Banished by Liz De Jager
Feb. 19th, 2014 11:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Banish the night
Kit is proud to be a Blackhart, now she’s living with her unorthodox cousins and sharing their strange lives. Especially since their home-schooling includes spells, fighting enemy fae and using ancient weapons. But it’s not until she rescues a rather handsome fae prince, fighting for his life on the edge of Blackhart Manor, that her training really kicks in.
For Kit, events move from bad to apocalyptic, as she finds fae battling fae in a war that threatens to spill into the human world. Then she pits herself against the Elder Gods themselves – it’s that or lose everyone she’s learnt to love.
16 year-old Kit Blackhart’s normal life with her grandmother ended when her grandmother was murdered by a fae warrior. Rescued by her uncle Jamie, Kit learns that her family is dedicated to ridding the world of any fae creatures who want to harm humans and has spent the last year with her cousins in Blackhart Manor, learning how to help. What Kit lacks in fae knowledge however, she makes up for with magical powers that no-one – least of all her – quite understands.
After Kit successfully completes her first solo mission, her cousins leave her to recuperate in the Mansion while they go to Scotland on an investigation. But Kit isn’t alone for long. When she finds Thorn (a fae prince) being attacked just outside the Manor and rescues him. The two soon discover that the attack is part of a plot to overthrow Thorn’s father and provoke a civil war in the Otherworld (where the fae live). Determined to stop it, they find themselves up against ancient prophecies and a plot to return the Elder Gods that threaten everything they love, including their growing feelings for each other.
Liz de Jager’s debut YA novel (the first in a trilogy) is an urban fantasy with an epic feel. There’s a lot of plot and world-building here, particularly in relation to the fae and the Otherworld where de Jager puts her own spin on traditional folklore and adds a Lovecraftian flavour while peppering the text with popular culture references. However, because there’s a lot of story and a huge cast to introduce there are times when the pacing sags while the heavy use of exposition (both from Kit’s first person narration and a number of ‘as you know’ conversations) breaks the tension. Kit is likely to appeal to teens given her sparky character, but I did find myself gritting my teeth at times given that her brash courage involves charging in first and asking questions later. I’m not a romance fan and wasn’t convinced by her developing relationship with Thorn (although there’s an amusing explanation for the instant attraction) and I wished that the villains had had more depth and hadn’t been telegraphed so early. That said though, I can see a lot of this book resonating with teenage fans of Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan and there’s enough here to make me want to check out the sequel.
The Verdict:
Liz de Jager’s debut YA novel (the first in a trilogy) is an urban fantasy with an epic feel. There’s a lot of plot and world-building here, particularly in relation to the fae and the Otherworld where de Jager puts her own spin on traditional folklore and adds a Lovecraftian flavour while peppering the text with popular culture references. However, because there’s a lot of story and a huge cast to introduce there are times when the pacing sags while the heavy use of exposition (both from Kit’s first person narration and a number of ‘as you know’ conversations) breaks the tension. Kit is likely to appeal to teens given her sparky character, but I did find myself gritting my teeth at times given that her brash courage involves charging in first and asking questions later. I’m not a romance fan and wasn’t convinced by her developing relationship with Thorn (although there’s an amusing explanation for the instant attraction) and I wished that the villains had had more depth and hadn’t been telegraphed so early. That said though, I can see a lot of this book resonating with teenage fans of Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan and there’s enough here to make me want to check out the sequel.
BANISHED will be released in the United Kingdom on 27th February 2014. Thanks to Tor for the free copy of this book.
Kit is proud to be a Blackhart, now she’s living with her unorthodox cousins and sharing their strange lives. Especially since their home-schooling includes spells, fighting enemy fae and using ancient weapons. But it’s not until she rescues a rather handsome fae prince, fighting for his life on the edge of Blackhart Manor, that her training really kicks in.
For Kit, events move from bad to apocalyptic, as she finds fae battling fae in a war that threatens to spill into the human world. Then she pits herself against the Elder Gods themselves – it’s that or lose everyone she’s learnt to love.
16 year-old Kit Blackhart’s normal life with her grandmother ended when her grandmother was murdered by a fae warrior. Rescued by her uncle Jamie, Kit learns that her family is dedicated to ridding the world of any fae creatures who want to harm humans and has spent the last year with her cousins in Blackhart Manor, learning how to help. What Kit lacks in fae knowledge however, she makes up for with magical powers that no-one – least of all her – quite understands.
After Kit successfully completes her first solo mission, her cousins leave her to recuperate in the Mansion while they go to Scotland on an investigation. But Kit isn’t alone for long. When she finds Thorn (a fae prince) being attacked just outside the Manor and rescues him. The two soon discover that the attack is part of a plot to overthrow Thorn’s father and provoke a civil war in the Otherworld (where the fae live). Determined to stop it, they find themselves up against ancient prophecies and a plot to return the Elder Gods that threaten everything they love, including their growing feelings for each other.
Liz de Jager’s debut YA novel (the first in a trilogy) is an urban fantasy with an epic feel. There’s a lot of plot and world-building here, particularly in relation to the fae and the Otherworld where de Jager puts her own spin on traditional folklore and adds a Lovecraftian flavour while peppering the text with popular culture references. However, because there’s a lot of story and a huge cast to introduce there are times when the pacing sags while the heavy use of exposition (both from Kit’s first person narration and a number of ‘as you know’ conversations) breaks the tension. Kit is likely to appeal to teens given her sparky character, but I did find myself gritting my teeth at times given that her brash courage involves charging in first and asking questions later. I’m not a romance fan and wasn’t convinced by her developing relationship with Thorn (although there’s an amusing explanation for the instant attraction) and I wished that the villains had had more depth and hadn’t been telegraphed so early. That said though, I can see a lot of this book resonating with teenage fans of Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan and there’s enough here to make me want to check out the sequel.
The Verdict:
Liz de Jager’s debut YA novel (the first in a trilogy) is an urban fantasy with an epic feel. There’s a lot of plot and world-building here, particularly in relation to the fae and the Otherworld where de Jager puts her own spin on traditional folklore and adds a Lovecraftian flavour while peppering the text with popular culture references. However, because there’s a lot of story and a huge cast to introduce there are times when the pacing sags while the heavy use of exposition (both from Kit’s first person narration and a number of ‘as you know’ conversations) breaks the tension. Kit is likely to appeal to teens given her sparky character, but I did find myself gritting my teeth at times given that her brash courage involves charging in first and asking questions later. I’m not a romance fan and wasn’t convinced by her developing relationship with Thorn (although there’s an amusing explanation for the instant attraction) and I wished that the villains had had more depth and hadn’t been telegraphed so early. That said though, I can see a lot of this book resonating with teenage fans of Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan and there’s enough here to make me want to check out the sequel.
BANISHED will be released in the United Kingdom on 27th February 2014. Thanks to Tor for the free copy of this book.
