Monday, July 25, 2011

ARC Review: Sirensong

Sirensong by Jenna Black
Published: 
July 5, 2011
Published By: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 320, Paperback
Source: Around The World ARC Tours
Overall: Fabulous!

When Dana is invited to Faerie to be officially presented at the Seelie Court, it’s no easy decision. After all, everyone knows Titania, the Seelie Queen, wants her dead. But Titania claims not to be the one behind the death threats; and her son, Prince Henry, makes the decision a whole lot easier when he suggests Dana might be arrested for (supposedly) conspiring with her aunt Grace to usurp the Seelie throne. So she and her father better do as they're told . . .
The journey through Faerie is long—and treacherous. Dana thought it would be a good idea to have friends along, but her sort-of-boyfriend, Ethan, and her bodyguard’s son, Keane, just can’t seem to get along, and Kimber’s crush on Keane isn’t making things any easier. When a violent attack separates Dana from their caravan, the sexy Erlking saves her just in the nick of time . . . and makes it clear that he hasn’t given up on making her his own.
Arriving at Titania’s beautiful palace should be a relief. But Dana is soon implicated in an assassination attempt against Titania’s granddaughter, and is suddenly a fugitive, forced to leave her father behind as she and her friends flee for their lives. Will she be able to prove her innocence before the forces of the Seelie Court—or, worse, the Erlking—catch up with her? And will she save her father before he pays the ultimate price in her stead?


*May Contain Spoilers for Glimmerglass and Shadowspell*
My Thoughts:

Jenna Black pulled me back into the world of Avalon and Faeries in the third installment of her Faeriewalker Series.  I will admit, while I have thoroughly enjoyed the previous books I have only given them a written rating of 3-stars, which in I still consider Fab!, Sirensong, however, has completely blown me away with Dana's story this time around.

Dana, our protagonist, is still the same girl, albeit a Faeriewalker, that she was in her first two books.  While she's still okay with herself and her style she is still the shaky, nervous, girl she was since she first met her faerie father and others of Avalon.  I like that about her and of course her loyalty and personal strength is off the charts where those she cares for and loves are concerned.  While some people may not enjoy the predictability where her character is concerned I adore that about her and think that it adds a facet of stability to the books.

Ethan, Keane, Kimber, Dana's Mom and Dad fall in line with Dana in Sirensong.  Their characters have stayed true to their core, even Ethan when he is struggling with his ties to the Erkling and The Wild Hunt.  Their consistency with their personal beings is a breath of fresh air and their emotions and actions are believable.  While everything may not always be one hundred percent perfect and while people do make mistakes and lessons are learned, they have all grown but I'm still able recognize them as being the people I first met.  Their personalities are so different including the way they carry themselves but is what adds to the story and the whole group seems to round each other out and I was able to learn something about faeries and Avalon from each of them.

One thing I do love about Dana is her sureness in her like (or is it love?) for Ethan.  Despite what the Erkling does to her when his magic is involved, or the fact that at one point we know that Keane seemed to perhaps have a bit of interest in her, she never really wavers from her feelings for Ethan, even when her insecurities of his feelings for her and his ability to deal with her situation scare her.  So many characters, in other books, are struggling with active love-triangles and I really enjoy that a situation like that isn't at the forefront of the Faeriewalker books.  It is a welcome change and even though there isn't the typical Young Adult Love Triangle there is plenty of romance and all of that which comes with it.

The action in Sirensong definitely picks up.  While there has been a big dose of action in Glimmerglass and Shadowspell I have to admit that Sirensong completely took the cake with our first glimpse into Faerie, some of the creepy and less attractive inhabitants of Faerie, and the mystery of who-is-trying-to-kill-Dana-now.  The tables are turned and we are looking at some of the characters we normally wouldn't look at and we are formulating our own theories on who is behind the newest of Dana's threats.  Before now I have really been that involved in the books but this time I was there, solving the mystery with Dana and those closest to her, and was equally surprised when it all came to a head and we were given the answers we were wanting.  And believe me, it was nothing that I was expecting.  Many characters this go around proved things about themselves I never thought possible.

I'm not sure whether we have come to the end of Dana's story or not.  I can not find anything giving me hopes on expecting another installment and I can not find anything telling me we are at the end.  Either way, I am one hundred percent content with where Jenna Black left us.  I have seen some speculation that people believe it was an open ending but I'm not so sure I completely agree.   But like I said, either way I am absolutely content with where we were taken with Dana's story and the way Sirensong tied up. 

Full of mystery and drive-me-crazy romance with a overflowing handful of twists and turns, Sirensong was definitely worth the wait and left me completely fulfilled.

Purchase | Glimmerglass | Shadowspell | Sirensong |  

(As of July 24, 2011- with the link Shadowspell is only $4.00!)

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