mean. She’s too peppy and really, really naive. I can’t stand those qualities in a main character. Basically instead of having a strong female heroine, the author made her this really typical teenage girl who just wants to fit in. I want to read a good story about a main character I can look up to. She’s not someone anybody should be looking up to. She has no redeeming qualities. One character I really liked was Gavin. The only thing was, we hardly see him in the book. He’s just kind of around sometimes, not really a part of anything. Same with Wolf. He was the big brother figure but he was hardly ever around. Jayd was ok at the start but then he started dating this girl and everything went downhill from there. I thin k this author needs to work on character development.

I also wasn’t a huge fan of the plot. The writing wasn’t really good and it hurt the story. You could tell that the plot could have been good if some things were tweaked a little. Or a lot.

[ɑƨħŵɑɡ ♥Team Magnus Damora FOREVER♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

D. L. Miles became a favorite of mine after reading the Ethereal Crossing series. So imagine my happiness when i found out there's another series for her. I had to get it. I read the sample published on Wettpad and it was really good with potential badassary. But as i bought the ebook and continued reading, it was ..... meh! It was really predictable. I didn't feel like i was reading something special like i did with The Ethereal Crossing nor was the events as enjoyable as how the story began. Sadly, it was just a jumble of relationships. This could have been written so much better especially with a girl like Ember, who is sweet but strong at the same time, and i find those types of heroines rare to find in ya books.

What i loved besides Ember is Wolf's relationship with her. It was a really touching one that wasn't deeply explored. Loved the relationship between jayd and Ember if not for certain events.

This book could have been better but sadly, it didn't. So if you're looking for a well-done paranormal story it's not for you.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite liked Ember as a character and how she always tries to be positive but I imagine she would be quite irritating in real life as determinedly perky people often are. I really liked the friendship between Ember and Jayden - it felt real and supportive so I wasn't particularly happy with that ending.