Review: Starts slow but gets a lot better
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 9, 2013
**Written by Lizzie Andrews for The Book Landers**I am going to be perfectly honest, at page 16 I looked at my sister and told her I couldn't finish this book. I didn't like it. She probably gave me the best advice, which was "suck it up buttercup and read it!" I was glad I took her advice! Not that I really wasn't going to finish it, I just wanted to complain to someone.The beginning moves slowly, and the author uses terms with no explanation at first. But I promise you, keep reading it gets a heck of a lot better! Eventually it'll all make perfect sense and you won't be able to put the book down once it gets going.Taylor Grace demonstrates a unique imagination with this book. It's unlike any other book I have read, and I read A LOT. I love the uniqueness of this book. From the annax and the trinnax to the jakkar. It reminded me a lot of Avatar, with the Mother Tree angle and M. Night Shyalaman's The Village. I know, a unique combination but for some reason it fits this book perfectly.The depth of emotion that Olivia (or should I say Teil) shows is outstanding. You can connect with her as you read. The pain she must of felt, the fear that she shows and the longing to belong is all front and center. She herself is an open book and wears her heart on her sleeve. Her relationship that she develops with her little brother after years of being apart is fantastic. It just went to show how much she just wanted to belong somewhere.Bephram was in a class all by himself. I enjoyed his sense of humor throughout the book. I also enjoyed the possessiveness he showed over Olivia, because she needed a protector in her life, even if she thought she didn't. She was afraid of her own shadow and needed someone to banish those fears from her mind. Even when he knows that in order to save her that he has to make her something she is terrified of.The annax were a unique group. They got their power from the forest around them and lived surrounded by it. They live a simple life, with no technology. Therefore they are very cut off from the outside world.  Their connection with the forest is great and I love how they can tap into that connection.Long story short, if you get this book you won't regret it! It is both unique and good, in the end you'll wonder why you hadn't got it before.