Review: Quite promising
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 28, 2013
This book is a typical young adult fantasy/romance  in many ways.  But there are some nice creative variations and a little flavor of the Game of Thrones books. I almost put it down in the beginning when the heroine said "I don't speak to traitors" to the traitors, of course, who weren't asking her anything. But even though it was not great literature, that was the lowest point, and the rest of the dialogue wasn't too off-putting. Overall a good read and the reason I'm not giving it more stars is because it is too rushed, and it needs more. It should be a book, but it feels more like a novella or short story. Also,I like happy endings but they seem trite when conflict and difficulty are too easily overcome.  This author gives you hardly any time at all to feel suspense or worry for the characters. In the beginning she has help arriving before too many paragraphs. Then the heroine is a little stupid and gets seriously, perhaps even fatally injured, only to be healed inexplicably. They find what they are seeking too easily, best the bad guys too easily, get the injured healed too easily, etc. Then, at the end, a character who was hostile becomes friendly too easily and with little explanation.  But it is a good story and the writer shows a lot of promise. She just needs to fill out the story and master the cliff-hanger.