Review: An interesting take on parallel dimensions
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 18, 2014
Orenda is a unique new fantasy novel, set in a parallel universe. The descriptions describes it well, so I'm just going to get right down to my review.The negatives:Not enough character development.While I enjoyed this book, I never quite connected with the characters for some reason. In the beginning, we have a good friendship that's developed between Lil and her best friend Bray that seems like it might develop into something more. I think I might have been able to root for that, if it had been developed, but instead we're told (by another character) that Bray is in love with her (we never get this from Bray's POV though) and Lil insists she's not interested and falls for another guy. Supposedly. I just didn't feel much of a connection between them, so when something pulls them apart later, I couldn't bring myself to care all that much. All of the other characters felt pretty secondary and I just didn't connect with any of them. I think the book needed to be longer to really develop these characters.Somewhat anticlimactic.It seemed like every time I expected something really exciting to happen, things somehow fizzled out. Specifically, whenever anyone confronted with the villain in the story - I would expect some sort of big showdown and they would just end up sort of talking a bit and then she would let them go. Huh. I guess she had her reasons, but it was sort of anticlimactic.What I loved:Orenda.I really enjoyed discovering Orenda itself. It was an interesting parallel universe that was similar to earth in a lot of ways, but involved magic. I enjoyed the mystery of discovering what this place was, who the people were that lived there and what the similarities and differences between the two worlds were. Lil found that she had special powers in Orenda (in fact, everyone has a power of some sort). I also appreciated that what happened in Orenda was tied in to Lil's life on earth at the end.This was an interesting fantasy story that will most likely appeal to younger YA readers. I do think it could have used a bit more development, but it was an enjoyable read. I give it 3/5 stars.***Disclosure: This book was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given. All opinions are my own***