Catchup Week: Tyger Tyger Review

Like I said, I won't bail on you guys!
I recently finished Kersten Hamilton's book, Tyger Tyger.



Blurby:
Teagan Wylltson's best friend, Abby, dreams that horrifying creatures--goblins, shape-shifters, and beings of unearthly beauty but terrible cruelty--are hunting Teagan. Abby is always coming up with crazy stuff, though, so Teagan isn't worried. Her life isn't in danger. In fact, it's perfect. She's on track for a college scholarship. She has a great job. She's focused on school, work, and her future. No boys, no heartaches, no problems. 

Until Finn Mac Cumhaill arrives. Finn's a bit on the unearthly beautiful side himself. He has a killer accent and a knee-weakening smile. And either he's crazy or he's been haunting Abby's dreams, because he's talking about goblins, too . . . and about being The Mac Cumhaill, born to fight all goblin-kind. Finn knows a thing or two about fighting. Which is a very good thing, because this time, Abby's right. The goblins are coming.

Short Review:

Overall, it was an incredible book. It had the subtlest mention of romance, humor, tension, emotion, and everything in between. I highly recommend it for those who like action, but romance is not a priority.

The Long Review:

I really enjoyed reading Tyger, Tyger. It had bits of romance, which I enjoy more than romance being the whole plot. I read the book in one weekend, I think (and I slept a bit!).  Rereading the back-cover blurb, I felt that it didn't summarize the plot well. The book leaps right in, which I liked. But, according to the blurb, there's a lot of talk of things happening in the beginning. For example, Abby doesn't go on ranting for days on end about her dream; which I expected. And she doesn't think that Finn is insane...well, not for too long at least.

I liked the action and humor mixed in. For example, Abby who is Italian, has friends in low places. Very low places, like ally-lurking Maphia-type places. Which adds in humor (especially when her cousins are named after the Mutant Ninja Turtles!) And then there's Aiden, described as the "human iPod." Whenever anyone sings a song, he immediately picks up and starts singing too.

Which reminds me, this book was filled with a lot of foreshadowing. Thinking back, that aspect of the book was incredible. But there were some things that I'll get to in a moment.

Teagan. Overall I found Tea to be a like-able protagonist. She was intelligent, capable, and independent. It was the first time I'd ever heard the name "Teagan" before, so it took some adjusting to, earlier on.

Now, on to what irritated me.

Besides for the whole "Teagan" thing, I found emotions to not always be well places. I've noticed this a bunch of times lately, but the protagonist took many things in stride. "So how  was your day, Tea?"----"Great. Any news?"----"Yeah. Goblins exist."----"Really, that's cool. I've got some homework to do, see you later." Well, it didn't go quite like that, but she accepted many things. Finn started bantering about cat-sidhe, and Tea's only thought was okay, he's crazy. And then she found out the truth and her thought process was something along the lines of, Huh. I guess he's not as crazy as I thought, because I've seen them too!

One thing that really got on my nerves: around a hundred pages in, tragedy struck Tea's family. It happened right before school was out. The book skipped those three months and went straight to September/October again. I would have liked to read about those three months and how Tea coped. It mentioned her sadness a drop when it began narrating again, in the beginning of the last year of school, but not a lot. I would have liked to see her emote more.

Another problem I had with the book was the amount of characters. There were few present characters, but many of legend and lore. The book is based on the Fenian Cycle, and there are many characters mentioned. I got confused with all of the names, lessening my enjoyment.

But overall, I liked the characters, the plot, and the references to different things. (Tea's mother's storybooks, Irish lore, Shakespeare)  I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I eagerly anticipate the sequel. The book will be available in November, by Clarion Books.

*****somewhere between four and five stars, but I'm leaning towards 5*

Peace,

RR

Current Music: Go by BLG

Current Mood: Meh

Disclaimer: This ARC was provided by the author, free of charge, in exchange for an honest review.

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