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Friday, September 5, 2014

Book Review: The Monsters of St. Osyth- Santinder Bhatti



Publisher/Year: Self Published/2012
Genre:  Fantasy
Format: PDF
Source: Free for honest review
Other Books By Author: Debut Novel





The Juicy Stuff:

Sixteen year old Freya is prone to the odd premonition, but has spent her entire life denying it for fear of being labelled a freak. When she moves to the village of St Osyth, a place haunted by stories of magic and witchcraft, it becomes harder than ever to suppress her gift. Especially once she bonds with the village witch. 


But Freya’s journey really begins when she meets the mysterious Hudvek family and falls in love with their son, Raven. Then dark events start to unfold - docile animals attack their owners, bloody violence erupts in the quiet streets and a child is afflicted with sudden bruises. The blame falls on the curse of the Irish Travellers, who in turn, warn Freya about the true nature of the Hudveks. Rumours of necromancy and shamanism abound, while Freya struggles with blinding herself to the truth about her strange, new friends.In the end Freya must face her past and embrace the voice of intuition; if she is to save the village from the evil that threatens all those she has grown to love.

How It Made Me Feel:
I was immediately drawn in from the beginning and was pleasantly surprised.  The first couple of pages were not my favorite, when Freya was still at home, but once she traveled to St. Osyth, I was hooked.  The author was fabulous at writing sentences and paragraphs that drew you in and put you in the book. Her descriptions and explanations for characters were brilliant and thoughtful, not rushed or weak.  I greatly enjoyed Anushka's role in the story and thought she added some colorful local flavor to the story.  Her store and occupation added to the story and added to Freya's character as well.  One of my other favorite characters was Claudia.  She was a bit of a mystery at first, but she quickly grew on me and I found myself wanting to know more about her. I also rather liked the role the gypsies had.

What I Thought Worked:
I enjoyed how the author kept Freya's mother as a part of the story by coming back to Freya in the form of a voice in her head.  Which later on became Freya's voice.  I think it showed great growth in Freya and added to her character. 

What I Thought Didn't Work:
There were times in the story that Raven reminded me of Edward Cullen, and it ended up almost ruining parts of the book for me.  I wish the author had been able to make him just a big stronger of a character, or change some of his habits just a smidge.

Rating


Why It Got That Rating:
I really enjoyed this book and would definitely love reading it again.  It is a book I would love to see on my bookshelf, I just didn't find it life changing.  It made me think, it kept me involved, and my attention was rapt until the end of the book.

Who Would I Recommend To:
I would recommend to anyone who loves a great fantasy story, enjoys reading about gypsies, or likes to read about girls coming into their own as a person.

Last Impressions/Remarks:
Great book.  Can't wait to read it again and will definitely be buying it.

Things We Should Talk About
  • Have you ever felt like you had premonition tendencies?
  • What would you do if you loved someone like Raven but weren't sure if they were good or bad?
  • Do you believe in witches?

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