(This review may contain spoilers).
I’ve always loved books where characters are taken from modern-day Earth to another world… and this book was no different; though I have to say, it was a nice change to have a fully adult woman finding herself in a completely different world, rather than a teenager.
I liked Shannon. I found her easy to engage with, but I did feel there was a lack of foreshadowing. The mirrors of the people she knew (like Alanna and Rhiannon’s father) were only mentioned as they became relevant, rather than myself, as a reader, having the chance to figure out for myself how the mirrors were similar to their counterparts.
I thought it was interesting to note the contrast between how the residents of the world had viewed Rhiannon and how Shannon occasionally used that to her advantage. I did feel there was a bit too much repetition in the book, especially when it came to the amount of hot guys Shannon kept dreaming about. At first, it was amusing to see how she was. Later, it started to get a little annoying, even though I did like the little snippets of conversation between her and Epona. It was nice to see her relationship grow with the goddess; and particularly interesting to see the way the culture varied to modern Earth’s.
I would have liked to see a bit more in the way of culture shock for Shannon. While the society was highly advanced, it still came across as very medieval like and I would have found it easier to empathise with Shannon if her reactions had been a bit more realistic, after the initial shock and insistence she had to be in a dream.
I did like the relationship that formed between Shannon and ClanFintan and it was good to see the way their love for each other grew. It did feel realistic to me and I liked the uniqueness of ClanFintan being a centaur. Plus, it was nice to see Shannon interacting with the other centaurs, such as Dougal and Victoria.
While a lot of the book was devoted to the romance and on Shannon finding her place in Partholon, it was good there was a lot of action and danger. And I felt that Shannon showed herself to be a good, compassionate leader… helped obviously by her upbringing that was so different to Rhiannon’s.
I found this book engaging and easy to read. I have read other books by this author before, but I much prefer the adult to the young adult/teenage series.
Ink of Blood 