Review of Summer's Shadow by Anna Wilson

Format: eBook
Genres: mystery, romance, childrens,
Pages: 272
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Release Date: 01/10/2014
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Summer's mother's will states that Summer's legal guardian is her uncle Tristan: a man Summer has never even heard of before. Forced to leave her life in London, Summer moves to Tristan's creepy, ancient house in Cornwall. There she is met with indifference from him, open hostility from her cousin, and an aunt who has chosen to leave rather than to tolerate her presence. Soon Summer comes to believe that the house may be haunted. But is it haunted by ghosts, or by the shadows of her family's past? Scared and lonely, Summer begins to spend more and more time in the beautiful sheltered cove she discovers nearby. But she's not alone. A local boy frequents it too. Can Summer find first love and the answers to the mysteries of her new home with this good-looking boy who appears to be too perfect to be true?

A super quick read, I finished this in a morning. Summer's Shadow is the story of Summer, who moves down to Penzance to live with her distant uncle after her mother's death. Trying to fit in with her new family would be hard enough, but only her Uncle seems to want her around, his wife is never there and Kenan, her cousin, is constantly threatening her. Meanwhile, she thinks she's going crazy, seeing her mother's ghost everywhere and hearing creepy noises in the walls.

This was a fun read but definitely aimed towards the younger end of YA - it's not quite children's but it's not quite YA either. The main character is 14 and the story is told in a YA style, but with a younger feel. I do think younger readers would enjoy this more than older readers, and it's a good story to start with for a child looking to start reading YA.

I loved Zach and Summer's relationship. It's a very sweet, summer romance and he really helps he get through the summer while she's trying to cope with her grief, new surroundings and a cousin that loathes her and just wants her out of the house. Nearly all of their relationship is set on the beaches of Cornwall, somewhere I've been near but never visited.

The story is unusual because it has a creepy, gothic feel to it at the same time as having a summery romantic feel. The cover is super summery too! It's a great mystery, I spent nearly all of my time reading it trying to work out if Summer was indeed seeing ghosts, or if something else was going on. I was surprised by the ending, though.