Title: Shimmer (The Rephaim #3)
Author: Paula Weston
Release Date: March 8, 2016
Publisher: Tundra Books
Pages: 418
Source: Paperback provided by Penguin Random House Canada
Add to Goodreads | Amazon.ca | Indigo

Overall: 5 STARS

SUMMARY

Gaby thought her life couldn't get more complicated.

She's almost used to the idea that she's not the teenage backpacker she thought she was. She can just about cope with being one of the Rephaim--a 139-year-old half-angel--whose memories have been stolen. She's even coming to grips with the fact that Jude, the brother she's mourned for a year, didn't die at all.

But now Rafa--sexy, infuriating Rafa--is being held, and hurt, by Gatekeeper demons. And Gaby has to get the bitterly divided Rephaim to work together, or Rafa has no chance at all.   

MY THOUGHTS
It has not been an easy wait for the North American release of Paula Weston's Shimmer. After the thrilling events in Haze, and a shocking cliffhanger that left me reeling, who knew we'd have to wait over a year and a half for the third installment in the Rephaim series?! But Shimmer is finally here, and let me tell you, it was absolutely worth the wait. Addictive, heart racing, and thrilling at every turn, I loved the book!

Picking up directly after Haze ended, Gaby is back at the Sanctuary in Italy... but without Rafa, who has been injured and taken captive by Zarael and his Gatekeeper demons in Ohio. An iron room in a farmhouse prevents anyone from shifting in or out to save Rafa and Taya, and there are simply too many demons there for the Outcasts to kill on their own. Gaby's only hope to rescue Rafa is through the support of Nathaniel and his followers at the Sanctuary—not an easy feat when the Rephaim have been divided for over a decade.

Gaby's reintroduction to the paranormal world has not been an easy one, and it hardly gets any better in Shimmer. She may be reunited with Jude, her twin brother she thought was dead, but now she's lost Rafa, the one person she can implicitly trust to have her back. There's still so much she doesn't understand about her past, how she and Jude lost their memories, and what drove them apart all those years ago in the first place, but those answers will have to wait. Rafa needs her. And she won't let him down. 

I was really proud of Gaby in Shimmer. She's not really "Gabe" anymore, one of the Rephaim's fiercest fighters, but she can certainly hold her own in a fight now that her natural instincts and training are steadily returning. For now, the Outcasts and Rephaim at the Sanctuary must work together, but Nathaniel's secrets and refusal to take quick action threaten their uneasy alliance. Every hour that passes brings more uncertainty and fear for Rafa and Taya's fate, and Gaby is not the kind of girl who enjoys feeling helpless.

And the ending! Did that really happen? That last sentence dropped a major bombshell on us with no warning! It was brilliant. Paula Weston sure knows how to blindside her readers... and leave them desperate for the next novel. The Rephaim series has been consistently action-packed and suspenseful, leaving you on the edge of your seat, and Shimmer is no exception. I'm so glad we only have to wait a few more months for Burn!
 
 
  You can click on the banner above for the full SHIMMER blog tour schedule where you'll find more glowing reviews of the third book in the Rephaim series! In the meantime, here are today's blog tour participants:

THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2016

Jaime at Fiction Fare
Liz at Midnight Bloom Reads
Crystal at Winterhaven Books
Andrea at Cozy Up With A Good Read