Early Review: The Veil by Chloe Neill

, by Kt Clapsadl

The Veil by Chloe Neill
Devil's Isle #1

Seven years ago, the Veil that separates humanity from what lies beyond was torn apart, and New Orleans was engulfed in a supernatural war. Now, those with paranormal powers have been confined in a walled community that humans call the District. Those who live there call it Devil's Isle.

Claire Connolly is a good girl with a dangerous secret: she’s a Sensitive, a human endowed with magic that seeped through the Veil. Claire knows that revealing her skills would mean being confined to Devil’s Isle. Unfortunately, hiding her power has left her untrained and unfocused.

Liam Quinn knows from experience that magic makes monsters of the weak, and he has no time for a Sensitive with no control of her own strength. But when he sees Claire using her powers to save a human under attack—in full view of the French Quarter—Liam decides to bring her to Devil’s Isle and the teacher she needs, even though getting her out of his way isn’t the same as keeping her out of his head.

But when the Veil threatens to shatter completely, Claire and Liam must work together to stop it, or else New Orleans will burn…

THE VEIL brings a fresh and interesting world as it's an interesting blend of dystopian and urban fantasy. So, pretty much the perfect combination in my book. There's a whole lot going on between the paras, human magic users, the Veil itself, and the Containment control and oppression over everything. What really interested me was that so many chose to stay in the zoned French Quarter. It's made clear that the "outside" world wasn't affected much and yet so many chose to stay behind with limited resources and constant struggle.

Claire made for a really interesting character. At the start of THE VEIL, she knows about her own ability but is living in hiding. Despite having these unwanted abilities with magic, she's still rather prejudiced about other magical users and the paranormal world. Granted considering what magic and paranormals cost her, I don't blame her one bit. That being said, her eyes are slowly opened in this book and I really enjoyed her progression from almost naive with a huge lack of confidence, to someone decidedly stronger by the end of the book. It was interesting to watch, and I can't wait to see how she grows even more over the next few books. Speaking of interesting characters, the supporting cast was very well fleshed out. From Claire's best friends, to their enemies, the paras, and an interesting newcomer, Liam, every single character really stood out, only further serving to hook me into this new series.

I enjoyed this start of a new series from Chloe Neill. While she's most known for her Chicagoland books, I can see these books becoming every bit as popular.  If you're looking for a fast paced read that you won't want to put down once you pick it up, look no further than THE VEIL.

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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