Review: A Different Kind of Fantasy Story.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 12, 2013
(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to author Amy Joy Lutchen.)Kailey is having a hard time coming to terms with an assault that has left her traumatised and afraid to leave the house.Finally deciding to try and get back to normal she goes out with her best friend Amber, and due to a bad cab driver, finds herself at a Chinese restaurant. After finding herself in a strange room at the back of a restaurant, Kailey meets an elderly man called Gunthreon, who draws her into a world she didn't know existed - Renhala.Soon Kailey finds that all is not as she thought she knew - crazy people are just people who can see through the veil to Renhala, and something as simple as a pendulum can give answers to things she never even imagined.All is not well in Renhala though, a special urn is cracking, which means that a magical being called Neda is in danger, and it's up to Kailey to help put things to rights.Can Kailey save Renhala? What magical powers does Kailey possess? And who can Kailey trust?This novel is unique, I can't say I have ever read anything like this before, and it was good!I wasn't sure where this book was going at first. It started off reading a little like an adult/women's/contemporary/drama sort of story, and then developed into a fantasy, and the best of it was how flawless this transition was! I have read books before which start off reading like a contemporary novel and then seem to switch to fantasy, and some have had real problems where the transition is just unbelievable and awkward, but Renhala did not have any of those problems.I liked Kailey, she was in a difficult place to start with, but she overcame her fears, and found her confidence again, which was so nice to see. She was compassionate, and showed how much she cared for others, even taking pity on strays.There were two sort-of love interests, and therefore I suppose this could be described as a love triangle, although there wasn't much in the way of romance in this book, and so this wasn't really a major issue. I liked both of the love interests although I think Conner was my favourite. I didn't quite get why Kailey liked Ladimer. His introduction to the story was a little unusual, and I just didn't warm to him.Kailey's best friend Amber seemed to be a little hot and cold, and Kailey's mother was ill and needed Kailey to help her at times. Kailey coped with these demands well though, and never resented her mother or Amber for needing her attention at times.The world of Renhala was an interesting one, and I liked the world building. The creatures were also imaginatively created, and the world of Renhala was certainly different compared to ours.I liked the storyline, and although this book seemed long (400+pages, but more like 600+ on my kindle fire), it didn't seem to drag, which was good. I have to admit to getting the characters a little confused when I came back to the book after a day, although I think that this was in part because of the number of different characters and their place in the story - not all of them were human either, so there was also lots of different races and their different attributes too.I was a little confused by the end of the book, although going searching back through the book helped this a little. I can only assume from the ending though that there will be a sequel to Renhala, as in my opinion the ending is a bit of a cliff-hanger!Overall; a well thought out fantasy story, which is not your average fantasy, and would appeal to people who are not necessarily big fantasy fans.8 out of 10.