Sanctum (Guards of the Shadowlands #1)
by Sarah Fine (Author) and Amy McFadden (Narrator)
Introduction
I chose this book because he description was interesting, and it was available on Kindle Unlimited as both read and listen. I needed something to listen to while I work out, so I gave it a try. This is not your typical YA fantasy novel, and Lela is not your typical YA heroine. It was like a breath of fresh air to enjoy a story this original.
Genre
YA fantasy
Narration
First person past tense told by the main character, Lela Santos
Characters
Lela Santos - seventeen year old girl, in foster care since she was four
Diane - Lela’s foster mom
Nadia - Most popular girl in her high school and Lela’s best friend
Malachi - human Captain of the Guard in the Dark City
Anna - human Lieutenant in the Guard if the Dark City
Raphael - angel, healer
Michael - angel, weapons master
Setting
Present day Rhode Island, and the Dark City
Theme
Redemption and healing
Intended audience
Young adult, but the material is dark with difficult material including rape and suicide. May not be suitable for all teens.
Plot
Lela has been in the foster system since she was four. It hasn’t generally treated her well, but as the story opens, she is in a much better situation, with a foster mom who actually cares for her and a surprising best friend Nadia. On the outside, beautiful Nadia seems to have it all. It shocks everyone when she kills herself. Lela dreams of Nadia trapped in a hellish nightmare landscape — the Dark City — and she can’t bear to leave her friend there. She chooses to give up everything to save Nadia. In doing so she finds her own redemption and discovers that things are much more complicated than she had ever imagined.
About the Author
In addition to the Guards of the Shadowlands
series, Sara Fine has written three other series. I haven’t read any of them yet, but she is an author well worth following. Find out more on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5752145.Sarah_Fine and her website http://sarahfinebooks.com/.
My Opinion
Lela is a fierce heroine who has had a tough life. Her first reaction to nearly everything is to fight. Nadia brings out the better side of Lela and slowly leads her to a place of hope. Lela’s friendship with Nadia is the heart of the story. In a surprising and original premise, two girls are actually friends and support each other. This shouldn’t be so rare as to require special praise, but unfortunately, it is.
The story gets really dark, not unusual for a YA novel (The Hunger Games shows us a dystopian future where children kill each other for the amusement of the ruling elite), but Sanctum gets dark about much more realistic problems — rape, suicide, drug abuse, and the loneliness of depression. It is also a paranormal fantasy with angels, demons (or whatever the mazikin really are), and the underworld — yet it feels grounded in reality by Lela and her all too real emotional baggage.
Lela chooses to go to hell, literally, to rescue her friend Nadia, and throughout the novel she never loses sight of that goal. Sara Fine delivers some amazing world building. The Dark City turns out to be just one place the dead can end up and is specifically designed for those who commit suicide. It’s a sort of purgatory where they can let go of their issues and eventually reach redemption. The author does an excellent job of making it a creepy, dark, and foreboding place.
Much of the mythology is deliberately vague. Lela guesses that Raphael the healer and Michael the weapons master are angels, but they never confirm it. The guards of the city are giants and we are told they were made for their task, but we never know by whom. Finally, in the Sanctum in the middle of the city, there is a mysterious person known as The Judge. She appears as a motherly woman to Lela and Nadia, but she appears differently to each person. When souls are ready to leave the city, they go to the Judge to receive a verdict and are sent to some final destination — hopefully to ‘the countryside’ which seems to be heaven.
Other reviewers have said that Malachi is too perfect, and I suppose he is. But he isn’t the point of it all. I see Malachi as just another temptation for Lela and as a way for her to finally understand her own worth. He exists solely to further Lela’s story. He does have a tragic backstory, but as Lela tells the story from her point of view, he isn’t really a fleshed-out hero.
In the end, Lela chooses Nadia, the friend she loves and came to rescue. I especially like the ending because things aren’t nearly as simple as Lela supposed and she learns that. The Judge gives Lela and Nadia a chance to really talk to each other and reach some understanding. In that process, Lela learns valuable lessons about her own motives.
The Judgment for Lela, who wasn’t supposed to be in the Dark City at all, sets up the sequel rather nicely. I enjoyed this story so much, I started immediately on book 2. I give it five out of five stars.
Audible Performance
I won't subtract stars for this, but I don't recommend the audible version. The narrator does a great job with Lela's voice, but she voices really annoying (in some cases offensive) accents for the other characters. I would have enjoyed it more without those.