May 8, 2011

Watersmeet by Ellen Jensen Abbott

Audience: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Short stories 

Worldcat Summary: 
Fourteen-year-old Abisina escapes the escalating violence, prejudice, and religious fervor of her home town, Vranille, and sets out with a dwarf, Haret, to seek the father she has never met in a place called Watersmeet.

Bookskoetter Rating: 3.5/5


Bookskoetter Review: 
I have to admit, when I read the summary of this book, I wasn't sure I wanted to read it!  I generally like fantasy novels, but this book's description made it sound like it fit into the same-old, same-old fantasy mold, which I am usually not overly fond of.  Thankfully, this novel rose above most of the riff raff YA fantasy. It was a fairly enjoyable read with a generally likable protagonist (you want her to succeed, even if she is a bit indecisive and judgmental at times).  While there were a couple slow parts, I found myself captivated by the story and camping out on the couch to finish the last half of the book in one evening.  I especially liked the first half because it had some dystopian overtones.  After that, it transitioned into more of a classic fantasy story. Overall, I would recommend this book to fantasy-lovers.  However, while it is better than many YA fantasy novels, I still didn't find it to be a book worth raving about.

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