Review: The Veil by Chloe Neill

Title: The Veil (Devil's Isle #1)
Author: Chloe Neill 
Publisher: NAL Trade
Release date: August 4th 2015
Source: Netgalley
Format: eARC

Rating: 3.5/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

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 is the first book of the new urban fantasy (UF/PNR) series from the author of the Chicagoland Vampires series, which I´ve read and liked so far (I´ve read until book 3), so I had high hopes for this new book and I liked it but didn´t loved it. It´s a good beginning of a series, as we´re introduce to the world where our main character lives.

The story takes place in New Orleans, seven years after the discovery and rupture of "the veil" that existed between this world and the "Beyond"; and once the veil was broken all kind of paranormal creatures or "Paras" tried to take over this world and human went to war against these creatures and they were at war for over one year, until somehow the "veil" was closed and humans won the war and the "Paras" that remained in this world were caught and contained inside a prison called "Devil's Isle", there all the Paras, wraiths and sensitives (humans that somehow absorb magic from the "veil" and develop paranormal powers) live.

Claire is a 24 years old woman, that survived the war, she lives alone and manages the antique shop that has been in her family for a long time, and now in the post-war she also sells food, candles, batteries and other items necessary to survive in the Zone (as it´s called New Orleans and surrounding towns), but she keeps the secret of being a "sensitive", a power by which if discovered she will be sent to Devil's Isle, that´s why Claire hides her ability of her best friends.

Liam is a bounty hunter that´s dedicated to capture sensitives, wraiths and paras and deliver them at Devil's Isle for its proper management; which makes a person that Claire should be kept as far away as possible, but they end up working together.

I liked the world in which takes place this book, it´s a dark dystopian New Orleans where after the war and the Paras were captured, there are still some threats such as sensitives, which are feared and misunderstood by humans, they´re food shortages and electricity problems.

As is to be expected in urban fantasy, there is no romance between Claire and Liam although there is sexual tension because it´s obvious the attraction between them, I can´t wait for the romance in subsequent books in the series.

Overall, The Veil is a good first book in a series, is not great, but does its job by introducing and establishing the world and characters of the story. There isnt´a lot of action as I was expecting, but there are certain moments of suspense and has a good ending. I definitely plan to continue with the series and see what will happen between Claire and Liam.