A Reader's Heart

‘Scion of the Sun’ was a unique tale based in mythology and magic. From the very first page, I was introduced to a character that experiences so many disturbing, yet mysteriously exciting things. The world, in this Young Adult novel, felt so familiar and yet I knew it was anything but that.

This novel sent me on an adventure seen only through the eyes of a snarky, yet somehow normal girl named Holly. She had her issues, including being dumped off at a boarding school that isn’t exactly known for its normal classes. The main characteristic that I loved about her was her snark. Somehow, it was the one thing that made me connect with her, because underneath all that attitude was a girl just trying to figure out who she was when the most important person she had in her life wasn’t there anymore.

Every story should have secondary characters that help to support the main characters and the story as a whole. This book had that touch. Everywhere, the novel took me there were characters that annoyed me and others that I only wished the best for. I must admit that I did have my favorites.

Now, this may be wishful thinking on my part, but there is possibly a love triangle. There’s definitely the option of being on a ‘team’ anyway. I loved Quinn. He was bright, funny and whenever he was on the scene, I went to my happy place. But, then there was also Joss, the handsome warrior out to prove something. This book is going to appeal to a lot of readers just for that alone. For those of you who don’t like insta-love, I did get a sense of that, but it wasn’t as completely horrible as I have read in other books. I think it was the way that Holly dealt with it. She made it so hilariously funny.

The story line was intriguing. I guess I could be a little bias though, because anything that is based in a boarding school is going to win points with me, even though others may feel differently. There’s that aura about boarding school that makes it possible that anything could happen. And that really happens in this book. I think what adds another element is that there so much going on. The plot deals with magic, mythology – even parallel universes.

The magic in this story comes from the earth, and that’s what gives it that edge of realism and uniqueness. More importantly, the sun itself plays a big part, although not in the way most people would think. It offers up a power of warmth and comfort, but from dark places. Holly has her own unusual abilities as well.

And there’s a plot twist with this book, one that developed the more I read and the last few chapters did the big reveal, as they do. I loved it. I must admit I did have a feeling what it was going to be, but it was still worth finding out for sure.

The only bad point in this book, to me at least, was that in some places I did drift off a little. I think the pace slowed down a bit, or I couldn’t connect with the characters as much as I wanted to. But the book finishes on such a cliffhanger that I really can’t wait to delve into the next book.

Overall, this was a great read. There’s a lot more that goes on in the book than I’ve put in my review, but I don’t like giving too much away. I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who loves mythology, magic and experiencing a vastly different world.