Friday 11 September 2015

Starborn by Lucy Hounsom

Reviewer: JW Hicks

What we thought: This YA fantasy adventure will satisfy and excite in equal measure. It crackles tension from the very first page, and once started it is impossible to put down.

Starborn is, in the true sense, a journey. The storyline forces the heroine, Kyndra, away from a normal humdrum life that will trundle on in the age old way, and leads her to the astonishing realisation of who she really is and where her destiny lies.

Her story begins on Inheritance Day: the coming of age day when the young people of Brenwym must look into the Relic to learn their true name and see their future in its depths. Once seen that future can never be altered.

When Kyndra’s turn comes, something happens that not only stops the ceremony but destroys all hope of future ones. Kyndra is named as culprit and also blamed for the horrific storm that occurs immediately after the disrupted ceremony. Accused of witchcraft and threatened with immolation, she is rescued by magic-wielding strangers, and spirited away from harm.

She and her saviours travel to the hidden citadel of Naris where the magic-workers live. Once there she experiences waking dreams, haunting visions of the past. Believed to have hidden powers, she is subjected to callous and agonising testing. Enduring the testing she discovers things about herself that terrify and confuse: things that rouse the magic she holds within herself, a force so strong that it could alter her and her world forever.

You’ll enjoy this if you like: Game of Thrones, and the works of Trudi Canavan

Avoid if you don’t like: Vivid descriptions of horrors beyond imagining, and the decisions that have to be made by persons possessing tremendous power.

Ideal accompaniments: Calming possets and warm, gooey brownies.

Genre: YA Fantasy Fiction

Available on Amazon

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