Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. JensenMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
What an epic fantasy tale! I adored this story from the beginning until the last page. I have had this book for a while and I was always hesitant to start reading it, because fantasy is not really my forte; however I was proven wrong and I am glad. I didn't want to write this review, because this would prove my acceptance that the story was actually over...for now and waiting the countless months until the second installment is to be published was just too much for me to handle. Needless to say, the last time I was this excited about a fantasy series was during the reign of Harry Potter.
The story as a whole was a straight forward one, without any unnecessary complications that could have turned the reading experience from enjoyable to confusing and dragging. I appreciated the unconventional flow of the book and found to be very refreshing and it added to the overall enjoyment of the story. Instead of following the typical introduction-climax-conclusion arc, the excitement continued until the last chapter and kept the reader in a state of exhausted suspense as one realizes this is the end of part 1.
The characters, mainly the protagonist, was easy to identify with, a bit feisty, spunky, yet not entirely perfect, which was a relief, since nobody likes a perfect protagonist. The secondary characters were interesting, lively and a welcomed change from most secondary characters I have read in a while.
The narration, done in the first-person singular by the protagonist, is witty, fun, emotional and realistic. It had me smiling, sighing and frowning. The scenic descriptions were impeccably done and added to the specific moods that the narrator tried to create. I can only add a short mentioning of the romance included in the story, otherwise I would give this plot line away, the romantic elements the narrator includes are tastefully done and create a complex combination of moods and emotions that fits perfectly with the overall theme of the story.
Stolen Songbird is a great and epic fantasy story, part adventure, part romance, part coming of age. It is a story that the reader not only reads, but lives, feels and can almost see with their mind's eye. It turned great literary potential into reality and I would recommend it to lovers of fantasy as well as literature.
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