When seventeen year old Mina Singer falls in love with the devestatingy handsome new boy at college, she finds herself catapulted into a fairytale realm.But Fairytales aren't for children and magic can be deadly - especially in the hands of a jealous Morgan Le Fay.
At the heart of an ancient prophecy, Mina risks destroying those she loves the most.
I recieved this ARC as the winner of a giveaway over at Reading Away The Days, and I had not seen any other reviews or anything for it, so I really had no idea what to expect. Thanks so much to Katie for sending me this book!
My opinion from the summary was a bit mixed. The whole 'new boy at school' storyline is overused and I was so worried that I would find nothing original but I was also excited to read something based off the Arthurian legend. I really have a thing for Arhurian legend...
First impressions? I liked it, there are a few word choices that seemed a bit off to me, but Katie also gives us a great introduction to the setting and the characters. I usually like these things to be established slowly but thew ay that John does it is beautifully. I was shocked to find that Mina already has a boyfriend, it adds a new twist to the 'new boy' storyline. Usually I go for the underdog, but i really fell in love with Blake in this book. He is everything you want from a hero, strong, protective, sweet, mysterious and A KNIGHT! (I don't class that a spoiler as the trilogy is called 'The Knight Trilogy'). I really was rooting for Blake and Mina all the way through.
The characterisation was so strong, Mina is a believable character, she may treat her boyfriend badly, maybe makes some bad decisions, but she is only seventeen, a year younger than me and to be honest, all teenage girls have to admit that sometimes, we can be cows... I also loved the relationship between Mina and her mother. They seem close, but her mother really cares and she is one of those 'I will support you as long as you do what I think is right' mothers. pretty much like my own, but we really do see how much she cares later. Sammy.. he is lovely, he isn't all... there throughout the book but we can see what type of character he is through Mina's thoughts. I like Sammy, but John didn't make him TOO loveable so he takes over Blake.
The storyline is fantastic, well executed and well written I loved the Arthurian side of it, but the setting and what goes on in the real world is fantastic. There is a scene in which Mina has a confrontation with her best friends and it is very relateable. The writing is decent, but there were some cringeworthy purple prose in there...
A few more notes;
-I have to say how much the ending drove me crazy, in now way is it a bad ending but it is a bit of a cliffhanger.
-I love the names, you can tell a lot from the names of book characters. Mina is a simple, beautiful and magical name, Sammy is simple and nice, Blake is mysterious and gorgeous.
Overall rating: B+
Stand alone/series: First in The Knight Trilogy
Released: December 1st 2010 (Paperback)
Publisher: Little Bird Publishing House
Pages: 384
Book obtained via: Won
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