Sanctum by Sarah Fine Series: Guards of the Shadowlands #1
Published by Amazon Children's Publishing on October 16th, 2012
Genres: Horror, YA
Goodreads
“My plan: Get into the city. Get Nadia. Find a way out. Simple.”
A week ago, seventeen-year-old Lela Santos’s best friend, Nadia, killed herself. Today, thanks to a farewell ritual gone awry, Lela is standing in paradise, looking upon a vast gated city in the distance—hell. No one willingly walks through the Suicide Gates, into a place smothered in darkness and infested with depraved creatures. But Lela isn’t just anyone—she’s determined to save her best friend’s soul, even if it means sacrificing her eternal afterlife.
As Lela struggles to find Nadia, she’s captured by the Guards, enormous, not-quite-human creatures that patrol the dark city’s endless streets. Their all-too-human leader, Malachi, is unlike them in every way except one: his deadly efficiency. When he meets Lela, Malachi forms his own plan: get her out of the city, even if it means she must leave Nadia behind. Malachi knows something Lela doesn’t—the dark city isn’t the worst place Lela could end up, and he will stop at nothing to keep her from that fate.
I originally gave “Sanctum” four stars and after thinking about it I have decided I must have been delusional.
“Sanctum” is the story of Lela, who literally goes to hell to free her best friend Nadia who committed suicide. That right there put the book at a disadvantage for me. It may sound selfish but why should I go to hell after you left me here to wander why. I immediately thought how whinny and stupid the book was going to be, but since I am such a cover-whore I read it anyway.
So far this year I have read 103 books. 19 of those made my “best I’ve read 2012” shelf. “Sanctum” is number 9 on that shelf.
There are very few words to describe how I felt about this book but awesomeness is a pretty good one. I picked this book up expecting a two star review to follow once I finished it. I expected so little that I didn’t even bother to read other reviews on it. Nothing could have prepared me for the inner turmoil I felt when I finished this book. I’m not exaggerating. On the outside I probably looked like I was in shock, but inside I was doing that long cry where no sound is coming out but your nose and your eyes are still running. Trust me it wasn’t pretty.
“Sanctum” was everything I wanted, everything I hated and everything I needed all rolled into one. I had my fearless and loyal kick ass heroine in Lela. My swoon worthy kick ass sweetheart in Malachi. The chick I wanted to stab multiple times with a spork in Nadia. The loyal best-friend who speaks her mind and won’t take shit from anyone in Ana. I had a world I could hear and smell and feel, a plot that was so original and yet easily predictable. It was perfect. I take my hat off and throw it at the feet of Ms. Fine for this masterpiece her mind has somehow created and I beg her to hurry with the books to follow.
can you really say no to this face?
Every aspect of this book was amazing in a way that I can’t describe and I demand other people read its awesomeness!
