Nera wakes and finds herself in an unknown environment. At first, she fears that she hooked up with someone the night before and will soon discover the mess she needs to escape to return home. Instead, she discovers, she's not on the wrong side of town, she has somehow transported to another planet. Luckily, everyone speaks a language she understands, and the weather is warm. Her last memory of New York City involved frigid January temps. Another problem arises when she realizes that, unlike the slovenly dives her hookups tended to land in, she's been kidnapped into a palace and the kidnappers have dressed her in satin and gold pjs—oh my! Better risk life and limb to escape this prison.
Might not have been my first reaction, but it's not about me. Ok, so Nera does escape, and she is rescued by a guy who lives in the trees. Yes, the trees ..., and she likes it. Well, I should mention that her rescuer is a young, tall, blonde, muscle-bound warrior. Makes the tree thing a bit more attractive.
The folks from the palace aren't happy about losing Nera, and the tree people aren't anxious to give her up either.
I won't go into much more detail. Do you feel for Nera's dramatic circumstanses? Can you sense the nature of the looming conflict? She also discovers that she is a Celestra, whatever that is, and, coincidentally so is Blondy. All I'll say is that each Celestra has a unique set of super powers.
My Take on the book:
Hannah Till has serious story telling skill. She describes the scenery and settings in wonderful detail. There are so many twists and turns, it's hard to keep up with who the good guys and bad guys are. There are settings that are beautifully unique and I couldn't wait to find out more about them and see what might happen there.
The story is entirely first person narative with Nera as the protagonist. I like the fact that you don't need to keep track of who's talking. I also noticed many occasions where it might have been easier for Hannah to jump to another POV, but she stayed the course with Nera, and it worked.
My Criticism:
It ended.
I didn't get to see what really happens in the Celestra-only room, the most intriguing room in the palace. I do find out that there is more to Nera and, potentially other characters, that has not yet been revealed or explained.
Don't ya hate when you have to wait for book 2?
I have it on good authority, Book 2 is soon to make the shelves. Good thing, because I was considering organizing a petition to get it done.
Congrats Hannah on a great work of fantasy/romance.