Giveaway (US & Aust only) + Copper Girl by Jennifer Allis Provost

12 Jun 2013 8 Comments

by Amy in 3 Stars, General Tags: , , , ,

Published: June 25th, 2013
Goodreads badgePublisher: Spence City
Pages: 248
Format: Book
Genre: Romance/Fantasy
★   ★   ★  – 3 Stars

Sara had always been careful.
She never spoke of magic, never associated with those suspected of handling magic, never thought of magic, and never, ever, let anyone see her mark. After all, the last thing she wanted was to end up missing, like her father and brother.
Then, a silver elf pushed his way into Sara’s dream, and her life became anything but ordinary.

I was given an ARC copy of this book by the publisher.

Copper Girl is the story of Sara, from the blurb we know nothing except that she had always been careful, never spoken of magic, and never revealed her mark. Then, a silver elf called Micah pushes his way into Sara’s life, a mysterious elf who knows things others don’t, and her life becomes anything but ordinary. We watch as Sara learns more about her family, her world, and herself, and in doing so reveals that the start of something important is about to begin.

The hint of hidden magic draws you in and with no explanation why, aside from a missing father and brother, your mind begins to deduce and create its own answers before you even begin. The answer I was creating was not what I expected from this book. Provost has done a great job in creating this world, this dystopian world where magic has become something to be hidden, something wars have been fought and lost over, and something that is punishable by those who now run the government.
On the opening page we are introduced by a standalone sentence that suggests the coming action has created a problem. This sets you up immediately waiting to see what this problem is, and when it arrives with no clear indication it is a problem, that just creates more mystery, making you keep going. From this beginning though I felt the follow up was a little strange, and as the story began it took me awhile to completely understand what was going on; the explanations are scattered and you have to keep track and recognise what is information that must be remembered and what isn’t. Terms and phrases are used in conversations that are important, and you realise that they are important yet you don’t know what they mean or have any understanding of what they are.

One of the main aspects that I was confused with was the switch between regular and italicised text. The story is told from Sara’s point of view, but while she narrates her life there are also moments where the narrative halts while something is explained, whether it is her job description or telling us about the war. These remain in Sara’s voice, but they definitely feel like it is a paused moment in the story to add information, then the story continues. These italic sections are not always for explanations sometimes they are dreams and memories that are part of the narrative, small tangents like the mind wandering off topic so they seem to hold different purposes; in the end I found it easier to just read them without thinking of them as something separate and I found that after a few chapters the italics sections disappear.

The good news is that after this bump in the beginning a pretty great story emerges. The idea that Provost has created with this dystopian world, hidden and banned magic, and a monotonous and yet highly regulated existence, is rather enticing. The post war environment was not apocalyptic, more highly run with contraband, curfews, and strict regimes and routines that should be adhered to to keep things running smoothly. It is a bother but with Sara being used to it, you get the idea that people just do what they do and get on with it, with just an occasional comment at its unfair nature. The magical aspect with the Otherworld, the concept of ‘Metals’, as well as the secrets and capabilities of those who possess magic is also engaging and leads itself to being explored at greater length and from multiple angles in the series.

Trying to understand the relationship between regular humans and the magic was interesting, but not hard to comprehend. The coexisting worlds were well explained, as was the outcome of the conflict. From what I understood of the War and the world that existed before it was that it seemed to be very similar to the X-Men. Humans and those with magic coexisted until those without became paranoid, fearful, all the usual responses, thus creating war and sending magical people underground or into submission. The resulting society is not explained completely, but we catch glimpses as Sara makes reference or certain events reveal the life they all now lead.

There was uncertainty about the nature of the world, the same with the other parts in the beginning, but the confusion I got is soon smoothed out as the story goes on. The slow reveal technique has its advantages and disadvantages; the key is I think to know what works best and where. Certainly secrets and mysteries can be revealed in the narrative slowly, however the set up of the world and the systems in place perhaps could have been explained earlier than it was. Once we were given this information there was a greater understanding of the society, which in turn supported and aided the characters and plot nicely.

