Rowan of the Wood by Christine and Ethen Rose
Summary (from http://www.rowanofthewood.com/about.htmlabout.html): An ancient wizard possesses a young boy after a millennium of imprisonment in a magic wand. He emerges from the child in the face of danger and discovers Fiana, his new bride from the past, has somehow survived time and become something evil. My review: I was so excited about this one. It's a heavy book for a paperback, and so far in my life of reading, that's gone well for me. Plus isn't that an awesome cover? I wanted to love this book with a passion, especially when I got an e-mail from one the authors saying that they looked forward to my review.
I'm really sad to say I didn't love it. Honestly, I really am. But I didn't, so I'm not going to lie and say I did. It was actually pretty hard for me to read, very slow going, and I normally read fast.
Now, I may be a bit of a book snob, but personally I could tell that this was a first book, like it wasn't as smoothly written as the books I usually read in this genre are. The dialogue sometimes seemed unrealistic to me, things real people would never say, and other than Cullen, Fiana and Rowan, the other characters seemed rather undeveloped. There's even a lot about Cullen himself the authors didn't elaborate on, and his foster family seemed like the stereotypical mean family, almost like a copy of the Dursley's from Harry Potter. They were very descriptive in the beginning of the book, and seemed to flesh out the characters, but as the book came to an end, it was like they were rushing to the end, and forgot to let the characters really be themselves if they weren't one of the main three. The point of view switched around a lot, and it may just be me, but I found that slightly confusing, and at times unnecessary. Last... *SPOILER ALERT* I hated the ending. It left things untied, almost unfinished in ways, and you could tell that they're planning on writing a sequel. And there wasn't a happy ending and that sucked! *DONE*
However, it could have been a lot worse and was a good story, well written for a first novel. I'm glad I read it.
Conclusion: If I were to grade books, this would be about a B-
So leave a comment if you want, and happy reading, guys.
Love, Laina
looks... like not my ype. but great review
ReplyDeletegreat review. :]
ReplyDeleteLexi <3
P.S. I Love You!! haha
There is actually a sequel to the book the authors are writing, so hopefully that will tie things up better. I agree this book was really well written, and the authors even interviewed Fiana on my blog.
ReplyDeleteI know there's going to be a sequel, I just don't like that they made that so obvious.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad this was disappointing, as the premise is really promising.
ReplyDeleteI hear what you're apparently saying about the point of view transference, but considering it is written by two people, it seemed seamlessly written. You couldn't tell where one author's voice began and the other ended. (My opinion).
ReplyDeleteHeavy for a paperback? Found it quite easy to read.. consider the 400-500 page mammoth books so popular now! Now THOSE are hard to get through.
Perhaps if you give the upcoming sequels a try, the story line will become clearer. At least, that has worked for me in the past. In some ways, the V.C. Andrews sequels were better than the original.
Nah, I didn't mean hard to read, I meant physically heavy. I love long books.
ReplyDeleteWow! I couldn't believe it when my friend told me about your review. I totally loved this book, and all my friends who've read it loved it, too!
ReplyDeleteI looked around at some other reviews, and they're all pretty good. I guess it's just a matter of taste, like the authors wrote about on their blog tour last month. For me, it fit my taste perfectly. I couldn't put it down!
All I can say is I wish I lived in Florida! They're going there next week on their book tour, and I'd love to get my copy signed AND see their wicked RV! (http://www.christineandethanrose.com/?p=859) They won't be getting up to Nebraska to much later in the year.
I do agree with you that it was well written, though, and the book cover IS way cool!
Thanks for the review! However, after just finishing it, I have to agree with some of the other comments and say that it was a great read! I actually liked the ending leaving us ready for another! I looked at the pictures of their Gypsy Caravan and was really impressed. I found all their tour dates on there as well so I can try and get my book signed!
ReplyDeleteWell, you're allowed to, but seeing as it's my blog, I'm allowed to post what I thought of the book I read.
ReplyDelete