Review: Half expected my sweater to smell like a bonfire when I finished
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 27, 2013
Scents of hot cider, and pumpkin pie fill the air. Boots rustle through crisp autumn leaves, moving through pumpkin patches and graveyards. Vampires threaten, a goblin screams, and a wizard and witch cast magic spells. Welcome to October Land. "Suddenly Sam," the final book in Heather Killough-Walden's October Trilogy, wraps up the series in a style it deserves. This final face-off between the teenage bard Logan Wright and Samhain, the Lord of the Dead, comes with no quick resolutions. Logan struggles with choices involving the life Sam can offer her, versus the craziness that waits at home. She is surrounded by the elements of her favorite season, autumn, so Sam's land does offer quite a draw. But Logan isn't just sitting on a haystack throughout the book contemplating her lot. "Suddenly Sam" is a novel that is constantly moving and carrying readers into scenes of brilliant sensory overload, with nasty creatures and handsome monsters. You won't want to put it down, but I advise you to savor it while reading, like a fine cup of apple cider, so that you can fully experience the world the author has built. It's brilliant. I half expected my sweater to smell like a bonfire when I finished, and I developed a craving for hot cocoa, and the strong need to visit a cemetery. I imagine this book will become a part of my October each year.  Still, as memorable as the seasonal smells, sights, and sounds are, the story they support moves along non-stop as dreamy Dominick, Katelyn, Megan, Mr Leher and others, continue on their paths to rescue Logan.Technically in the world of the story, less that a month has passed, but in the lives of the characters it seems so much longer. They have each been forced to into intensive lessons and make quick life and death decisions. They've undoubtedly matured quickly through it all. They're deeper and more emphatic human beings. Most especially Logan. She makes difficult choices throughout the story and comes to understand the true power of a bard. Nothing ever comes cheap in Killough-Walden's worlds. Among the fun and festivity there will always be moments that make you peer into your soul. And that's why I love them.