Rayne's Reviews > Shutter

3.5 stars

Shutter is a bit of Fatal Frame


meets Kohta Hirano's Hellsing


meets Resident Evil


meets Ghostbusters.


This is definitely not the book I was expecting, and there were a couple of things in there that I didn't like and that I wish I could whine and complain about, but the truth is that the final product was surprisingly satisfying and provided me with a very enjoyable experience, which says a lot coming from someone with a chip or two on her shoulder concerning how some aspects of the novel were handled.

I was not expecting for the book to be based so much on Stoker's Dracula, and I was immediately turned off by it. It took some getting used to the idea of an agency/academy where the descendants of those who took part in the hunting of Dracula lead and train an army against the undead. I kept getting flashbacks of Hellsing, Vol. 01, but Alameda soon made the story her own and made it work very well. In this world, everyone knows about the undead and who they gonna call when they start chewing/possessing people.



Sorta like Ghostbusters, but way bloodier. I wouldn't classify this book as strictly horror. There were certainly creepy parts and gore galore, but this one leaned more towards paranormal action with a couple of creepy scenes rather than outright horror, and I think that's the root of my issues with the novel. I was expecting full on horror, Fatal Frama style. Of course, I fully acknowledge that was my fault rather than the book's. The synopsis was pretty clear about what the book would be about, it was I who made assumptions, and ultimately, I unintentionally hurt my own experience with this book. It was a bit hard to get into the novel initially because of that, but the truth is that it didn't take long for me to get really interested in the novel. Like I said, Alameda really made it work.

The author left no rock unturned, no concept unexplored, no idea unexplained. She had a perfectly logical and thorough reason and explanation for just about everything in the novel. I never had a problem imagining anything in the novel, because Alameda made it her life mission to detail for the reader every single aspect of whatever she was introducing, whether it was how Micheline's camera or how her eyes worked, or how weapons functioned and how the ghosts were able to cross into this world. I don't think I've ever read a more detailed and thorough YA paranormal book. Alameda left nothing to chance, nothing for the readers to wonder about and make their own assumptions. She gave us a world and she made sense of it all, which made it really easy to visualize it and get lost in it. All this resulted in a very original and fascinating take on old and tired concepts.

This novel is very action packed, almost relentless in its delivery. There's hardly a moment of rest for these characters, and though that made for a very quick pace, it also made the novel a bit repetitive, especially because the action hangs on hunting, facing and failing to defeat the exact same entity a couple of times in the novel. In the end, though, the novel is still very entertaining and fun.

Shutter is undeniably predictable. Anyone paying attention will be able to see the big reveals coming, but interestingly enough, it didn't bother me because of how they were delivered. I'm sure these twists were intended to shock the reader somewhat, but their reveals were made up of so much more than the discovery of who the bad guy was. They were delivered in such a way that made the repercussions of that reveal and the way it impacted the characters a whole lot more important than the discovery of the mystery. Actually, one of the big reveals of the novel, one I saw coming from a mile away, still had quite an impact on me because of how the scene unraveled and the way it shaped Micheline.

Micheline was a formidable main character. Sure, she was reckless and prone to melodramas, but she was brave, stubborn and loyal. I do wish the secondary characters, especially the love interest, had exhibited as many facets as Micheline. The guys, Ryder, Jude and Oliver, had a palpable presence in the novel, but their personalities were fairly standard and slightly brushed over. The same goes for Leonard, Micheline's dad. To me, he was slightly one-dimensional. I liked the relationships and the general idea behind the dynamics between them all, but they never came across as entirely complex or deep for me.

Moreover, the novel had a couple of issues that just rubbed me off the wrong way. First off, there was a surprising lack of females in the novel, and one of the two that are featured the most is a cruel, bitchy mean girl, and the other is hardly important to the plot. Likewise, Micheline's situation with her dad felt a bit generic, shallow and too much like fodder for drama. And I especially didn't like at all the reason behind the forbidden romance between Micheline and Ryder. I appreciate the book's attempt to be much more than action and creepy scenes, to give several layers of complications and drama for the characters to deal with, but some of it didn't sit well with me for they felt either forced or too shallow.

I was enjoying this book very much, but I was still unconvinced of what my rating would be until the ending came around. That climax was spectacular. It was thrilling, engaging, exhilarating and fantastically plotted. Every single one of my complaints fell away when the climax rolled around, it was that enjoyable. The last 50 pages or so made every little issue I had with the novel almost inconsequential. It truly was a fantastic way to end the novel.

In the end, Shutter is a very interesting and entertaining novel. I struggled sometimes with the writing, particularly the past tense, but the novel was well-structured, very well explained and stood on a very solid foundation. Probably one of the best YA PNR I've read in a while. A bit flawed, but a very difficult book to put down and a very easy story to like.