Sometimes I ask myself if I have lived under a rock the past years. Also while reading this book: why haven’t I heard of Jane Fletcher before! Obviously, because you tend to read what you know. But I must say I had a great time venturing out from the known!
Fletcher did a great job with creating her world: Annwyn. Lot’s of details that make it a lust for your minds’ eye. Annwyn is flat and when you go off one side, you come back in the other. This made me think of a video game, which is funny as Lori is/was a game developer. Sentences like “The castle looked as if it had grown, rather than been built.” gave me the ultimate fantasy feel while reading.
In the prologue, we meet a young Tamsin as she seems to go up in smoke. A very cool scene to start the book with. Later we meet Lori in the present day and the way she says goodbye to her old life with Jess. I loved the way Fletcher made you be part of Lori’s thoughts. It made me instantly like Lori because of the way she still trusts her ex on certain topics despite what she has done to her.
The connection between the two worlds is brilliantly made. The decoding challenge Lori has to face when on Annwyn could have been more detailed for me. But I can imagine that other readers think the level of depth is just fine as Fletcher did it. Not everybody likes decoding games, but don’t let that hold you back, you won’t be bothered by it while reading.
The inner voice of Lori in this book is witty and funny, a delight to read. Characters are diverse and all have their role to play. The plot-line is well thought about and not an open door. There is romance in this book, secondary to the story-line but nice.
I can recommend this book to any fantasy lover.
To buy this book you can go to Amazon or Bold Strokes Books.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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