Haze by Paula Weston (Blog Tour Review)

Released: 9/9/14

Publisher: Tundra books

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

"But what if we can’t find Jude?" 
He leans closer. His breath is warm on my ear. "We will."
"How can you be so sure?" I want to believe him so badly, but this is Rafa. The guy who’s all action and no plan. His smile is tired, knowing. An echo of a shared past I don’t remember. 
"Because I’m not smart enough to give up, and you don’t know how to." 

Gaby Winters’ nightmares have stopped but she still can’t remember her old life. Still can’t quite believe she is one of the Rephaim—the wingless half-angels who can shift from place to place, country to country, in the blink of an eye. That she was once the Rephaim’s best fighter. That demons exist. That Rafa has stayed. 

But most of all, she can’t quite believe that her twin brother, Jude, might be alive. 

And Gaby can’t explain the hesitancy that sidetracks the search for him, infuriates Rafa, and sends them, again, into the darkest danger.

My Thoughts:

This review has seriously been one of the HARDEST ones for me to write. I just want to say I'm OBSESSED. It's FANTASTIC. NOW GO BUY IT!!! Since I am absolutely OBSESSED with this series. 

It is, hands down, one of my favorite series that I have gotten my  hands on. I just don't think that I can put in words how amazing it is or how much I love it. I love it so much I actually ordered the next installment after HAZE, SHIMMER (book 3), from The Book Depository since it releases in Australia WAY before it releases here, because I SERIOUSLY can not wait until next year to see what happens. So yes, I paid a little more than I typically would to get my hands on that book. A girls got to do, what a girls got to do! Am I right?

Before going any further, this is book 2 in the installment, so if you haven't read SHADOWS it could be a little spoilery! Go check out my review for SHADOWS here.

I have such a hard time deciding what I love most about this book. Is it the Rephaim world? Is it Gaby's personality? Rafa? Gaby and Rafa's romance? I simply can't choose. 

The Rephaim world is really phenomenal. Paula Weston has created a place that I thoroughly enjoy being lost in, and I'm always left with wanting more because it's never enough. HAZE left me feeling just like SHADOWS did, as soon as I put it down I wanted to read it again.

The story does not slow down at all in HAZE. I always get nervous when it comes the second books in a series or trilogy. They can sometimes be fillers and can end up being a huge disappointment. HAZE was far from that. It was full of action and learning more and more about the world that Gaby and Jude had been a part of before the accident. I really liked seeing Gaby get to be more involved in the Rephaim issues this time and even participating in some action. There were a lot of subplots in this book, compared to SHADOWS, but I really enjoyed them. I think they gave me a better look into the group that traveled with Jude and Rafa and the group that Gaby was a part of. I'm still really curious to where it's all leading to.

Gaby is one of the most kick butt heroines I have come across. I love her "I don't need anyone, I got this" attitude. In HAZE Gaby does show a little more of her vulnerable side, which I really liked seeing. She was having a hard time going to look for Jude because of emotional reasons, it really let me see a different side of her, one where she shows fear. Gaby got thrown into this world really fast so I have been in awe with how well she has adjusted. She really comes into her own with the Rephaim world in HAZE with some of the other things that take place. She is also still struggling with what made her and Jude split apart before the accident and why she was ever on the same side as Daniel and the Sanctuary. 

Rafa is, of course, just as sexy as ever. Seriously love this guy. One of my favorite things about Rafa is his loyalty to Gaby and Jude. He has been fighting since the beginning to figure out what happened to them, and then after finding Gaby, trying to find Jude. He cares so much about them and that is just something that makes me adore him. I also really like the way he is with Gaby. He is there for her when she needs him but at the same time he knows she can handle stuff on her own, and no way is he trying to be her protector. There were also several parts in HAZE where I really got to see a more vulnerable side of Rafa. He is always so tough, like nothing can get to him, it was different seeing some parts that really opened him up some. 

The whole romance in this book has been one of my favorite book romances also. It has not, at any time, taken over the story. It is one of those slow-building, tension-filled romances that had me yelling "WOULD YOU JUST KISS ALREADY" at the book a thousand times!!!! Then when things happen...it's like the world is completely right finally. 

HAZE ended up answering quite a few big questions, but it also left me with about a thousand more. I really can't wait to see what else Weston has in store for us, and how everything will turn out. There was quite the cliffhanger at the ending of HAZE that made me gasp and then proceed to really FREAK OUT!!! Overall the book was just absolutely perfect, from beginning to end, in my opinion. 

So if you have read SHADOWS, definitely go pick up HAZE RIGHT NOW, if you haven't then go pick up BOTH!!! Trust me you will want them, and you will need them.