The characters in the novel are good. They are unique, each with their own personalities and peculiarities that are humorous and mystifying. Sara is a great character, she has a wit and a sarcasm about her that makes her enjoyable to read. She is a young adult from what I could determine and she is caught up in these two worlds, all of which bring out her character really well. Micah is a strange character, he is very forward, a tad annoying at times, though his reasons for his behaviour are understandable. As the love interest I felt that his relationship with Sara happened very quickly and with little or no questions. He comes on very strong and she falls fast. The issue I had about their fast affection is explained towards the later part of the book which was ok, having an explanation makes it much more understandable.

Aside from Sara, and partially Micah, most of the remaining characters are not explained with a lot of depth. Their past, history and nature are revealed as the plot requires, or within family dynamics and other relationships, but being the first book in the series one can hope that they are developed further as the series progresses.

When the real world and the other realm truly combine it is quite late in the book, with the relationship between Micah and Sara taking up a lot of the book. The relationship is interesting, Provost explains the emotions and the hold they have over one another, yet a few aspects such as dream walking seemed unexplained, resulting in the idea to be pieced together as the story continued. This was ok, but considering there were clear moments where we’re told a history or something, a longer explanation would not have gone astray.

I did like that Sara existed in a world, and came from a world where magic was known, and she herself was magical. This reduced the level of surprise when it is reintroduced into her life and makes this different than stories where an issue of a non-magical person having to come to terms with being magical or understand magic is hard to do properly. Even with her existing knowledge Sara is still naive, she tells us that she was very young when the war happened, and she grew up with no magic and was not old enough at the time to be introduced to the world entirely. This situation of her being half in the door means that she is learning some things alongside us, but without the need to accept the entire concept, just filling in a few blanks about history and certain elements. I think this is where the unbalance about what is told and what isn’t happens. Having a character knowing so much results in too much telling to catch up the reader and leaves nothing for us to piece together ourselves, but on the other hand without any information we can become lost due to lack of telling. Provost switches between both, some information is unnecessarily included, left out completely, or told at just the right time.

As the reader who knows nothing, a lot still seems a bit unanswered, with enough history given, yet not enough at the same time. I felt like I had missed something or that the fleeting explanations were not enough. It didn’t hinder the story exactly, I knew what was going on, however the information and world Provost hints at seems so rich with history and magic that I wanted a grander introduction to it all. Perhaps slowly revealing bits and pieces throughout is enough, and maybe it was just my desire to have the complete history that was on my mind. I can only assume that more is to be revealed in the coming books.

The ending was very well rounded, there was no direct cliff hanger, but there was enough to see where the story could grow. We are given an introduction into this world and enough to peak curiosity about where it is headed, but we are not left in the middle of a scene or without real answers to leave us unfulfilled and impatient for book two. I look forward to the second in the series to see how this plays out and hopefully to get a greater understanding of the intricacies of the society and otherworld complexities.

Copper Girl comes out 25 June thanks to Spencer Hill Press and Spence City.

GIVEAWAY (US & Aust only)

Thanks to Spencer Hill Press and Spence City I am offering some goodies to celebrate Copper Girl coming out. Those who enter go in the draw to win

 A token (replica from the book)

$10 Barnes and Noble gift card

T-Shirt

Update: Now, there is a Rafflecopter widget but WordPress is against them being in posts but I have been fiddling and I think we can get it to work another way, so you can continue with the first tweeting/commenting combo, or you can hopefully click the  link and open the widget up and enter that way. Let’s see how that goes. If it doesn’t work, let me know and I will revert back to only original set up. Those already entered via comments are still included in the draw.

Options
1) Enter via the Rafflecopter widget

OR

2) Tweet the book’s Goodreads link and you get two points towards winning. Once you tweet the link, provide your name and your Twitter name in the comments of this post so I can check your entry.

