Silk & Serif

Received as a ARC copy via NetGalley


Revealed is a YA Paranormal Romance surrounding humanoid cryptids, or people who have animal DNA mixed into their genetics making them have special abilities. Our heroine is Shay, a girl who has no idea what she is before she meets Hugh, a cute college boy who knows all about her genetic heritage. The two develop feelings for one another and we learn about the ancestry behind cryptids including the Mosi Native American tribe who share DNA with the cat. Over time the Mosi tribe’s prophecy surrounding the couple begins to be revealed and then things get really interesting.

The Darkness also known as Malsumis is the evil half of the Gods’ sons. The sons were created to take care of the human’s world but, Malsumis seeks to destroy humanity and even more so the cryptids who are more like gods than humans and therefore a threat. The calibre of realism is believable concerning this foe. The lore speaks of a great evil that all cryptids hide from, thus they have never “come out” to humans in fear of being located by The Darkness. The lore even includes blood drinking and treachery! Yum, yum.

The only problem with this richly lore enshrouded, and elaborately developed plot is: it lacks the meat and potatoes of a real block buster. The ending is rather quickly wrapped up, and the time leading up to Prom is largely ignored. Shay tells Hugh she loves him only within a third of the book, without even really knowing him. The use of small details, slower plot development and perhaps some climatic tricks would have made this story fantastic rather than just decent.

I hope the final copy of this book is developed more, so the characters are less two dimensional, and the plot is stronger. That said, Revealed is a fantastic novel that develops a lore and background to a culture that seems to be relatively believable (as far as many Native American myths can be to a mid-twenties white girl), and is incredibly refreshing from the average genetically modified and/or shifter craze that is all the rage in YA fiction.