Review: Magic and love for a superb urban fantasy for Chritsmas time
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 2, 2012
Magical! Such a loving, touching well written novella. It's really perfect to read it around Christmas but it's not a necessity to enjoy the universe and atmosphere. I was emotionally drawn to Resa and her wish for freedom and independence and in the same time it's not really what she is wishing for.At first, we discover a young woman who isn't happy with her life, and whose perspectives aren't good either socially or financially but she is also loyal to her family.  When her uncle asks for her help because he is ill, she accept to go back to a place she tried so strongly to leave. Dogtown is for her synonym of failure.Worse as soon as she arrives, her family is speaking of the boy, now become man, they always hoped she would marry.  After hearing it so often even as a child, Resa can't accept to imagine Chan as a potential mate. It's not possible.However, when tradition and family are at stake she must face a choice and decide what is really important for her.I'm not that fond of imposed traditions, obligations and I can see why Resa is fed up with the simple evocation of the boy she grew up with. For her, it's a friend nothing more simply because as a child she did not try to find something more and then they parted ways. Now she is even fighting the idea of giving him a chance because she is afraid of what others will think, the pressure is so high that she is forgetting her own desire. This novella is not about fated marriage but about acceptance and trust and first love. Her family is ready to stop the tradition, loose their ancestral advantages if means to save Resa' s happiness, Chan is ready to keep secret everything to let her free to make her choice and for me those actions speak volume of the love they have for her. Sometimes or even often we are searching for something that has been under our nose all along. For tradition to keep living you must accept them, embrace them and it's something that can't be done under pressure or obligationIt's really a beautifully written short story, set in an area the author loves and knows so well that it transpires between the words. A magical story about love and faith that made my eyes filled with tears of emotion.to recommend without hesitation!