Example tweet:

“Tweet a link to Copper Girl’s Goodreads page to enter the competition over at @lostinagoodbk http://wp.me/p3x8rS-8i http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16193519-copper-girl?ac=1”

Entries close on 24 July. Good luck!

Andy Smithson: Blast of the Dragon’s Fury (#1) by L.R.W. Lee

31 May 2013 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, General, Junior Fiction Tags: , , , ,

Published: April 13th 2013
Goodreads badgePublisher: Createspace
Pages: 220
Format: eBook
Genre: Junior Fiction/Fantasy/Adventure
★   ★   ★  – 3 Stars

From the After Life, ten-year-old Andy Smithson’s relatives initiated a curse 500 years ago. Now they no longer agree it should continue and one is willing to sacrifice Andy’s life to end it. Unaware of the disagreement and with no say in the matter, Andy is unexpectedly and magically transported from his home. He finds himself in the Land of Oomaldee, facing mortal danger at every turn as he seeks to find a scale from a rare red dragon, the most ferocious of dragon species, to break the curse and save his life.

I was given a free ebook by the author for review purposes.

Andy Smithson: Blast of the Dragon’s Fury is the first book in L. R. W. Lee‘s series and is the story about Andy, a ten year old kid who is trying to live a normal life, however when he is drawn towards a trunk in the attic everything changes. Dragged from his home he is transported to the mysterious Land of Oomaldee where he is told he is the one who will break a curse, find a dragon, and rescue a kingdom.

I enjoyed reading this book, I think the idea behind the narrative is very clever, and certainly leaves room to be developed further through a series. We are introduced to this curse but we are not given the exact nature aside from snippets of information. This makes you very curious about what is happening and certainly makes you eager to find more about the curse. This is a good tactic, and one Lee does well, while we are not privy to everything going on, we learn with Andy about the land, the curse, and what his role is to save the King and the kingdom.

The story opens with a prologue, and while some people dislike prologues, I don’t mind them when they are done right. I don’t think of them as a set up or explanatory back story exactly, I think they can sometimes be something that just gives you a glimpse of the story or the world even before you know what is going on. Then once the story starts you can dive deeper and read the rest, maybe even have a moment in the middle where a detail from the prologue makes the story make a bit more sense and brings clarity to a scene. The prologue in Andy Smithson does show us a history, but also does not give a lot of answers either. Once you get involved in the story you know certain things, but there is still a lot unsaid.

Lee gives us a great idea of the world Andy finds himself in, the descriptions are just right, without being too bogged down with detail, and there is enough the create a great image in your mind of the land and the people. Like a true fantasy novel, a map of the land if given at the start of the book showing the regions of the Oomaldee land as well as the surrounding lands. Through the novel a lot of regions are mentioned, and as Andy begins his quest it is a good focal point to understand where he is and where he needs to be, but Lee uses words well and as Andy travels around the land the pace and detail used is enough to make sure a clear image is created in your mind. With more books in the series no doubt we will get to explore more of the land, as well as those surrounding it, but what Lee has already provided is an enticing teaser.

The characters in Andy Smithson are unique, and have their own quirks and characteristics. There is the King of Oomaldee who is tired of the curse and wishes to free his kingdom, and by his side is Mermin, Mermin apparently being the brother of the great Merlin, and who has a speech impediment. Another character is Alden, a servant boy in the castle who becomes friends with Andy. Alden is a good character, he is bright and helps Andy find his way around the land.

Certain characters of course get more padding, but there is still plenty to gain an understanding of their character, especially through other character’s eyes and in their actions. This reduces the need for complicated histories and analysis of minor characters. This is almost true for the main characters as well, there is not a lot of intentional describing or catch up histories, instead, as Lee focuses on them a lot more, we see who they are, the life they lead, as well as the person they are through the narrative. This works well as a book for this age bracket because it is woven into the story, and the character of a person is developed through the story and readers can see it for themselves rather than be told how a character is as a person.

