From Within The Light by C Warner Thompson

 

Today I'm reviewing From Within The Light by the wonderful Clemy Warner-Thompson a UK based author who I have had the pleasure of meeting through Bookstagram. I feel that this book is suitable for both teenage and young adult audiences however I'm sure that more mature readers will also enjoy it. I'm not very good at summaries so here's the blub; 

Cassie Fayewood hates her life.
Her father is always away working, and her mother is constantly nagging her to be better. Spending time with her younger brother, Dillen, and her constant college studies are all that keep her distracted. She wants nothing more than to get away and live her life somewhere else, be someone else, until something changes.
A young man catches her eye. Tall, dark, tattoos. There’s immediately something about him that Cassie feels drawn to. Matthew Kale is your typical ‘I can do anything’ college guy, but something changes in him every time he meets her gaze.
The warmth that spreads through her steals her breath away. And his eyes, so dark and inviting, call to her senses. There’s something beautiful about him, something angelic. Cassie doesn’t know him but the knot of familiarity—the tangle of butterflies she feels whenever she’s near him—have they spoken before?
Their new friendship is thrown into chaos before she can find out.
Darkness spreads through her life like a living shadow, and she loses everything. Having no one and no home left to run to, Cassie must escape with the help of Kale, despite the uncertainty that oozes through her.
Time won’t wait for her to find the answers she needs.
Neither will the demons hunting for her soul.

I enjoyed this book right from the very start where the prologue jumps straight to the action of our two main characters fleeing their pursuers and a last minute decision is very telling of how far they are both willing to go for each other.

The next section of the book starts as if it is going to throw us right into a normal college existence and drama however the book balances a small element of that with the supernatural happenings that are already taking place in Cassie's life. We also get to see the dynamics and relationships of her family early on which I find helps as they do continue to play a role throughout the novel in particular her brother Dillen. 

All of the characters were very clear and I feel that each got the correct amount of focus as the story was primarily told from Cassie's perspective however we were able to view certain events from the supporting characters when necessary. I enjoyed that the supernatural creatures within this novel weren't all 100% good or evil and there was that slightly grey area where they were able to struggle with their own emotions/decisions and I feel that this really helped with the character development throughout. 

Cassie was a fairly consistent character although there was some growth for her she remained steadfast in her core traits including her selflessness which was really nice to see. The pacing of this novel was good with a nice balance of slower and faster sections however it was a bit slow to pick up at the start, however that's often the price we pay for the good world building the author was able to execute in this story. Everything I've mentioned above goes into making this a truly engaging and heartfelt novel which I hope you'll go on to read.

If you take my recommendation and fancy giving some of Clemy's work a go I would recommend finding her on Instagram @cwarnerthompson as she has various links to purchase her books both in the UK and abroad.