A Review!...and, an apology

Before I post my review of River Cast, Part Two in the Tale of Lunarmorte, let me first apologize to those of you who may have noticed one less follower on your blogs this weekend. Unfortunately, Blogger was being cruel to me, forcing me to stop following numerous blogs in order to do anything here. Posts, edits, blogroll...they were all disabled for some strange reason (luckily I pre-posted my Fine Fridays post...whew!).

But now things seem to be up and running again, so I'll try in a few days to begin following said blogs. Until then, accept my apologies, and just know it was nothing personal! :)

Now, on to the review!





River Cast, Part Two in the Tale of Lunarmorte: Samantha Young

Page Count: 267
Publisher: CreateSpace
Publication Date: March 21, 2011

product description from goodreads.com
ARC provided by author


Caia is caught between her loyalty to the Daylights and her new insight into the hearts of the Midnights.
Invited to train at the Centre under the tutelage of the Daylights, Caia and Lucien immerse themselves in the world of the Head of the Coven, Marita. With an upcoming battle hanging over their heads, Caia and her Alpha struggle to understand Marita’s vision for the future of the Coven, and withstand her manipulation and plans for them. Plans that are sure to separate Caia from Pack Errante; plans that inadvertently push Caia not only further away from Lucien, but from all Daylights.

Conflicted… Caia must choose a side in the war. And her choice may mean sacrificing all those she has come to love.


My review:

River Cast continues the story of Caia, a lycan, and her new-found magical powers. It was so nice to delve back into the world Samantha Young created in Lunarmorte (Book 1) and to reconnect with Caia and Lucien and all the other great characters. Though there wasn't much action in the way of wolves in this book, the magic world more than made up for it. And of course, this series wouldn't be complete without the always heated, sometimes tumultuous love affair between Caia and Lucien (he's a hot werewolf, people).

Caia has gone to the Center (or Centre, the spelling in the book) to learn how to harness her magical powers and accept that side of herself. Once there, she encounters one problem after another, ultimately discovering that things are not what they seem (that's not too spoilery, right?)

Though there are some formatting issues with the book (which could probably be explained with the fact it's from the UK), the story flows nicely and the characters are realistically written. The dialogue doesn't feel forced or contrived and some of the characters' reactions to things are the same as mine would be if found in similar situations...which is always a plus for me.

And an added bonus this time is the touching, blossoming love between Ryder and Jaeden, two other pack members. I thought that the lack of Caia and Lucien (this book tends to lean more toward Jaeden's story, though not always) would deter me from enjoying the book, but I quickly found myself rooting for Jaeden and Ryder and hoping things would work out for them (not gonna tell you if they did or not!). So nicely done on the author's part.

The thing I like most about this series (and I'm sure most of you will NOT agree) is that Samantha Young likes to leave you hanging. She did it at the end of the first book, and she's definitely done it again with River Cast..now I'm fuming to find out what happens next!

Overall, River Cast is an enjoyable story that, once you get past the formatting issues and language differences, is a fun, light YA read that definitely deserves a place on your bookshelf. I give River Cast 4 stars.