The only thing that caught my eye was the strong moral messages that were throughout. I can see that reading it as a child these may not be as noticeable, one of the disadvantages of reading as an adult I suppose, but they could have been less obvious I felt. They come and go quite quickly but they stood out. Even if a moral message was intended, perhaps weaving it into the story a bit better would be better rather than having Andy experience inner conflict and resolve it almost within the same page. Perhaps this is connected to the fact we see so much of this world through Andy’s perspective, as a child we are shown things through the eyes of a child and therefore we are exposed to the feelings and emotions that come along with this perspective.

I think that these lessons are good, they show kids a range of issues such as keeping secrets, controlling jealousy, and dealing with other issues that arise in a kid’s life, but whether they were too deliberate may be a disadvantage. There are some excellent moments where you can read between the lines with relationships and gain a lot of insight into characters and relationships, especially what is said and not said, those moments can speak volumes compared to what is spelled out. These were the moments I thought Lee did very well, a great example was Alden and Andy towards the end of the book; a lot could be said by what Alden did and especially did not say and lessons are shown as well as an insight into his character.

Even given the small insights in the prologue we still learn alongside Andy, we uncover things as he does, and while we may have theories or figure things out before him, it doesn’t always mean we necessarily know things he doesn’t. There is drama and friendship, and the fairytale notion of the child hero that is trying to save the world.  As I say, the premise is quite good, an adventure story with secrets, mysteries, and curses to keep you engaged. This story goes back to the long adventure stories where there are dragons to fight, kingdoms to save, and travellers wandered the lands with bags on their back with everything in it, seeking help from people they meet or in villages. It is ideal for a kid to read about this kind of adventure and imagine the world Andy fell into.

With the ending Lee gives us it is enough of a cliff hanger to make you want to get right into book two, yet still manages to feel like the book was finished right, a bit like the last chapter was more of a teaser into book two rather than an ending to book one, it is done quite well. I look forward to seeing where it goes next.

Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox (#6) By Eoin Colfer

18 May 2013 1 Comment

by Amy in 5 Stars, Artemis Fowl Series, General, Junior Fiction, Young Adult Tags: , , , , ,

Note: Minor spoilers regarding the ending of The Lost Colony and the outcome

Goodreads badgePublished: August 7 2008
Publisher: Puffin Books
Pages: 430
Format: Book
Genre: Junior Fiction/Young Adult Fantasy
★   ★   ★   ★   ★  – 5 Stars

 After disappearing for three years, Artemis Fowl has returned to a life different from the one he left. Now he’s a big brother, and spends his days teaching his twin siblings the important things in life, such as how to properly summon a waiter at a French restaurant.

But now his mother is gravely ill and the only hope of a cure lies in the brain fluid of the extinct silky sifaka lemur. Artemis Fowl must travel back through time to steal the lemur. The rules of time travel are far from simple, but to save his mother, Artemis will have to break them all, and outsmart his most cunning adversary yet: Artemis Fowl, age ten.

  This was the book I was most eager to read I think to specifically see the story rather than just general excitement over the overall series. The ending of The Lost Colony opened up a range of questions and with an ending like the one Colfer gave us there was a need to see where the story was going to go or whether we’d be given a chance to see how it got there. So much had changed and Artemis’ world had changed so much that I was eager to see how Colfer handled it. Naturally, being Colfer, and with this entire thing planned to the letter, handled it brilliantly. The transition was seamless, there was no need to awkwardly explain anything, Colfer wove it through the narrative with a smooth fluidity that means as you read you just understood. It was all ok, and you found yourself being engaged and amazed in the new story before you could even think to question anything he had or hadn’t written. Hypnotic and distracting perfection, those are Colfer’s powers.

Thinking about it, new characters have always been welcomed, they added to the expanding world. I think the only question I had, certainly before starting it and not once I had, was about the introduction of the twins and how they would impacted on the Fowl family directly, new Fowl members that made a huge difference compared to the introduction of a new aspect of the Fairy world. But truly, making Artemis a big brother could have failed but it didn’t. Artemis’ character and the fact that the twins have such unique and very Fowl characteristics and unique personalities makes them both a little bit wonderful.

