4.5/5 Stars
Details of the book:
paperback ARC, 344 pages
Published by Scholastic Press
Expected Publication Date: January 27, 2015
Synopsis: Two unlikely allies must journey across a kingdom in the hopes of thwarting death itself.
All his life, Nels has wanted to be a knight of the kingdom of Avërand. Tall and strong, and with a knack for helping those in need, the people of his sleepy little village have even taken to calling him the Knight of Cobblestown.
But that was before Nels died, murdered outside his home by a mysterious figure.
Now the young hero has awoken as a ghost, invisible to all around him save one person—his only hope for understanding what happened to him—the kingdom’s heir, Princess Tyra. At first the spoiled royal wants nothing to do with Nels, but as the mystery of his death unravels, the two find themselves linked by a secret, and an enemy who could be hiding behind any face.
Nels and Tyra have no choice but to abscond from the castle, charting a hidden world of tangled magic and forlorn phantoms. They must seek out an ancient needle with the power to mend what has been torn, and they have to move fast. Because soon Nels will disappear forever.
A unique story that has the nostalgic feeling of a beloved fairytale. I was immediately sunk into this book from page one. There is comedy, romance, adventure, action, magic, ghosts, what's not to love? If that doesn't sound like a great book to you, you are dead wrong. I read it so fast that it felt short but it's a decent size novel. I just fell so in love with the plot and the characters, I just wasn't ready for it to be over. It's amazing. There was never a dull moment, and I don't mean it was wall-to-wall action, I mean that in 344 pages I never got bored. I guess what I'm saying is that I love this book and I would highly recommend it to all of you.
Strengths/Likes:
1) I love the couple. Both characters are strong in their own ways, and it's never that one of them is leaning more on the other's strength. Neither of them is a special snowflake. Everything they are good at they have worked hard at. They have an equal partnership and I think that's beautiful.
2) The book is written in third-person from three points-of-view. Nels (our main guy), Tyra (our main girl) and our villain. First off, I have to say that multiple points of view is a hard thing to pull off, especially since all of the characters have to have their own distinct voices. Well, my hat's off to Jensen and King because they executed this perfectly. On top of that, while the plot was unfolding it gave the story a wider scope of understanding to the reader because we're allowed in the main characters heads. You'd think having such a wide view of the plot, it would make it predictable, but it wasn't. Basically, the writing style is brilliant.
3) This book had great world-building with none of the boring descriptions that usually comes with that. As I said before I didn't find myself bored at all and at the same time I could picture everything perfectly and felt that I fully understood what everything looked like.
4) The main plot is great. It was very intricate and has a few interesting subplots. A lot of the time while reading a book with subplots I often get annoyed and want the book to turn back towards the main plot but this plot was so masterfully done that all the subplots tied nicely into the grand scheme of the book.
5) I loved the paranormal elements especially all of the ghosts!
Weaknesses/Disklikes:
1) Somehow this book felt like it was missing something. I loved everything about it but at the end of it, it didn't seem right that it was over. It was missing something and I'm not sure what but it needed something else to give me an overall feeling of satisfication that I could say without a doubt that it was perfect. This was amazing but it needed something a little extra to make it epic.
Favorite Quotes/Moments:
1) "I promised to protect you. You could've been killed."
"I could have, but thanks to you, I wasn't." As she smiled at him, a humorous thought caused her to laugh. "Sharing an afterlife with you.. now that would be terrible."
2) Tyra inched closer to Nels as she eyed the stranger. "Who are you?"
"Said already I be Fargut," he grunted. "And you know'n why?" He stood and leaned back as he patted his protrusive belly with both hands. "Cause me gut be come'n out so far!"
3) "I am no more a king than you are a knight, but it is the thought of the honor that defines us."
4) "After we bring you back to life, run as fast as you can, before I kill you!"
5) "You're rather close," she said.
Nels placed his free hand on her back. "Not close enough."
The cover is beautiful & inviting!! I will read this and let you know what I think!
ReplyDeleteI look forward to it!
DeleteI'm convinced! Totally going to buy this book when it comes out
ReplyDeleteYou should! I really liked it, I hope you will too =)
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