Reviewed
by: ?wazithinkin
Genre: Fantasy
/ Folk Tales / Young Adult
Approximate
word count: 75-80,000 words
Availability
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store
Author:
“Patria L. Dunn hails from the small town of Louisa
Virginia. Born in 1981, a true child of the 80's; her interests range from
classic to unimaginable. A young woman with many talents and many titles such
as: Pianist, Author, Poet and most importantly Mother, if you ask her about her
accomplishments she will tell you: ‘The best is yet to come.’"
For more, visit Dunn's website.
Description:
“At seventeen years old, Hannah Adler has already lost her
mother to a brutal murder, and her father to a job that keeps him away more
often than not. It couldn’t get any worse for this depressed teen, except it
does when she is abruptly uprooted from the city and only home she’s ever known
and deposited in the gold rich mountains of Hinsdale Colorado. Never one to
make friends easily, the only thing that keeps Hannah grounded is her star
quality cross country talent. While running through the woods behind the cabin,
that is now her home, gives her solace, Hannah quickly discovers that this
seemingly enchanted forest is hiding something that no one is willing to talk
about.”
Appraisal:
"There are three bears, a girl with honey gold blonde hair, and a
secret lair, but this story is far from the children’s fairy tale our parents
used to read to us when we were kids."
Paul Adler, trying to reconnect with his daughter, takes a job as a
mine inspector for Golden Wonder Mines in Colorado, where he won’t have to
travel as much. Leaving the D.C. area is not an easy adjustment for Hannah to
make, at least her new school has a cross country team for her to join. The
relationship between Paul and Hannah is strained for a while, however Hannah
relents and vows to try to adjust to living in the middle of nowhere. At least
their cabin has an indoor bathroom.
When school starts things seem quite ordinary and Hannah makes a
couple of friends on the cross-country team. However there is one boy that
seems to stand out from the rest at school, he is larger and a little different
from the other boys. His name is Jake Bear and he intrigues Hanna. As the story
unfolds she can tell that he is keeping things from her.
The mine is having trouble with cave-ins so Paul is very busy at work
and gets worried about Hanna running in the woods. Hanna loves running in the
woods until one day she is stalked by a huge wolf. Luckily a bear comes out of
nowhere and saves her. Ms. Dunn has done an excellent job creating an ancient
myth for this world, which makes the story read like an
urban fantasy. The plot keeps a steady pace as new elements come to light and
things start to change between Jake and Hanna. It’s a unique story that turns
the old fairy tale upside down with a few unexpected twists. The characters are
easy to like and the author’s descriptive prose paints realistic pictures of
the wilderness. This is a fun read to get lost in.
Format/Typo
Issues:
I found a small number of proofing problems that include missing,
extra words, or wrong words.
Rating:
**** Four stars
No comments:
Post a Comment