Ahoy there mateys! A young adult fantasy book for my lovelies . . .

I read this book in one evening and the time flew by. What a lovely unexpected young adult fantasy book. I had never heard of Kelley Armstrong and picked out this book on a whim. I am glad to now have made her acquaintance. Two fun strong female protagonists, excellent secondary characters, magical creatures, plot twists, and tension.

This world was set up with a feeling of Japanese culture and surroundings but still felt like its own world. For example, the swords in the book are described in a way that showcases the blades to be Japanese in origin, if you are familiar which such things, but the author deliberately decided to use the western terms. The only Japanese words used were some surnames. As someone with familiarity of Japanese art, literature and customs, I felt the author had a light and deft touch to provide cultural and Japanese flavor.

The main characters are twin sisters, Moria and Ashyn. I felt the author did a fantastic job showing their loving relationship and growth during the book. I loved the distinct points of view and how the girls made mistakes of judgment, but the sisters’ belief in one another stayed strong. They also have a giant mystical wildcat and a hound as companions. How cool is that? I am a sucker for larger than life intelligent magical animals in books. The book’s plot sets up lots of questions and ultimately answers very few, which was surprisingly a good thing. The end of the book was just about perfect in a “what the hell just happened” kind of way, and I am excited to read the next in the series when I can get my grubby mitts on a copy.

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