The book starts with a prologue, which to be frank, I didn't quite see the point of. While it begins to build the mythology, having now finished the book I don't think it adds anything that isn't further explored or clarified within the story. I then found the next few chapters confusing and disorientating. I understood that there were two narratives, one that follows Gordon Black from birth and another which follows Megan Maurice. Gordon's narrative takes place during our time frame in, whereas I wasn't sure at first when Megan's story was happening.

The story really starts to take off when Mr Keeper comes to visit Megan's parents and explains that Megan has been chosen by the Crowman to be a keeper. Up until this point the two stories seem unconnected and disparate, but as the reader accompanies Megan in her training we begin to realise that in actual fact the stories are intricately linked. At this point Gordon's story also begins to take off as he is faced with trial after trial as he is is driven by the desperate goal of saving his family.

Once I understood how linked the stories were it was interesting to see other connections and contrasts. For instance the pace of Megan's story is quite calm and peaceful, whereas Gordon's is filled with tension. Gordon's narrative is in the past tense (a clue I missed at the beginning), whereas Megan's is present, it's happening as we read. It is a strength of the writing that I didn't actually notice this difference at first. I say this because writing bad present tense is easier than you think.

I found the pace of the book quite slow, but in a good way. When I think about what actually happened there isn't an awful lot, but what did happen was this gradual build up of knowledge of the Crowman mythology. I liked the fact that this entity was not black or white. When I think of traditional descriptions of evil and good, it's all rather clear-cut, whereas in reality it's never like that. Part of the Crowman mythology is a great respect for the land. In a way it's almost quite fervent, but what makes it so believable is that in journeying with Gordon we live through his change and his growing understanding of how we should respect the land. His moment of realisation is quite revealing in that he choses to use certain words, which he had been feeling, but in a way was too embarrassed to use before.

The two characters development was also interesting. We start with Gordon from birth, but the reader really gets to know him when the trouble with the Ward begins. We felt his fear and powerlessness as he begins to go on the run. Gordon is never described as a gung-ho and off on a quest. He is troubled and never knows if he is doing the right thing. He is weak and strong in equal measure, he fights for his life and is vengeful. But most of all we see him developing.

Megan's character was a little more shaky. She started off quite babyish and then matured very quickly. Given the immense task she has been given, I guess this is realistic, but that was probably part of the confusion I felt with the first quarter of the book. After she has entered the weave for the first time and begins to understand her task, her character develops a little more clearly.

Two other recurring characters are Pike and Skelton who are members of the Ward trying to capture Gordon. I wasn't too sure about these two, at first they were just the baddies, but as we spend more time with Skelton became a little stereotypical, which is a shame, as the mythology of the book is anything but and plays on being multifaceted. I'm not sure about Pike yet, or even what he is. I suppose this idea of the ward is also a recurring character and one that I wasn't always a hundred percent comfortable with. Perhaps it's because they are being seen and described by a fourteen year old boy, but their ideology seemed a little simplistic to me and I wondered how they could have gained so much power.

Generally, the review is a bit mixed. There were things I didn't like, but on the whole I really liked a lot more. I found this book made me think more than scared me. There are scenes of horror within the book, but part of what makes it horrific is that is all things described could happen. There were a few bits that had my eyebrows arching (in Chapter 65) and raised a lot of questions (such as the concept of the Ward), but on the whole I really liked the world-building and myth making. I was completely sucked into Megan's world and Gordon's story enough to want to know what happens in the next book. The ending left us on a cliff and I'm not sure where the book is going to go, but I kind of like that. I liked the writing and the descriptions were beautiful (even when describing horror). This book is not an easy read, there are things that challenge your way of thinking without being preachy.