Postcard For Reader

Mistwood

Mistwood
Author: Leah Cypess
Series: Mistwood (#1)
Publisher: HarperCollins
How Received: BookExpo America 2010

The Shifter is an immortal creature bound by an ancient spell to protect the kings of Samorna. When the realm is peaceful, she retreats to the Mistwood. But when she is needed she always comes.

Isabel remembers nothing. Nothing before the prince rode into her forest to take her back to the castle. Nothing about who she is supposed to be, or the powers she is supposed to have.

Prince Rokan needs Isabel to be his Shifter. He needs her ability to shift to animal form, to wind, to mist. He needs her lethal speed and superhuman strength. And he needs her loyalty—because without it, she may be his greatest threat.

Isabel knows that her prince is lying to her, but she can't help wanting to protect him from the dangers and intrigues of the court until a deadly truth shatters the bond between them.

Now Isabel faces a choice that threatens her loyalty, her heart and everything she thought she knew.
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I've procrastinated reading Mistwood for a long time; in fact, I probably wouldn't have picked it up yet if this hadn't been a prescheduled review. I wasn't a fan of the cover and even though the summary sounded cool, I didn't feel a need to pick it up.

Do not make my mistake of putting off reading this.

Stop whatever you're reading if you have this in your to be read pile and pick it up. Now.

Yes, you.

I mean it. Go pick it up.

Mistwood has got to be one of the best books I have read since I started WORD - I know I said that about contemporaries and Deb Caletti's Stay, but I mean it about all the books I've read. Maybe it's because the book is fresh in my mind as I'm writing this and I haven't gone back to reread it and look for flaws, but damn, this was a good book.

I mean, let's start with the plot. You have a Shifter who doesn't remember being the Shifter; she simply knows she is. You have the intricacies of the court itself and how the Shifter has to try to protect the Prince. And you have the prince lying to her. And then you have the most fantastic plot twist at the end that made me gasp and giggle and go, "That makes sense! Why didn't I think of that!?" Each thread of the plot came together in an unexpected way that still managed to make sense. I loved it.

Then there's the characters. The Shifter (Isabel) was bloody amazing. I loved her. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed reading about somebody so thoroughly, especially in a fantasy; the characters are usually interesting but balanced with a good plot for which I prefer. But the Shifter was so decidedly unique that I loved seeing what she was thinking and how she was thinking and her development throughout the story as secret after secret came to life. The other characters - Clarisse and Daria in particular - were interesting to read about and see how they played the court and everything to their advantage. Isabel was the best, though.

Maybe it's because I'm in excessive fangirl mode at the moment - I write reviews almost immediately after reading books - but this just worked it's way onto my favorites shelf. It's been a long time since I read a fantasy, especially young adult fantasy, with such a fantastic characters and plot. (And world! I'm cutting the review short because I can ramble on for a while, but the world and the Mistwood in particular were well crafted for such a short time spent talking about them.)

Overall Rating & Final Comments: 10/10. Read it. Now.
Cover Comments: Not a fan. It suits the book really well, but I don't think it's very visually appealing.