Janet Emson reviews The Sentinel for After the Final Chapters
What’s it about?
WHAT IF SAVING THE WORLD MEANT LOSING EVERYTHING?
When Eve is rescued from a horrific coach crash by her teachers, she is shocked to discover they possess super strength and speed. But what happens next is even more harrowing.
In the aftermath of the crash she discovers that everyone in her life from neighbours, doctors, dentists, teachers, shop keepers and even her family and friends are actually super strength Guardians sent to protect her. They all have one thing in common, a single minded ferocity that she must be kept alive at all costs.
However, she is surrounded by secrets and lies. Those in the know deny all knowledge of what happened that fateful night. Everyone else carries on as normal, seemingly unaware of the new strange world that she has stumbled against.
With the help of Seth, her best friend, Eve discovers the prophecies surrounding her true identity and the super strength she too holds. With her Guardians pledged to protect her, her closest friends ready to die for her, her own hopes and dreams are put on hold whilst she battles to control the amazing powers she has been bestowed with.
But those that seek to destroy her move ever closer. Will the Guardians be enough to protect her when so many are prepared to stop at nothing to see her dead? And will she be strong enough to fulfil her destiny when the time comes?
What I thought
This book starts with a bang, literally and continues at the same pace. Eve is 17. Her world changes when the coach she is travelling on is involved in a horrific crash. As the coach teeters on the edge of a cliff she watches as her teachers seemingly do the impossible – they pull the coach to safety.
She soon finds out that she is The Sentinel, created to save the world and that all the people she has ever known are her Guardians, pledged to protect her from those who don’t want her to fulfil her destiny.
This is the debut novel of Holly and she provided me with a copy of her novel in exchange for an honest review.
This book reminded me of Twilight, despite being nothing like it! For want of a better explanation it seems to have the same ‘atmosphere’ as Stephanie Meyer’s series. Yes it is a paranormal young adult romance but that is really where the similarity ends.
Eve is a strong character, accepting almost without question that she is different and that the world is full of beings and creatures that humans are unaware of. She is perhaps a little too accepting, there are very few occasions where she questions what she is being told.
She perhaps has little time to do anything other than accept without too many questions as many attempts are made on her life, interspersed with learning her new powers and responsibilities, and of course falling in love. The love story between Eve and Seth is a core part of the story and a lovely journey as a reader to take. Eve comes across as a genuinely kind girl, whose natural instinct to care for others soon has an effect on her Guardians, who aren’t built for human emotions and she soon accepts that it is her destiny to save the world, even if it means dying in the process…
This is the first a series of books and as such sets the scene for the rest of the series but there’s plenty of action, love and story development to make it an excellent opener. It is well written, drawing you in from the beginning and I soon found myself on the final few pages, knowing that there wouldn’t be an ultimate denouement but eager to find out what would happen. I look forward to the next in the series and seeing what’s in store for Eve and her friends.
After The Final Chapters 