The author gave me a copy of this book for an honest review.
Genre: YA fantasy/horror/romancy/being older doesn’t mean being smart
Basic Summary: Aislinn just wants to be a normal teenage girl instead of turning into a monster at night. Stealing other people’s life stream helps a little. Here is a better summary.
Rating: 3/5
Review:
There are a lot of things to like about Korrigan. It has magic based on Irish folklore, it has a character who is already entrenched in a magical world, and it has a good looking baddy. Aislinn is a teenage girl who has teenage problems and more. She doesn’t strike me as being older throughout this book. She makes questionable decisions (as one does when they are teenagers) and sometimes her complaints seem to be on the trivial side (as one has when they are teenagers).
The plot flows well. It opens with Aislinn stealing life so it establishes the magical elements early on. Aislinn’s guardians (“aunts”) are also Korrigan but have been around far longer. Pacing also felt good. It’s a short book but the pacing didn’t make it seem rushed.
The romance between Aislinn and Zane wasn’t my favorite but it made sense to me in the book. Aislinn hadn’t really been around other human beings so her clutching on to a nice and handsome boy feels about right. Zane falling for a mysterious girl who also needs his help…also feels about right.
Now, speaking of Zane, the dialogue didn’t mesh too well with me especially when it came to Zane. Primarily: “Hey, girl!” “How you doing, girl?”
The overuse of “girl” made me twitch. Do teenage boys talk like that? Yes. I guess. Sometimes? I don’t know anymore. It just rubbed me in all the wrong ways. And I know people are actually inclined to be repetitive in speech but it just…I couldn’t handle it. I just couldn’t.
Now, the addition of the Far Darrig was a nice touch. He’s a baddy but that doesn’t mean he’s incapable of feelings. His feelings, however, don’t negate the horrible things he does. Also, Aislinn having split feelings between the Far Darrig and Zane was an interesting touch. Yes, there is a love triangle. It is a weak spot for me when it comes to books. I love them. Don’t you judge me.
One last thing I wish this book had more of is sense of setting and past events. Now, the book goes back and forth between Aislinn and Zane in first person. However, I felt there wasn’t enough description as far as where Aislinn and Zane were at times. Also, we’re told Aislinn’s aunts are kind of horrible and there are one or two examples in the beginning but it would be nice to have more of that shown. You do see it more towards the middle and ending of the book but it would have been nice to have that setting relationship towards the beginning.
Overall, I did enjoy reading the book and would read the second in the series. If you want to check out the book on Amazon, it has been recently released at the beginning of this year. Here is a link.
May you get lost in a book,
Chrissy
Read the book yesterday .. I agree with your points. My rating were all for Dae Darrig as I found him pretty interesting. Rest were okay as you said. Not find of triangles.
He was a really interesting character! I thought he was well written and I could go for a whole book about him. (I’m glad you found the like button. Thank you so much!)
I guess it’s a good thing I’m writing a prequel all about the Far Darrig. 😛 🙂 Also some things are more fleshed out in Druid (Book 2) and Samhain (Book 3). Thank you both for your honest comments– this is so helpful to me as I continue creating stories!
A quick question – how do I like your post? Couldn’t find a ‘like’ button
I found like button via app… Great!!