But despite this big change, it is not Artemis’ home life that is especially the focus, yes it is the base reason for the new adventure, but we do not spend the whole novel watching Artemis adjusting to being away for three years and having new siblings quite as directly. Colfer opens the novel in the middle of a situation where we instantly can gauge the relationship between the brothers and the Fowl Manor life. This simple action by Colfer shows us all we need to know, giving us comfortable acceptance over what is happening and what has happened with no need for us to see the missing scenes we know would have taken place. And once we have seen all is well, that is when he takes a sharp turn and sends us on our adventure, this time beginning with Artemis’ mother.

When Artemis’ mother becomes deathly ill and all attempts at curing only make things worse, Artemis enlists the help of the People to try and save his mother. We haven’t seen a lot of Artemis’ parents through the series, sporadically and often with a purpose mainly, and this is similar here but it did not really matter. Angela Fowl is a great character to add to the mix. She gets a little bit more of a role while not really doing anything to begin with, much like Artemis’ father in The Arctic Incident, with the focus more around the intent of healing Artemis’ mother and all the surrounding events, consequences and causalities.

Enlisting the help of Holly, No. 1, as well as Butler, and with no other option at his disposal, Artemis is determined to return to the past to procure the antidote for his mother. The trouble that is it to be retrieved not only in the past from a ruthless young Artemis, but from the Extinctionists he is planning on selling the lemur to. A group of people determined to capture and eat all the rare and endangered animals in the world certainly makes for a different kind of foe than in previous adventures, but naturally not all in as simple as it seems. Time travel soon becomes the least of their problems as new and old dangers appear around each corner.

The Extinctionists are definitely a group that I wasn’t expecting. The idea seems jovial at first but the way their organisation has been developed really can unsettle you if you think too much about it. And reading about these Extinctionists kind of makes you think about where the real ones are in the world, sneaking around with these grossly abused and ill gotten wares, but Colfer manages to raise the issue and bring it to point without harping on about it which is nice.

We see a small part of the old Artemis personality return when he tries to convince the others to travel back through time; this is before we actually see the actual old Artemis of course. With the events following the jump back we are shown a bit more of ten year old Artemis and his life before the events in Book One. I must say ten year old Artemis is almost worse than twelve year of Artemis but only by a little. His childlike compassion is understandable more so than as a twelve year old though. The contrast between young Artemis and his older counterpart is drastic, but having said that we have been gradually seeing an improving Artemis through the series, you do not realise how far he has come until we are forced to see the boy we began the story with side by side. And while we get to see little Artemis and Butler which is fantastic, we also see older Artemis reflect more on who he was and who he is becoming. I always liked tough and no nonsense Artemis but there is room I suppose for caring Artemis as well.

There is a jump between time as we see the present and the past action occur side by side throughout the book, but it is not confusing, at least no more than any other Artemis Fowl novel.  The fact that Colfer is returning to the past is clever, and opens up for a lot of questions about what sparks an adventure, who influenced whom and as Artemis says, if it happened in the past then it has already affected the future.

Paradoxes are hard to manage but Colfer manages this superbly. Going back to the past creates its own issues but the way it links together is fantastic. When authors go back after establishing a certain reality, similar to C. S. Lewis in the Narnia books, there is an advantage to create things and do things that bring about an event or occurrence that’s to come as it were.

This is a terrific story that plays out and it makes you want to keep going if only to see how it could possibly be resolved. In addition there is a reappearance of old characters in large and small ways which is also excellently done. Colfer knows where to have people in a story and where not to. There are reasons people are included and whether they are excluded, no one is anywhere by mistake and nothing is mentioned by chance. There are Artemis’ schemes and sneakiness as per usual but we are also privy to more information, history, and detail about the Fowls than before which is an added bonus. There was even a truly wonderful heartfelt moment with Artemis towards the end which was moving and very brave I thought for him and for Colfer. But as I say, Colfer reveals everything to us marvellously and we are able to appreciate each moment no matter how action filled it is or the circumstance. I even detected an excellent Douglas Adams reference in there somewhere which I sincerely hope was intentional because it made me smile.

