When I first read the summary for Arrow of the Mist I got really excited
and so I jumped at the chance to get on the blog tour, and lucky for me
I did! I'm excited to share my thoughts on this debut novel from
Christina Mercer. And so now, here comes my review!
Author: Christina Mercer
Series: Arrow of the Mist #1
Pages: 257
Genre: YA, Historical Fiction, Fantasy
Date Published: March 21st 2013
Publisher: Self published
Format Read: eBook provided by author for honest review
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Summary:
Terror strikes the Celtic inspired kingdom of Nemetona when barbed roots breach the
veil of a forbidden land and poison woodsmen, including 15-year-old
Lia’s beloved father. Lia and three others embark on a quest to the forbidden land of Brume to gather ingredients for the cure. But after her elder kinsman is attacked and poisoned, she and her cousin, Wynn, are forced to finish the quest on their own.
Lia relies on her powerful herbal wisdom and the memorized pages of her late grandmother’s Grimoire for guidance through a land of soul-hungry shades, trickster creatures, and uncovered truths about the origin of Brume and her family’s unexpected ties to it. The deeper they trek into the land, the stronger Lia’s untapped gift as a tree mage unfolds. When she discovers the enchanted root’s maker, it forces her to question everything about who she is and what is her destiny. Ultimately she must make a terrible choice: keep fighting to save her father and the people of the lands or join with the power behind the deadly roots to help nature start anew.
Lia relies on her powerful herbal wisdom and the memorized pages of her late grandmother’s Grimoire for guidance through a land of soul-hungry shades, trickster creatures, and uncovered truths about the origin of Brume and her family’s unexpected ties to it. The deeper they trek into the land, the stronger Lia’s untapped gift as a tree mage unfolds. When she discovers the enchanted root’s maker, it forces her to question everything about who she is and what is her destiny. Ultimately she must make a terrible choice: keep fighting to save her father and the people of the lands or join with the power behind the deadly roots to help nature start anew.
-Goodreads
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My Thoughts:
Arrow of the Mist was an entertaining, quick and well thought out beginning to, what I think, will be an awesome series! Mercer has a way of working her words in a simple yet interesting way. Her pacing is wonderful and the story is action packed from beginning to end. On top of that she has worked together some really interesting characters.
I loved that this book was rooted in Celtic history, though it takes a turn into a fantasy realm, you never really lose the history of the people that the story surrounds. I found it refreshing. Speaking of Mercer's fantasy realm, I loved all of the aspects that she wove into her story. There were wondrous creatures that I had never heard of and others like dwarfs, unicorns, water nymphs and faeries. Even the creatures that we all know were re imagined in some really spectacular ways. I enjoyed the fact that I knew what the creatures were, but that Mercer was giving all of them a fresh face.
Arrow of the Mist is also riddled with riddles taken out of Lia's grandma's Grimoire. Magic plays a key role in the world building of the story and Mercer also gives that aspect a make over. The mystery elements were hidden inside of the riddles, which was fun. She rooted it in a realistic world while also letting the magic do its own thing. Can you tell that I was obsessed with the world building in this book yet? Because I totally was! It was dark and evil and light and beautiful all at the same time. As soon as you step into the land of Brume anything goes and Mercer used that to her advantage!
The characters were also a lot of fun to read about. Lia is a strong female lead, who also isn't afraid to show us her weaknesses! I'm a huge fan of main characters like that. Not only is the book a action packed fantasy story, it's also Lia's coming of age story. And trust me, she comes back to her home land a completely different person. The unfolding of her tree mage powers was also fascinating to watch. Though there is a hunky love interest by the name of Kelvin, he isn't used in much of the novel. Which I thought was kind of awesome. You know he's there, but the story focuses on Lia and her cousin Wynn. Speaking of Wynn, he was pretty amazing himself. I couldn't have wished for a better partner in crime for Lia. Reading a book that centered on family was a nice change of pace for me.
Mercer's use of animals and plant life in Arrow of the Mist also brought a certain life to the book. Hounds, bees, horses and a slew of plant life play a large role in the book and she gave them all the right amount of personality!
All in all I have to say that Mercer has written a solid first novel. Though I do have to get up on my soap box for second and let you know that I thought that the ending was way to abrupt. It almost felt like it cut off in the middle of a paragraph to me. But, that being said I'll be sitting here waiting to see what happens next in book 2!
Rating:
4 Unicorns = Close to perfect!
Get The Book:
About The Author:
Christina Mercer writes fiction in addition to mothering two young adults, a pack of large dogs, and about 100,000 honeybees. Her varied interests prompted her to study creative writing, earn her official degree in Accounting, become a CPA, acquire a certificate in Herbal Studies, and keep honeybees. She took Writer’s Best in Show at the 2012 SCBWI CA North/Central Regional Conference and was a semi-finalist in the 2010 Amazon Breakout Novel Award Contest. You can find her at www.christinamercer.com or working as the Reviews Director at www.indie-visible.com
Author Links:
Giveaway:
To celebrate the book Christina is giving away eBook copies of Arrow of the Mist! Since it's a eBook giveaway, it's open internationally! So enter away and hopefully you end up with a copy of this book in your hands!
3 comments:
Great review, doll! I love how you describe Lia she sounds like the perfect MC to root for who has her own flaws and weaknesses to give her an edge and well, realism! she also seems to grow throughout which is a plus and something not all authors achieve. Glad you enjoyed it! :)
THIS SOUNDS GOOD!!!!!!! Action packed fantasy stories are my kind of reads and I'm glad the characters don't disappoint because often their development can become second to everything else (did I make any sense just then?) Idk but great review! I am looking forward to reading this one!
Celtic history and a fantasy world mixed together? Awesome! And I always love a strong but real female lead! And a love interest that isn't the main focus? You hit so many high notes for me with this review. You make this book sound so cool! :)
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