Haze by Paula Weston (Tour Review + Giveaway)

I really, really love the Rephaim books, so I was very excited to take part in a tour for them again, this time for Book 2, Haze. I even picked today as a tour date so I could promote a book I absolutely adore on my birthday. But imagine my surprise when I opened up my copy of Haze and found this:

So exciting!! I've been blurbed in catalogues and on Amazon pages before, but this is the first time I've seen a blurb of mine in a book. So thank you, Tundra! I love that this happened with one of my favourite series.

Haze by Paula Weston
Release Date: September 9, 2014
Publisher: Tundra Books
Pages: 448
Series: The Rephaim #2
Review Source: Finished copy for review from publisher

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)

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:
Sometimes when you love a book it's hard to describe exactly how much and why you love it. This is exactly the case with Shadows (Book 1) and Haze, but I'll attempt to do my feelings justice. To put it simply, this book makes me happy. It makes me excited about the series and where it’s going, and it makes me excited about reading in general. Haze is exactly the type of book I wish more people were reading.

I mentioned this in my Shadows review, but angel books generally don't do it for me. This series? Huge exception. Haze has cemented the fact that The Rephaim is one of my favourite series. These books are exciting and 'unputdownable', an equal mix of quiet heartfelt moments and action.

Even though I love exciting plotlines, I mostly read for character. The characters here are layered and dynamic. Gaby is dying to find her brother, but she has conflicted feelings about it, too. Rafa misses his best mate, Jude, but he also has to deal with his growing feelings for Gaby. This is complicated further by him having a whole history with Gabe. Rafa is irritatingly vague about this past, but it’s understandable that he wants to move forward with Gaby and have a fresh start of sorts. I loved how protective Rafa was over Gaby, and that these feelings are mixed with him wanting Gaby to be the strong, kick butt person she once was. I adored this continuing relationship between them. It’s antagonistic and messy, but there's also a trust there. Rafa and Gaby have a deep connection filled with affection and, let's face it, hotness.

The main plotline of Haze is centred on the idea of finding Jude and figuring out what happened during Gaby’s missing year. Even though it's just been a week since Shadows started, Gaby has definitely come into her own. She still feels lost and confused (who wouldn’t after finding out all your memories are lies?), but now that she has a purpose she's willing to fight for it and those she cares about.

This book is exciting and it all leads up to a "no no no, why did you leave it there?!" type of ending. North American readers will be dying for the next book, Shimmer, and jealous of those in the UK and Australia who already have it. I can’t recommend these books enough. They have a distinct Aussie style to them, with the setting and the language. They also feature fantastic world building and characters who you really get to know and love. Even with the characters you dislike it’s easy to find depth in them. Shadows and Haze are well written books which provide an engaging reading experience, one that will make you excited about the Rephaim world, the characters, and about young adult books in general.

The Cover:
Like!!

Rating:
[5/5]

Purchase Links:
Kobo | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com | Chapters-Indigo | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

As part of the blog tour we answered some questions to find out Which Rephaim Character are You? And it turns out...

I'm pretty excited to be Ez! She is completely bad ass, but she's also very loving. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's results, which will be revealed on their tour date.

GIVEAWAY:

Tundra is giving away sets of Shadows (signed!) and Haze hardcovers to three winners. Simply reply to this post for one entry. You can follow along with the blog tour and reply to each post for additional entries. Full contest details can be found here. Ends Sunday, September 21, 2014 at 11:49 pm EST.