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jrf1108's review
4.0
This is an enjoyable YA fantasy novel, especially for those looking for 'clean' stories suitable for more conservative readers.
There are a few things that gave me pause, however. The first 10-20 pages were the hardest part to get into, there were several mentions of 'THAT SUMMER' which came across as very heavy handed and overwrought. Happily those stopped and the writing evened out, the rest was well done. Also, the novel ends essentially mid-sentence during the set up of the story. This is not set up as a standalone story, but as a preface of a bigger one. For comparison, I would approach this more like the first episode of a miniseries than a full movie. The biggest issue I had was the amount of objectification that the girls show towards a character, Gabriel. He's written as highly attractive, but there's a lot of talk about how hot he is, his muscles, stuff like that. While there is not nearly as much sexual content as many other fantasy stories (the fantasy genre is so bad about this issue), I still was slightly put off by it.
As a first novel, it's has some hiccups/issues, but overall Windchaser is well written and interesting. I would recommend it for fans of books like Percy Jackson or The City of Ember series, and I think the full series could be a masterpiece of YA.
There are a few things that gave me pause, however. The first 10-20 pages were the hardest part to get into, there were several mentions of 'THAT SUMMER' which came across as very heavy handed and overwrought. Happily those stopped and the writing evened out, the rest was well done. Also, the novel ends essentially mid-sentence during the set up of the story. This is not set up as a standalone story, but as a preface of a bigger one. For comparison, I would approach this more like the first episode of a miniseries than a full movie. The biggest issue I had was the amount of objectification that the girls show towards a character, Gabriel. He's written as highly attractive, but there's a lot of talk about how hot he is, his muscles, stuff like that. While there is not nearly as much sexual content as many other fantasy stories (the fantasy genre is so bad about this issue), I still was slightly put off by it.
As a first novel, it's has some hiccups/issues, but overall Windchaser is well written and interesting. I would recommend it for fans of books like Percy Jackson or The City of Ember series, and I think the full series could be a masterpiece of YA.
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