Sunday, February 6, 2011

Mistwood by Leah Cypress


Published: April 2010
Publisher: Harperteen
Pages: 303
Copy provided by: Library
Summary: Goodreads

The Shifter is an immortal creature bound by an ancient spell to protect the kings of Samorna. When the realm is peaceful, she retreats to the Mistwood. But when she is needed she always comes.

Isabel remembers nothing. Nothing before the prince rode into her forest to take her back to the castle. Nothing about who she is supposed to be, or the powers she is supposed to have.
Prince Rokan needs Isabel to be his Shifter. He needs her ability to shift to animal form, to wind, to mist. He needs her lethal speed and superhuman strength. And he needs her loyalty—because without it, she may be his greatest threat.

Isabel knows that her prince is lying to her, but she can't help wanting to protect him from the dangers and intrigues of the court . . . until a deadly truth shatters the bond between them.
Now Isabel faces a choice that threatens her loyalty, her heart . . . and everything she thought she knew.
Mistwood started out for me at a slow walk. I wasn't too sure whether I was going to like it, but I thought it was worth a try. As I kept reading, that walk became a trot. Things started happening, mysterious things occurred, people were betrayed. The main protagonist, Isabel, was confused and unsure - I loved her. She starts to question her loyalties, but accepts what she believes is right.


Near the end there was a major twist that I personally did not see coming and I galloped through the last portion of the book - couldn't put it down at that point. There are so many twists and turns in this story that it is hard to keep it all straight. In a couple of places I had to go back and reread, because things weren't making sense first time around.


Is there romance in the book? Well, kinda, sorta, may'be, if you know what I mean, but it is definitely not the focus of the story, and there isn't the usual love triangle either, which was nice.
If you are a fantasy fan, I'm sure you're going to love this one. I certainly did.
I noticed that there is a second volume coming out later this year called Nightspell. Personally, I thought the story wrapped up very nicely, with just a little bit of uncertainty and I thought it would be a stand-alone. Guess I was wrong - again.

1 comment:

  1. I wasn't initially a fan of this story, but I loved the writing and I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next in the series. I thought it was a fine standalone as well, but the author has very lyrical prose.

    Great review, you summed everything up perfectly. =)

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