thought this was a really cute book! It's about ayear old girl named Jensen, who thinks she is just a typical teenage girl.
Well, ok typical aside from the fact that she has been living on the run with a conartist sister and uses a different name every place she goes.
There is so much about herself and her sister that she has no idea about, At school she meets mysterious, brooding, Liam, No longer having her sister to rely on, Jensen is suddenly thrown into Liam's world of faeries, danger, and mystery, I originally thought that some of the phrases and descriptions in the book were a little juvenile, but then got to thinking that yeah this is pretty much how teenagers talk and act.
I mean, I'm just getting old, I turn gaspnext month, Honestly though, I really think that teens will love this book, It's a book in the young adult, fantasy/paranomal genre that is all the rage these days, Better yet, the plot is original and exciting, and has good characterization, This book is novella length it is a quick read that will leave you wanting more, When Kimberly contacted me to review this for her I was all up for it, Faeries Heck yes! As soon as I received the book I decided to read a couple of pages to see what it was like, Those couple of pages turned into reading the whole thing in one sitting, I realize that this is only a novella, but I could not get enough!
Spencer created these amazing characters, Jensen, the main character, is absolutely fantastic, She was the kind of girl you could totally see yourself being friends with, She was written so realistically, I loved Jensen's best friend Zoe, She had the most funny and sarcastic dialogue, Some of the things she said literally had me laughing out loud, An example being, "You kind of lose the right to bitch someone out when you're no longer slapping groins, " Just typing that made me laugh again!
Jensen is ayear old high schooler and, as if being ayear old is awkward enough, she has to deal with a con artist sister who has them constantly moving from one place to the next.
She also finds it strange that she is always being singled out by her teacher, Mr Tanner, who somehow always knows when she is lying.
She is also busy trying to discover why Zoe's sister hates her so much and figuring out the mysterious boy who is suddenly interested in her.
After a number of events take place, which I won't elaborate on since I don't want to give anything away, Jensen's sister Lauren disappears.
Suddenly Jensen is thrown into a faerie world she never knew existed and it's seems her sister may have known about all along, Shimmerspell, the ability to move between worlds, is missing and everyone thinks that Jensen is partially to blame, The plot was fun, fast and intense, We are talking life and death situations!
I also loved the dialogue, It a lot of the YA books I read the dialogue seems to old or young for the characters they are portraying, but I think her depiction was pretty spot on.
I had so many quotes from this book that I loved,
Along with the brilliant characters and dialogue was the plot, It was interesting and totally original, It was such a fun read and I HIGHLY recommend it!
My only complaint about this one It wasn't near long enough, I wanted more! I still do! She is currently working on the follow up, Limerick, and I can't wait for it, First off I would like to say thank you to Kimberley for give me a chance to read Shimmerspell,
I really liked the premise for this Novella and I really really enjoyed the charcters Jensen and her love instresed Liam, For a short story it was packed and a great start to the series,
Favourite Quote
"Because looking at you is like falling into a black hole stupid,confusing, and probably detrimental to my existence.
" When I started this book I was immediately blown away, I really loved getting into the feel of the story and seeing Jensen's character, One thing I enjoy in a book is where a character is lost, That is Jensen. When Jensen figures out that there is more to her, she has no idea who she is, I loved that she demanded answers and sometimes thought that she is crazy, She made me laugh and her sarcasticness made me snicker!
I also very much adored the story line, While Jensen has been lied to her entire life, there is a war brewing, Jensen has come to some untimely problems that all seemed to be brewing around her, The way the story flowed, impacted a whole lot of the story, Every thing was set at a right pace that made the story so much more, The writing is easily flowed and nicely written, In the smallest sentences, you find so much happening that you the reader are devouring this book quickly,
My only gripe is course it's small, I was so hooked onto the story that I wanted to read more on the happenings of Jensen, The love interest for me, just didn't cut it, I realize it was short story but still I wanted more between the characters,
This is great novella that has a great impact while reading, Your heart is racing and your eyes fly across the pages as you read Jensen's story, Will there be more I hope so! This is a great short, summer read that you don't want to miss! Shimmerspell is a short story about faeries loosely based upon the Arthurian Legends.
The plot line is very interesting, I found myself easily brought into the story, Kimberly has an amazing talent for imagery, The scenes came to life with her artful descriptions, The story has a wealth of great lines, Jensen is a pretty kickass girl and a remarkably believable character, I think the story could definitely be expanded upon for a great full length novel I would absolutely read it, The very speedy pace to get everything in made it a little confusing at times, and at the end I had a ton of questions.
Overall, it's a very fun, short read with moments of suspense and a good dose of mystery, I will definitely be looking for the second book in this series,
Kimberly has great potential as an author, I would read another story written by her in a heartbeat,
Other thoughts:
I really like the cover, The colors are beautiful. The girl's face has a mixture of fear and curiosity which I think fits well with the story, I believe the pink and orange thing on the right is a will o'wisp from the story, Very cool.
Rating breakdown:
Plot:stars
Pacing:stars
Characters:stars
Character relationships:stars
Recommend: Yes I really like the story and the plot.
The problem I have with the book is that at times it was confusing, Ms. Spencer had difficulties explaining and describing, I didn't understand Seelie and Unseelie at first, I can't imagine what Nixie looks like, I am often surprised that a paragraph is completely unrelated to the previous paragraph, I think the author is speeding things up that hurt the narration in the process, First Thoughts:
I had no idea what I was getting into when I was given the opportunity to review this book, I hadn't so much as heard about this book but boy am I glad I did!! It had a fast paced quality to it, It kind of reminded me of the series by Jenna Black "Glimmerglass series" the fairies were creatively created and shown to us, . . Kimberly definately took the time to create a world of its own, The imagery in this book was fantastic and even though there was a few grammer errors they were nothing, it was the writing itself that took full blossom and created a story that kept me wanting to read further.
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Summary:
This is a story about a girl named Jensen who is thrown into a world she hadn't known existed, She had only known the death of her "supposed parents" and that she lived with a conartist sister, The two of them were like best friends and relied on each other until one day Jensen witnesses a confession of a murder and see's the guy with wings behind his back.
She immediately calls her sister and in response Lauren tells her to not come home and to go in search of the "High wizard", Not knowing what that meant and terribly heart stricken she stumbles upon the fairie she saw early who she comes to realize is Liam,
Soon Jensen discovers more of the world that was hidden away from her and learns more about herself and her family, In the end she has to come to terms that she can no longer look back in her old life and that there is only one path that lies ahead.
Last Thoughts:
I definately recommend this book for anyone who loves a new take on fairies and loves a fast read.
This one sure had a suprise ending, I'm hoping that Kimberly has more in store for us because there is one thing for sure the ending of "Shimmerspell" leaves you wanting more.
. . Thanks Kimberly for allowing me to read your precious baby, it was a treat in itself, The writing was definately one worth reading!! Pretty good YA , free on kindle though a little confusing in parts it kind of jumped around and I thought I missed a page.
Also, needs better editing sometimes it was confusing when commas were left out, EX: "I don't know how I feel about this Jensen" Did you not know how you feel about this person named Jensen Or were you talking to Jensen I found several of these types of mistakes and even though I read pretty quickly, it distracted me from the story and made me irritated.
That being said, the story intrigued me enough to want to read more, . . I enjoyed the addition of the Arthurian legend,
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