The Songbird's Refrain
Written by Jillian Marie 
The Songbird's Refrain, written by Jillian Marie is an original novel. It's YA filled with youthful self-discovery, mystery, magic and a sort of time travel. Before you do any of the reading, take the time to appreciate this book's cover. It's simply beautiful and carries a bit of the story, which means it's double-actioned.
Now that's a dime well spent! #element-9b85a807-8747-4bae-81d0-53541f92fb2b .waddons-blog-image.hideImage { display: none;}
Many believe there is power in a name, even more when the name is spoken. Others believe they're insignificant, unimportant, nothing at all. That's Elizabeth Brighton. Her life's an empty, blank slate where she's barely noticed, but she's used to it. Unhappy, but used to it.
So when she meets a girl, someone who seems to see her for who she really is, it's a no brainer to attend the event the girl is hosting. Elizabeth even feels a connection to the one known as Bridget. What she finds is another world, filled with confusion, imprisonment and dangerous dreams that links her to the lives of many others... others who may or may not even be alive!
Plagued with these dreams and repetitive names of the ones who could assist her, Elizabeth mentally battles against The Mistress, a woman of power and the ability to change the course of Elizabeth's life forever. So with perplexing clues, from unexpected sources, she goes against The Mistress for her freedom and her very soul.
I was given The Songbird's Refrain for review during my Camp NaNoWriMo challenge this July. I didn't think I'd be able to finish before the month's end, but I pulled it off. The story was my evening/bedtime read and I have to admit, at first I didn't think I'd want to complete the read. The story dragged a bit, understandably so, since the protagonist's dreary outlook on life and herself were necessary. I found the analogies long-winded and sometimes confusing. Also, due to some actions being repetitive, they triggered REM sleep, so I had to switch it to my daytime read.
About halfway through the book everything began to kick off, and the meaning behind the dreams Elizabeth continued to experience brought useful information. I became interested and did my best to figure out how it would all end. Sadly, I couldn't figure it out, but I kinda liked it. What made it tough for me was in the description. I was confused with the way the battle ensued, so I'll list my pro's and con's.
Pro's: The Songbird's Refrain is classically authentic, with experiences I've never read before in other YA books. The dynamic of the situations, not so much the character, is likable, allowing the isolation to become tangible. It allowed me to sympathize with her situation and want to continue turning pages.
Con's: The story was repetitive in both action and in thought, with clouded correlations that prompted both whats?" and heavy sighs. The story's description of the power used was stiff. I wasn't able to truly see what JM wanted me to se, leaving me confused. I simply couldn't see everything revealed.
This isn't to say the story wasn't good. I liked what transpired; I liked the magic of Elizabeth's transformation as well, but I felt it took too long to bring it all about. The force was lost, destroying my connection to Elizabeth's plight. To round it all up, The Songbird's Refrain is a magical story that's full of self-discovery, inner-strength and determination to pull one's self out of a dire, torturous situation. I think many YA's would enjoy this one. So go, grab yourself a copy and let me know what you think. I'm gonna move on to the next read.
Cheers!
The Songbird's Refrain
Written and Published by Jillian Marie
Amazon Digital Services
Release Date: September 2019
241 pages
The Songbird's Refrain, written by Jillian Marie is an original novel. It's YA filled with youthful self-discovery, mystery, magic and a sort of time travel. Before you do any of the reading, take the time to appreciate this book's cover. It's simply beautiful and carries a bit of the story, which means it's double-actioned. Now that's a dime well spent! #element-9b85a807-8747-4bae-81d0-53541f92fb2b .waddons-blog-image.hideImage { display: none;}
Many believe there is power in a name, even more when the name is spoken. Others believe they're insignificant, unimportant, nothing at all. That's Elizabeth Brighton. Her life's an empty, blank slate where she's barely noticed, but she's used to it. Unhappy, but used to it. So when she meets a girl, someone who seems to see her for who she really is, it's a no brainer to attend the event the girl is hosting. Elizabeth even feels a connection to the one known as Bridget. What she finds is another world, filled with confusion, imprisonment and dangerous dreams that links her to the lives of many others... others who may or may not even be alive!
Plagued with these dreams and repetitive names of the ones who could assist her, Elizabeth mentally battles against The Mistress, a woman of power and the ability to change the course of Elizabeth's life forever. So with perplexing clues, from unexpected sources, she goes against The Mistress for her freedom and her very soul.
I was given The Songbird's Refrain for review during my Camp NaNoWriMo challenge this July. I didn't think I'd be able to finish before the month's end, but I pulled it off. The story was my evening/bedtime read and I have to admit, at first I didn't think I'd want to complete the read. The story dragged a bit, understandably so, since the protagonist's dreary outlook on life and herself were necessary. I found the analogies long-winded and sometimes confusing. Also, due to some actions being repetitive, they triggered REM sleep, so I had to switch it to my daytime read.
About halfway through the book everything began to kick off, and the meaning behind the dreams Elizabeth continued to experience brought useful information. I became interested and did my best to figure out how it would all end. Sadly, I couldn't figure it out, but I kinda liked it. What made it tough for me was in the description. I was confused with the way the battle ensued, so I'll list my pro's and con's.
Pro's: The Songbird's Refrain is classically authentic, with experiences I've never read before in other YA books. The dynamic of the situations, not so much the character, is likable, allowing the isolation to become tangible. It allowed me to sympathize with her situation and want to continue turning pages.
Con's: The story was repetitive in both action and in thought, with clouded correlations that prompted both whats?" and heavy sighs. The story's description of the power used was stiff. I wasn't able to truly see what JM wanted me to se, leaving me confused. I simply couldn't see everything revealed.
This isn't to say the story wasn't good. I liked what transpired; I liked the magic of Elizabeth's transformation as well, but I felt it took too long to bring it all about. The force was lost, destroying my connection to Elizabeth's plight. To round it all up, The Songbird's Refrain is a magical story that's full of self-discovery, inner-strength and determination to pull one's self out of a dire, torturous situation. I think many YA's would enjoy this one. So go, grab yourself a copy and let me know what you think. I'm gonna move on to the next read.
Cheers!
The Songbird's Refrain
Written and Published by Jillian Marie
Amazon Digital Services
Release Date: September 2019
241 pages
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