Keeper of the Winds by Jenna Solitaire
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Naturally everything we own was packed away when we moved, so upon joining my new local library I borrowed this book to bridge the gap whilst searching for Seaborn (the book I started long ago and now intend to finished).
Keeper of the Winds (Daughter of Destiny series)
The book is the first in a series called Daughter of Destiny and from a writer’s perspective there were two things that really stood out to me.
The first – a positive – is that I enjoyed the writer’s style and voice. It was easy to read and felt comfortable, which I feel is very important for any reader, especially me, as it allowed me to become absorbed in the story. I also liked the way the book was set up, i.e. at the beginning of each chapter are tiny scenes that lift the suspense and will make readers want to find out what they relate to. In my opinion, these teasers (as I call them) were well done and added to the overall story.
The second – actually there are two negatives – relates to the character building aspects of the main character. The other characters were fine, believable, but the main character is a girl who really got on my nerves because she continually moaned and groaned and fought against everything…and I mean everything! I understood that her makeup was a non-believer, but I think the author ended up making her unrealistic. As I read the story, I found myself wanting to cross out sentences that took this “non-believer” stuff too far. The second negative is that I got a bit confused about the time of the day that some of the scenes in the story took place. For instance, one scene started at about lunchtime but before I knew it the main character was exhausted and going to bed! It was supposedly 9pm by this time but the events that occurred in that time didn’t feel right to fill up that amount of time. This happens several times throughout the book.
Putting the negatives aside, the overall story was interesting enough for me to continue reading. In fact, I wanted to know where everything was heading and only felt annoyed by the main character’s refusal to accept anything that was happening to her. The other negatives were minor nit-picks on my part.
One thing that is worth mentioning is that the author of the book is also the main character in the story. I believe this was a clever decision on the part of the author and/or publisher. They are making out that the events are based on truth. The plot has been well thought out and the book is written in first person. I believe that this author/main character thing will create a bit of a buzz that will bring more sales. Good luck to them.
Anyway, overall I think readers of fantasy and young adult fiction will enjoy this book.