Chapter by Chapter

I went into Whispering Hills completely blind. I didn’t know what to expect and my predictions of the novel sounded outrageous. My first guess was that it was going to be some creep-show thriller and my next guess was that it was going to literally be about whispering hills. Thankfully, the novel is nothing like my guesses—it was even better! Instantly as the novel began I was brought back to memories of the Shade series and began falling in love with Whispering Hills from the opening sentence: “I’m going to kill her.” Come on. If you aren’t already interested in the novel…well, then *la pretzel face*. Oh and just in case that hasn’t reeled you in yet (which I am shocked by) I’ll also mention that we get such a fast introduction to the romantic male lead Chance.Oh Chance… who is so charming, witty and romantic. Readers are bound to fall in love with him, I know that I did. Not only does Chance manage to end up in a relationship with the main character Alexis in record time after knowing her for only a period of days (pretty speedy there tough guy), but there are chapters in his POV (point of view) and they are told in the third person.Personally, I found these third person chapters more enjoyable than the story itself sometimes. Mainly because they held so much mystery, not only did author Taryn Browning manage to put in so many details that hinted at Chance not having normal teenage experiences (ex: his first high school dance, but he’s seventeen…) and at him not being normal in general. Kind of fishy, but it’s definitely worth it. Alexis’s psychic ability played a major role in the novel, and it was one of those abilities that I wouldn’t mind having; Mind reading. The way that Browning wrote about the thoughts that Alexis could hear and the impact that they had on her physically had me thinking of an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer where Buff could hear everybody’s thoughts and one of the thoughts being a killers. Maybe you’ve seen it, maybe you haven’t—my point is that the novel is exactly like that. Alexis would be hearing somebody’s decisions and then BANG! You hear the killer. Not only did it have my creep levels off the charts, but at one point we end up learning one thing and that is the killer’s name: Gabriel the ghost… erm…yeah you heard me right: Ghost.As the novel progressed, it began to move at an insanely quick pace. Not only was it twist after twist and dramatic chapter conclusion after dramatic chapter conclusion, but there is actually a whole lot more than simple ghost whispering going on. There’s witchcraft and pyrokenisis and dark secrets that are about to become discovered when really they should be left alone. All in all, a heart pounding read that I won’t soon forget. Not to mention that it finishes on a note where a sequel must be created and I know who will eagerly counting the days until it lands in my hands. *points at self*. I would recommend this to somebody who wants to read a paranormal novel or even fans of the Shade series. Ghost and romance lovers everywhere are bound to love Whispering Hills. Happy ghost hunting.