So, what's a Phantom Wolf, you may be asking. Is it like a werewolf? Well, maybe a tiny bit, but basically no. Kia Carrington-Russell is an up-and-coming young fantasy author from my home state of Queensland, Australia. It's a big state by the way, so we haven't met as yet, but after buying her Phantom Wolf book by mail and read her exciting works, I'm looking forward to meeting her. |
This concept is something I haven't come across before. There are clans of half-wolf half-human people in Kia's fantasy world and there are also people as well. Sia is the central character in the story and we are thrust into a scary battle right from the get-go, where Sia's entire family are destroyed by humans. The only survivor is a young girl named Keeley. Being dead doesn't stop Sia from planning revenge and she comes back to the village as a Phantom Wolf, which a creature half alive and half dead who will only exist for a short time. She has some magical powers of shape shifting, teleportation and of smother in her scent. She also comes back majorly annoyed with Thomas, the human who killed her.
Sia discovers that Keeley is being protected by two wolfmen from another clan - Kiba and Saith who she dislikes intensely and tries hard to take her friend away from them. When the group is attacked again, Sia realises that trusting these strangers may be their only means of survival.
I must say that there are some great ideas and originality in Phantom Wolf, which made it a real page-turner for me, although I found the frequency and level of violence quite confronting. (I'm a PG kinda reader, so others may quite enjoy the detailed action scenes). My favourite parts were the magical abilities and the glimpses of romance. Sia is in survival mode and is very closed emotionally for the first half of the book. There is a shift mid-way where I felt that she let me in a little to what she was feeling. I think the book definitely improves in the 2nd half, so make sure you stick it out. The author has an interesting creative writing style and I will be watching her work in the future.
I would recommend this book for the young adult audience who enjoy paranormal or fantasy books.
I am particularly drawn to the cover picture with the lifelike characters extremely well drawn by young artist Ynne Black. Those eyes and the cute furry ears really lured me in to give Phantom Wolf a try.
I bought the paperback version of this book to review and as always my opinions are honest.
Amazon link
For more info about the author, please check out my interview.
Link to my interview with Kia from May 2014.
Sia discovers that Keeley is being protected by two wolfmen from another clan - Kiba and Saith who she dislikes intensely and tries hard to take her friend away from them. When the group is attacked again, Sia realises that trusting these strangers may be their only means of survival.
I must say that there are some great ideas and originality in Phantom Wolf, which made it a real page-turner for me, although I found the frequency and level of violence quite confronting. (I'm a PG kinda reader, so others may quite enjoy the detailed action scenes). My favourite parts were the magical abilities and the glimpses of romance. Sia is in survival mode and is very closed emotionally for the first half of the book. There is a shift mid-way where I felt that she let me in a little to what she was feeling. I think the book definitely improves in the 2nd half, so make sure you stick it out. The author has an interesting creative writing style and I will be watching her work in the future.
I would recommend this book for the young adult audience who enjoy paranormal or fantasy books.
I am particularly drawn to the cover picture with the lifelike characters extremely well drawn by young artist Ynne Black. Those eyes and the cute furry ears really lured me in to give Phantom Wolf a try.
I bought the paperback version of this book to review and as always my opinions are honest.
Amazon link
For more info about the author, please check out my interview.
Link to my interview with Kia from May 2014.