Review: A pity there are so many spelling mistakes
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 11 11, 2013
I got a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest reviewThe novel tells the story of how Nick and Mina win the Pen and the Sword and set out on an adventurous path. Nick is new in town and the first person he befriends is outsider Mina. She's much stronger than the average human and she's intelligent and interested in many things. Nick can see ghosts and other creatures that normal people don't see, so it's a perfect fit. But Nick also makes friends with the local baseball team where be becomes a player. One day, Nick and Mina find a sword with a pen embedded in it and learn about their heritage. Nick is destined to chronicle the unnatural world, and Mina has to protect him. There are enemies who have already killed Nicks uncle, and they will stop at nothing to get the Sword and the Pen.Things I liked:I liked the cover. Simple but very evocative and fitting.The banter between Mina and Nick was great. Those two characters came alive and were the reason why I kept reading the book although not much happened. It was clear to me that the author has a great talent creating believable characters. Also, it was quite nice to have a strong heroine who has to protect the boy. The love between the two seemed a bit hurried to me, but then, I'm not a teen any more. Maybe things work out faster these days. ;-)I enjoyed learning about Mark Twain (coming and going with a comet) and about life in an American high school.Things I didn't like:There were way too many spelling mistakes and grammatical errors in the book. I am German, which means I'm not a native speaker and most likely to overlook errors in the language, and even I could spot them. Luckily, with the help of a good editor, this fault is easily remedied (an advantage of eBooks).The antagonist didn't show up till close to the end, and his impact on the plot was minimal. It wasn't such a big drawback, however, since the dynamic between Mina and Nick propelled the story forward and kept it interesting.There were several great ideas that weren't fully developed (like the leprechaun's luck).Final verdict:Overall, this was a very enjoyable read if a tad unstructured. It makes a good starting point for a series. I recommend finding a good editor to get rid of the errors though. Without them, my rating would have been 4 stars.