Publishers Weekly
Beautiful Lucinda (Luce) Price is banished from everything she knows after a mysterious fire leaves her friend Trevor dead and Luce shouldering the blame. She is forced to board at a decrepit reform school where students are under the constant watch of cameras and must go without cellphones or Internet access. Grief-stricken by Trevor's death and horrified by her new surroundings, Luce is also plagued by sinister, terrifying shadows that appear wherever she goes. The remote gothic setting provides the standard backdrop for the crux of the story, first in a planned series—the romantic feelings Luce develops for the elusive, unpredictable, and rather unlikable Daniel. Aside from the evil shadows, the plot can be summed up with a single word: pining. Luce longs for Daniel in various ways—dreaming of him, digging up information, trying to talk to him, experiencing rejection, then trying again. Some readers will pine right alongside Luce, but others may feel that Kate spends too much time on unrequited love and too little on forward movement in Luce's relationship with Daniel and the mystery of what, exactly, Daniel is. Ages 12–up. (Dec.)
School Library Journal
Gr 8 Up—Luce must spend her senior year at reform school after her boyfriend dies in a mysterious fire. She suspects that the dark shadows that have tormented her all her life had something to do with it. When she meets supernaturally gorgeous Daniel, she feels a familiar longing, making her believe they have met before. Although Cam is clearly interested in her, Luce only wants Daniel, who runs both hot and cold. He tries to keep Luce at a distance, telling her that the truth would kill her as it has many times before. The first chapter is gripping and foreshadows the supernatural elements to come. The plot revolves around lovers who find one another, only to lose one another over and over again in a story that spans centuries. Instead of vampires, though, these are fallen angels. Many elements are not resolved, such as the cause of the fire and why angels are at this school. Still, fans of supernatural romance will be lining up for this book despite its flaws, and begging for a sequel.—Kris Hickey, Columbus Metropolitan Library, OH
Kirkus Reviews
There's no better place to encounter your centuries-old true love than reform school, right? Luce, newly enrolled at Sword & Cross School after a fire kills her sort-of boyfriend, is instantly attracted to two majorly gorgeous bad boys, elusive Daniel and popular Cam. She can also see clouds of dark shadows, but she doesn't know why or where they come from. With the help of a friend, Luce discovers that Daniel has a storied supernatural history. The Southern Gothic atmosphere, the best part of the book, is so well crafted that readers can easily picture Luce walking among the marshes and crumbling buildings. Daniel's angelic identity is one that will be obvious to any reader with knowledge of the Bible. By the time Luce figures it out, however, the evil school librarian has Luce in her clutches, threatening to end Luce and Daniel's One True Love. This would be no great loss, as Luce lacks personality, and it is never clear to readers why the two hottest guys in school would compete for her attention. This angel story fails to rise above. (Supernatural. YA)
