Series: Starling (bk. 2)
Genera: Paranormal Romance/Fantasy
Subjects: supernatural, magic, mythology, Norse
mythology, Valkyries, faeries, gods and goddesses
Age/Grade Level: Teen
Length: 325 pgs.
HC/PB: Hardcover
List Price: $17.99
Publisher: HarperTeen
Summary/ product description: “The last thing Mason
Starling remembers is the train crossing a bridge. An explosion . . . a
blinding light . . . then darkness. Now she is alone, stranded in Asgard—the
realm of Norse legend—and the only way for her to get home is to find the Spear
of Odin, a powerful relic left behind by vanished gods.
The Fennrys Wolf knows all about Asgard. He was once
trapped there. And he’ll do whatever it takes to find the girl who’s stolen his
heart and bring her back—even if it means a treacherous descent into the
Underworld. But time is running out, and Fenn knows something Mason doesn’t: If
she takes up the Spear, she’ll set in motion a terrible prophecy. And she won’t
just return to her world . . . she’ll destroy it.
In this pulse-pounding sequel to Starling, Lesley
Livingston delivers another electrifying blend of nonstop action and undeniable
romance that will leave readers breathless.”
My Review: This book had a lot of things that I really
liked, and something that made is slightly boring. I really like most of the
characters and the dialogue. I read the Wondrous Strange series, so I love
seeing familiar faces again. I also love all the magic and mythology. What I
had a hard time with is the 3rd person narration. I think if I was
listening to it as an audio book, I would have enjoyed it more. I listened to
the first two Wondrous Strange book read by the author. Lesley does really good
voice acting.
I don’t really care much for Mason, unless she says
something funny. I love Fenn because he was a Viking supposedly and I like to
picture him as a younger version of Thor. I loved that we get to see Maddox
again. Him and Fenn have the funniest conversations. I also like Rafe, who’s
Anubis. He’s got a great sense of humor too. Pretty much all my favorite parts
in this book are humorous dialogue and banter.
I also loved when Mason met Loki. Sadly Loki doesn’t
get a big role in this book. I felt disappointed because I love the Thor movies
so much and really was hoping for more crazy Loki antics. Loki is kind of my
favorite bad guy ever. It seem that the bad guys in this book are parents.
Specifically Mason’s father, Gunner Starling. He wants Mason to become a
Valkyrie and start Ragnarok. Why do the bad guys always want to cause the end
of the world?
I do love all the mythology used in this book. There’s
not only Norse mythology, but Egyptian and Greek and possibly some Roman and
Celtic. This book has gods from all the ancient religions, pretty much. Norse is the focus, but there was a lot of
Egyptian stuff to because Anubis was in it.
The plot was okay, but I felt like it wasn’t really
organized that well. Too much mind jumping. We get not only Mason and Fenn’s
perspectives, by also Heather, Cal and a few other character. I don’t think I
can truly call this 3rd person limited. I’m not a fan of switching
perspectives without some indication of who’s head we’re in. I was so confused
at some points, that I kind of skimmed. The writing itself wasn’t bad. The
descriptiveness of appearances and objects were beautifully done. I wanted to
picture what was going on, but at times I felt lost.
I do recommend anything by Lesley Livingston. I
suggest reading the Wondrous Strange series first because we get some of Fenn’s
backstory as a Janus Guard. I recommend this book to fans of Percy Jackson and
the Olympians, The Kane Chronicles, Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton, Stork
by Wendy Delsol, Need series by Carrie Jones, Wildfire by Karsten Knight,
Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini, or any other mythology YA.
Cover Art Review: The photos are nice and the cover
model is definitely supposed to be Mason, but doesn’t have her blue eyes. I
think she looks too much like Megan Fox.
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