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sparrowliz's reviews
61 reviews
Conjure the Storm Boxset by Rachel Redding
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Conjure the Storm is one of the boxsets I bought to read whilst my eldest was in hospital for her heart surgery.
Catrin is a Welsh young adult who discovers that there is a secret organisation or Vanators after her due to her abilities. Whilst she is aware of witchcraft, her mother is a druid after all, up until now, it is not something she has been interested in. Catrin, however, gets thrown in the deepend and moves, with her best friend Roxy, to live with relatives in America who hope to teach her how to control her abilities and protect herself, with the ultimate aim of ending the feud with the Vanators.
This book is aimed at YA audience, and I think they'd find it more amazing than I did. That's not to say I didn't like it, on the contrary I liked the storyline, which was predictable in an easy-to-read way, and at the end of each 'book' within the boxset, I wanted to continue to find out what happened next.
What I disliked about it, and these are probably just petty things, so feel free to ignore:
- that is was separate books - this is totally unnecessary, imo, and had I just the first book, I probably wouldn't have bought the rest of the series, which would have been a shame since I did enjoy the story.
- the (im)maturity of the writing. I've tried (admittedly very briefly) to find information about the author, but couldn't find anything. If this were a first novel set, then I will take back this criticism, because I certainly couldn't do better! I, however, would have prefered the writing to be a bit richer and a bit deeper. It all seemed superficial, but again, that could be because it's targetted to the YA audience.
- I am also under the impression that she is American, because some of her "English" things are off. For example, not many people in the UK go to university in their home town and live at home; nor am I aware of any universties that hold their graduation ceremony on the football (soccer) field - English weather just isn't predictable enough for that!
Overall, I am glad I read the book. Whilst it being over 600 pages long (for the boxset of 5 books) it is very quick and easy to read, only taking me 3 days to get through it. The ending gives space for further books in the series (I haven't looked to see if they are already available) if you wanted more.
Catrin is a Welsh young adult who discovers that there is a secret organisation or Vanators after her due to her abilities. Whilst she is aware of witchcraft, her mother is a druid after all, up until now, it is not something she has been interested in. Catrin, however, gets thrown in the deepend and moves, with her best friend Roxy, to live with relatives in America who hope to teach her how to control her abilities and protect herself, with the ultimate aim of ending the feud with the Vanators.
This book is aimed at YA audience, and I think they'd find it more amazing than I did. That's not to say I didn't like it, on the contrary I liked the storyline, which was predictable in an easy-to-read way, and at the end of each 'book' within the boxset, I wanted to continue to find out what happened next.
What I disliked about it, and these are probably just petty things, so feel free to ignore:
- that is was separate books - this is totally unnecessary, imo, and had I just the first book, I probably wouldn't have bought the rest of the series, which would have been a shame since I did enjoy the story.
- the (im)maturity of the writing. I've tried (admittedly very briefly) to find information about the author, but couldn't find anything. If this were a first novel set, then I will take back this criticism, because I certainly couldn't do better! I, however, would have prefered the writing to be a bit richer and a bit deeper. It all seemed superficial, but again, that could be because it's targetted to the YA audience.
- I am also under the impression that she is American, because some of her "English" things are off. For example, not many people in the UK go to university in their home town and live at home; nor am I aware of any universties that hold their graduation ceremony on the football (soccer) field - English weather just isn't predictable enough for that!
Overall, I am glad I read the book. Whilst it being over 600 pages long (for the boxset of 5 books) it is very quick and easy to read, only taking me 3 days to get through it. The ending gives space for further books in the series (I haven't looked to see if they are already available) if you wanted more.