By: Rebecca Moesta and Kevin J.
Anderson
Fourteen-year-old
cousins Gwen and Vic have lived together ever since the mysterious deaths of
Gwen's parents and disappearance of Vic's mother--until Vic's father
accidentally transports them through a magical doorway to the island of
Elantya. Vic and Gwen are soon caught in a tempest of ancient magic, vicious
creatures, and fierce battles--all connected to a territorial feud with the
sea-dwelling merlons, an age-old conflict between the bright and dark
sages...and the cousins' own mysterious roots.
Why
did I pick up this book again?
Because I met the authors and they gave
me a signed copy. I’d never read anything by Rebecca before, and really wanted
to. So not a great fan-base or thrill
factor reason. Sorry!
3 out of 5
Characters
I thought the two cousins were
cute. Certainly a great contrast between
brains/logic and being spontaneous and how both can be good. By the end of the book the cousins had met a
trio of others that became friends, and since I’m all about camaraderie in
stories, I have to say that I dug the characters.
4 out of 5
Did I care what happened?
Yes.
This is a lower YA / higher Middle Grade read, so there isn’t much depth
to anything but the ocean in the story, but the characters certainly all had
virtues and faults, and I was quite concerned about the magic carpet at one
point.
3 out of 5
Plot Holes
You know, I don’t recall anything that
made my plot hole radar go off. Of
course both of these authors are titanically experienced, so it might be a lost
cause to try to delve for a hole.
5 out of 5
How many times did I yawn?
No yawns. If I was between the ages of ten and twelve I
certainly would have been glued to the pages of the book. As it is, I didn’t devour the story, but
liked it and didn’t get bored.
4 out of 5
Cool Factor
Loads of magic, a flying carpet, sea
monsters, mirrors, crystals, ships, shape shifting messengers and all sorts of
other creations kept the cool factor high.
I wanted more flying stuff, but I’ll be okay…
4 out of 5
The End
The end worked out. The very end is a lead in to the rest of the
series. Curse you Rebecca and Kevin.
4 out of 5
Overall Enjoyment
This is a little lower on the reader
age group than I usually pick up, but I still really liked the characters
(which is a must for me) and the world was brilliant. The writing style is a little slow to start
out, which tripped me up a bit. But I read it pretty fast, and even told my
niece that I would loan it to her after I was finished. She doesn’t love reading (I’m working on
that) but I think she’ll like this one.
So if I’m recommending it to others, that means I liked it, right?
4 out of 5
Score=31
That's a Brown Belt!
No comments:
Post a Comment