Review: Fresh new tale for the YA genre!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 7, 2013
Sara Zaske has delivered a debut novel that brings a fabulous twist of a tale to the YA genre! It is fresh and new, and I loved it!The story's central character, Cassie, is a typical teenager. She part of clique in school but by a twist of fate and her intense curiosity, she ends up spending the night with the 'odd' girl- Violet. That night, Cassie's world is turned sideways as she discovers some interesting things about her new-found friend's connection to nature and some pretty awesome powers. Violet sees Cassie as a strong deliberate person. She also knows Cassie just can't help herself when it comes to her curiosity; that's why she's chosen her to help her on a quest to go and meet her grandfather, and find out more about her powers. Soon the girls are thrown into a situation that is beyond anything either of them could have imagined and they have to rely on their own inner strength and powers to win out over a catastrophic plan that will end life as they know it.There are many things I like about Zaske's debut novel. First, it doesn't take reading her bio to know this is an author who has written- a lot. There is nothing at all amateurish about her first published novel. She does an excellent job at pace and progression of the story, unwrapping the characters and the plot slowly- urging us to keep reading to find out more. The story itself is wonderful and combines fantasy YA genre with environmental consciousness that culminates in a struggle that sounds all to plausible. Of course, as any good YA book should, there are relevant teen issues- bullying, cliques, love interests- that give the reader easy to make connections to all of the characters. As a mother of teens and an adult reader who indulges in YA I found a lot of ways to connect with the parents of both Violet and Cassie and what drives them to make the decisions they do. Zaske does an excellent job providing a relevant yet fantastical story that any reader will enjoy. Kudos to her as well for producing a fabulous stand alone book in a market saturated with series and trilogies and the like. I look forward to reading more from this great new author!I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review for TracyRiva.com