Title: Haze (The Rephaim #2)
Author: Paula Weston
Release Date: September 9, 2014
Publisher: Tundra Books
Pages: 448
Source: Copy provided by publisher

Overall: 4.5 Stars

Summary:

Gaby Winters' life used to be pretty normal. She lived with her best friend. She worked in a library. She was slowly getting over the death of her twin brother, Jude. And then Rafa came looking for her.

With him, her blood-soaked nightmares stopped. But now they are reality. She is one of the Rephaim - a wingless half angel, descended from the Fallen. Demons exist and they are hunting her.

She knows she's alive when she's meant to be dead. And that means maybe Jude is too. So why isn't she out there looking for him? 

My Thoughts:  
Paula Weston's Shadows was very much an introduction to the Rephaim series, but Haze wastes no time plunging right into the heart of the Rephaim world. Fast-paced and utterly addictive, I couldn't stop reading Haze until I reached the very last page. Gaby's past is still very much a mystery that needs to be unraveled and readers are brought another step closer to learning the truth.

Gaby has finally accepted that she's no ordinary human girl—she's a half-angel who used to be one of the Rephaim's best fighters until she and her twin brother Jude mysteriously disappeared a year ago. Since learning of her angelic heritage, Gaby has been trying to understand and reconcile the girl she used to be as "Gabe" in the past and the girl she is now in the present as "Gaby". But an even greater revelation has shaken Gaby's world: Jude may still be alive.

After grieving everyday the past year believing Jude was killed in a car accident, Gaby is afraid to hope her brother is alive. She knows her memories have been tampered and changed, and Rafa is more than ready to search for answers about his best friend, but Gaby is hesitant to confront her past. Even though there's a chance Jude may not be dead after all, it would feel like losing him all over again if her hopes came crashing down.

I'm absolutely crushing hard on Rafa! He's always encouraging Gaby to trust her instincts and always has her back when she's rushing into dangerous situations. Rafa recognizes that although Gaby is not really a trained fighter anymore, she is still very much a force to be reckoned with and more than capable of taking care of herself. He may not always agree with Gaby's decisions, but he respects them and does what he can to help her.

You can tell something major happened between Gaby and Rafa in the past, but Rafa's very reluctant and wary to reveal any details. It just makes me all the more curious to learn more! Gaby's opinion of him is obviously very important to Rafa, and he doesn't want to seem somehow lesser in her eyes. Rafa comes across as confident and self-assured, but we can't forget that he's hiding just as much pain as Gaby has felt the past year. He suddenly lost the two people closest to him and he still hasn't really gotten either of them back.

It's hard to really say too much about Haze plot-wise because it would feel kind of like giving away spoilers. Knowing less when you begin reading is probably best. If you loved Shadows, then you're going to love this book even more! And I seriously can't believe Haze ended the way it did. I was left gasping in shock, desperate to know what would happen next. I need Shimmer. Right. Now.

Thanks so much to Tundra Books / Random House Canada for providing this review copy!