I reviewed this book for Booksneeze. I picked the e-book format so I could get the book immediately and start reading it right away. The description of the book was that intriguing. I also found out after reading the book it is the first in a trilogy. Within the first few pages, I was drawn in. I didn’t want to put it down. Freya and Daniel were connected in their past, separated, and then in young adulthood, they needed each other again.
Unfortunately, after the first few chapters, the book got strange, hard to keep up with, and hard to understand. Old world spelling is used for very different names, which for me were unpronounceable. The story kept jumping from the past to the present, from reality to illusion. When I finished the book, and I did struggle to finish, I had no sense of learned anything from the story. I wasn’t sure why the characters had to struggle, why certain things happened, or even why some characters and scenes were in the book at all.
I don’t have “get” something from every book I read, but I don’t want to feel confused by a fiction book I am reading for enjoyment. Usually when I read the beginning of a trilogy, the beginning of a saga, I can’t wait to find out what happens next. I am content to leave Daniel and Freya where they were when The Realms Thereunder ended.
I love reading and will not stop investigating new (to me) authors. I love finding a writer that engages my imagination and challenges me to think through concepts and ideas to gain understanding. This book jumped around from time to time and from real world to fantasy world to much to understand if there was symbolism in the places and characters.
I cannot recommend this book to my fellow readers.
