I am going to preface this review with a goal for myself: stop buying book one in a fantasy series when the remaining books have yet to be published. I absolutely hate the feeling of falling in love with characters and plot and having to wait for the next book to come out! So, this review is a Book One and no, Book Two isn’t ready yet.
I picked A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross as my Book of the Month for February. It’s a sweet Scottish fantasy novel that I was able to read through in a weekend. The language is easy to grasp and the storyline is interesting but predictable. Ross is generally a Young Adult writer and this book has the easy read feel of YA.
I loved the concept of this book. A magical island with spirits of the elements, warring clans, a ghost, kidnapped children… and, of course, what’s a good fantasy story without some destiny thrown into the plot. The book starts off on the slow side, building the characters and history of the island before the magic really takes off. The book ends with, what I think is, an overused plot twist. I don’t think I’m patting myself on the back when I say I saw that twist coming a mile away.
Despite the predictability, I love the characters and was disappointed when I realized that the best must be in the next installment. There’s definitely a reason to wait it out for Part Two, so while I do think this is worth the read… maybe wait until the next installment is ready.