You seem to go through multiple adventures at once with this book, just when you think one is over another rises up, and while it seems like a jumbled mess of chaos it works oh so brilliantly you can’t imagine. There certainly seems like a lot of planning involved and I would love to have been there when Colfer realised he could make the connections he does, or even whether it was his plan all along, either way I applaud him.

As per usual there is just so much involved in an Artemis book that you cannot comment on it all, and even then you’d forget something or ruin a surprise so it is mainly emotion here because I am giving nothing else away. The joy is in the experience and unexpectedness as always, not to mention getting swept up in the characters, the chaos, and the pure admiration for the effort Colfer has put into not only each novel but the level of detail in the stories and the worlds in which they’re placed.

Legacy Lost (#0.5)

10 May 2013 Leave a comment

by Amy in 2 Stars, Of Poseidon, Young Adult Tags: , , , ,

Published: 22nd May 2012
Goodreads badgePublisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Pages: 32
Format: Ebook
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy
★   ★  – 2 Stars

Legacy Lost is a prequel story to Anna Banks’ debut novel, Of Poseidon.
He is a mer-prince, she is the mermaid princess that his family orders him to marry so that their kingdoms unite. Grom dreads this arrangement, until he meets Nalia — both beautiful and smart, she’s everything he ever wanted. But just when their connection grows deeper, tragedy strikes.

I thought since I mentioned it we need to add in the review. It is short, mainly because the prequel was short, but there isn’t much I want to say about it, partly for spoilers, and partly because it was annoying. Oh my was it annoying. I don’t think my eyes have rolled that much in a story until I read this story. Like most prequels, this is one that really should be read before the main first book because it makes you read it very differently when you know the future, even if you miss out on a lot of information given in the book. It is supposed to be an extension on the backstory of events mentioned in Of Poseidon.

The main players are Grom, who we see in Of Poseidon, and his intended mate Nalia. This is a story of the past so Grom is younger than in the book, and the story revolves around the events leading to the union of the pair. By the end of this story it does become something pretty reasonable, but for the most part it was very weak. Grom is a complainer for the first part of the story and after awhile it gets a bit annoying, but then he changes it to being this forward, clichéd and failing to be romantic guy and it makes you wish he was complaining again. There is a scene between Nalia and Grom reuniting after a period of time and it is eye rolling at best. It is stilted and corny and there is a line in there that reminded me of Princess Bride – you know the one, that one, but I think that was my mind trying to think of anything except the story.

Grom’s intentions for his actions are clumsily revealed as the story progresses and they are quite petty with rather childish reasoning behind them, all as consequence for a prophecy and agreement, something that was always known so it was no surprise to anyone. As a character Grom is quite unappealing, in Of Poseidon he seems stronger and tolerable. I know that is set in the future where he would be grown but it is hard coming from the book to this short story prequel and accepting he is the same person. My mind also wandered and certain bits reminded me a lot of Disney’s Little Mermaid which was interesting. As its own story it was poor, and even as a prequel I think it was just ok, but something I think, since this was done so badly, the storyline could have been introduced into the second book in a better way. Perhaps if it was a bit longer Banks could have made it flow a bit better and make the interactions more convincing.

You can purchase Legacy Lost via the following

Amazon

Amazon Aust

Or you can read it here.

Of Poseidon (#1) by Anna Banks

08 May 2013 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Of Poseidon, Young Adult Tags: , , , ,

Published: June 1st 2012
Goodreads badgePublisher: Hardie Grant Egmont
Pages: 324
Format: Book
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy
★   ★   ★  – 3 Stars

Galen is strong, protective and gorgeous, with striking violet eyes and a body to make you shiver – and that’s just when he’s in human form. He’s from the House of Triton, god of the sea, and he’s searching for a girl with the gift of Poseidon to save his brother from marrying a fraud. Emma is a human. Or so she thinks. When Emma meets Galen on the beach, they both sense a sizzling chemistry. But can Galen convince her that she holds the key to his kingdom – without letting on that he’s falling for her?

