Review: Sacrifice in paradise...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 18, 2013
SACRIFICE ISLAND is the first of the author's works that I've read and I look forward to adding her to my regular rotation. In this novella, the Ms. Dearborn puts a new twist on an old legend.  She readily admits changing some of the traditional Philippino lore around the creature called aswang, but those changes in no way detract from the story.  I particularly enjoyed the personalization of the creature - giving her a name, having her husband from her human days still living in the village and aware of her current state of existence, and describing how the aswang had decorated her nest or den.  One thing that bothered me is the author waited until close to the end of the novella to explain Jemma's aversion to being touched, leaving the reader to wonder for much of the story if she possibly suffered from Asperger's or some other form of autism.  I felt the storyline would have benefitted from the explanation being presented earlier on.  But all in all, a good story with no editing problems that I noticed.