This is a book by my good friend Rebecca Hamilton a.k.a. @inkmuse on Twitter. (Though we became friends after I read this.) She's a great person.
Premise: Sophia Parsons is a young women in who has to deal with diversity because she is a Wiccan. Not only that, but she also has a constant static in her head that drives her to distraction. To try and stop this static Sophia does a ritual. However, all it does is release the skeletons in the family closet and introduce her to the supernatural world hidden beneath the mortal one.
The Good:
Wicca: A book with Wiccans. There need to be more of these!
Style: Rebecca seamlessly combines Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance with Literary elements into a new genre called Paranormal Fantasy. Well, at least I felt there were Lit qualities, but I don't read a whole lot of Literary Fiction.
Worldbuilding: Rebecca brilliantly twisted the myths of already existing creatures and created her own critters that have me intrigued. I love the use the five elements in relation to creatures. Her world pulled me in to the point I regretted having to leave when the book ended.
Characters: I loved Sophia. She was intelligent and strong willed. Even though she had a lot to be afraid of, she didn't give in to her fear. Also she had this humorous voice that wasn't over the top. Lately, in a lot Urban Fantasy books I am seeing a trend with a overly snarky first person voice. Sophia did not have this. She was funny but it didn't saturate the story. Also, I was drawn into Sophia and her emotions. The supporting characters are well rounded and multidimensional. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses.
The Bad: I only have one small nitpick. There are points in the story I felt could have been elaborated, but for the pacing and length's sake, I can understand why they weren't.
Overall: I loved this book. For a while I have been struggling to find books in Urban Fantasy that have kept me interested. I have stopped reading several novels from the major publishing houses because I felt they were bland and overdone. The Forever Girl kept me hooked until the very end.
Check out The Forever Girl at Rebecca's page here.
I love your review, and it pretty much echoes my own feelings about The Forever Girl. I was hooked after reading the Kindle sample, and woe betide my husband if he interrupted my time in Forever Girl World...
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see a balanced, helpful review which doesn't contain spoilers, too! Thank you.
Thanks :) I try not to put spoilers in my reviews. Most don't want to know and will make their own decisions.
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