The second installment in this series is due to be released later this month so I feel an introduction of the series is in order. Of Poseidon is a novel by Anna Banks, and mixes in the mythic with the real. When I finished this book I was rather at a loss of what to say about it. I read it extremely quickly, it dragged me along and I didn’t want to stop, but when I put it down at whatever hour of the morning it was, I actually couldn’t figure out what to say.

This is the story of Emma, an ordinary girl who finds out that she has an extraordinary gift. When Galeb, prince of the underwater kingdom Syrena, is sent on to land to seek out a mysterious girl who it is rumoured to have the ability to speak to fish, he find Emma and a connection is felt between the pair. Convinced she is the girl to save his kingdom Galen sets out to convince Emma of her abilities. Banks tells us this story from both Emma’s and Galen’s point of view allowing us to see both sides of the story and see reasons and secrets for the events, as well as the consequences on both sides.

I had read a summary in a magazine and had been looking forward to reading this for months. I liked the thought of it concerning Greek mythology which is never a bad thing, and similar to Percy Jackson I suppose it brings it into the modern era. From page one I could tell this was going to be written with the voice and thoughts of a very typical teenager. The language and narration screams teenage girl with all the attitude and colloquial approach. What struck me at the time was the mention of Google and some other things. I knew the day would have to come, but everyone had been so good (in everything I had read) as to set something in the modern world without referencing everything from Google to Facebook or modern TV shows. Where was the modern but alternate universe where these things were not there and the best we got was generic email mention and a mobile use? It was a fleeting reference but it still stood out from the story having it there.

I felt that the pace was rather fast, everything happened over a short period of time and everything was accepted fairly quickly. Emma accepts her changing life and everything around it well but not without conflicts and problems mind you. Sometimes you forget she is suppose to be eighteen when you read how she sometimes speaks and acts, more towards the mid teen range I thought until I remembered. Banks gives us the unbelieving side, but as soon as she accepts what is going on everything seems perfectly normal once more.

Minor characters are unique in their own way, with Emma being new to their lives and with every one having long histories helped those interactions seem real. She was introduced to their world and no one was trying to learn everything together, nor did they try recapping more than needed. Some characters like Emma’s mother and Rayna stood out for me throughout the book for their own reasons, but everyone has key elements of their back stories explained and how they came to be where and how they are, even if it appears in odd places.

The mystery in the book, as well as Emma and the underwater conflict is slowly revealed but by the end, I had already figured it out. Which wasn’t a bad thing, the clues are there, Banks wasn’t trying to hide anything. It is just up to the reader to either follow along with Emma and Galen or work it out alone by themselves.

I really did like the book, the story was great, it wwas very engaging and easy to read, the mystery was good and was dealt with in a logical and reasonable way given the situation. As I write this I realise what bugged me ever so slightly. It was more the little things like moving on so quickly from the events at the start no matter how hard Banks tried to portray them, and also the peculiarity that Emma displayed at times. I enjoyed the interaction and conversations between all the characters when Emma wasn’t around. They were strong, in-depth and believable, very adult. When she was involved everything became a trifle strange and a bit childish and unbelievable regarding everyone’s actions and conversations. There were glimpses of great moments from Emma where you thought she’d had an enlightened moment and would strong and powerful from then on but they were unfortunately fleeting. I think if she had been a strong character with the wit and an independent personality she would have been ok, but more often than not she doesn’t seem to act her age.

The sequel is definitely on the cards to read given the conclusion, but also the fact that it is a great story concept no matter what faults it has in execution, and until there is a short story prequel that was released as well. It is briefly mentioned in this book but it goes into greater detail apparently story wise. Not a necessity but for those wanting more from the unseen and passing characters it might be of interest.

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