Review : Sanctum by Sarah Fine

Summary (from Goodreads) 

Title : Sanctum (Guards of Shadowland #1)
Author : Sarah Fine
Publication Date : October 16th 2012
Publisher : Amazon Children's Publishing
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

“My plan: Get into the city. Get Nadia. Find a way out. Simple.”

A week ago, seventeen-year-old Lela Santos’s best friend, Nadia, killed herself. Today, thanks to a farewell ritual gone awry, Lela is standing in paradise, looking upon a vast gated city in the distance—hell. No one willingly walks through the Suicide Gates, into a place smothered in darkness and infested with depraved creatures. But Lela isn’t just anyone—she’s determined to save her best friend’s soul, even if it means sacrificing her eternal afterlife.

As Lela struggles to find Nadia, she’s captured by the Guards, enormous, not-quite-human creatures that patrol the dark city’s endless streets. Their all-too-human leader, Malachi, is unlike them in every way except one: his deadly efficiency. When he meets Lela, Malachi forms his own plan: get her out of the city, even if it means she must leave Nadia behind. Malachi knows something Lela doesn’t—the dark city isn’t the worst place Lela could end up, and he will stop at nothing to keep her from that fate.

Personal Thoughts 

I read Sanctum almost two years while I was going through a horrendous book slump because of a recommendation from Maja at The Nocturnal Library and Heidi from Rainy Day Ramblings (Thank you to these lovely ladies!!). From the very first page I knew that I was in for a ride and that it was going to be a series that would consistently impress me. I was obviously right. I didn't write a review back then because I honestly had no idea how to express my feelings, but now that I've finished the series I figured this is a book that certainly deserves some space on my blog.

When Sarah Fine isn't writing, she's a psychologist and this certainly shows through her characterization in Sanctum. It was truly refreshing to see how well developed the characters were in this book. I was a little nervous about our main character, Lela, in the beginning because she really did seem like she had some major issues, but over the course of the book, Sarah Fine made me fall in love with this beautiful character. She was devastated at the loss of her best friend, and I loved how deeply she cared for her. It's so rare to see female positive relationships in YA and while Nadia may have not been there, it was easy to feel all the feelings that Lela felt for her. Throughout the book, Lela underwent tremendous growth and her character growth was one of the best parts of this book. Then we have Malachi. Oh dear Malachi. It was love at first sight (or read) for me when it came to this beautifully broken but brave boy. I found myself itching to read more scenes with him and Sarah Fine truly didn't disappoint. What made Malachi so attractive was genuinely kind and selfless he was despite the rough life he led as a Guard of Shadowlands. Your heart will shatter into million pieces when you find out more about his origin, but his compassionate nature will also pull at your heartstrings. Fine also did not hold back when it came to the development of her secondary characters as well. From Nadia to Ana, all of these characters were fleshed out beautifully. Major props to Sarah Fine for that.

Of course, since Sarah Fine excelled at her characterizations, the romance was top-notch. It was the slow and achingly beautiful kind that makes you incredibly jealous of the characters involved. Come to think of it, this series has one of my all-time favorite romances because of how heart-felt it is. Romance and character-development aren't the only elements that Fine shines at. She is clearly talented at crafting worlds that are original and gritty. The world in Sanctum was all kinds of twisted ,dark and bleak. There were countless moments of agony and sadness. I have to admit that there were points where I was utterly terrified, but I appreciated how unique Sarah Fine's take on Hell and Heaven was. This was not something I had seen before and I was grateful for that. Suicide was also a huge theme in this book and it was all handled meticulously with a lot of compassion from the author's side. Don't let the fact that this is a dark book scare you away though. There were many moments of hope and tenderness that will give you faith in where the author is taking the story. If you can't already tell, I love Sarah Fine's write. It had a stunning quality to it that manage to evoke plenty of emotions from me.

Sanctum is one of the strongest debuts I have ever read. Quite frankly, I have yet to read one that has managed to top Sanctum. This is a series that deserves ALL the hype. This is the kind of series I wish I would see more often in the YA world. If you haven't read Sanctum yet, please do yourself a favor and read this book. It's got something for everyone.

Rating 

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 5/5
Characters : 5/5
Writing : 5/5