Review: Love under will
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 1, 2014
This book presents some really good ideas and shows a lot of promise.Kate is left a Highland Cottage by her aunt, and upon arriving is sucked into another dimension through some mystical tarot cards.There, she gains allies and enemies as she finds herself embroiled in a war whose mythologies closely echo that of our own world.There are some nice touches; the warrior Wolperia, the talking lion Ryyd, and I personally loved the bog witches. The riddle of the nine cups was good, but I had kinda guessed the answer pretty early on, and it annoyed me that the main character couldn’t see what I could see.There are some minor issues too; there is a lot of inner dialogue. I would have preferred more “show” and less “tell”… and then there are some strange tangents (a big party in the middle of an epic battle?), which I just didn’t get. A number of characters distrust one other, but put that aside for the sake of the quest, rather than being careful.There is some good subtext too. Kate’s world is one of industrialization, whereas the land of Hellion forces her to become more in touch with her own inner power, and I liked the message of that.This is at a great juxtaposition to the demonic Eavedroppers, who torment Kirkland, Kate’s neighbour. So we have industry in our world, where nature is fighting back, and Hellion where nature is about to fall… and the main character spanning the divide – it was a nice touch and I really got it.If you prefer Narnia to Lord of The Rings, then you will love this.