Book Review: Descendant

Descendant

(Starling #2)

By:  Lesley Livingston

Published By: HarperTeen

Publication Date:  August 27, 2013

Page Count:  336 pages

Buy it at:  Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound
Source: Book Purchased by Reviewer

Audience:  Young Adult Fantasy


My Review for Starling can be found here.

And so…once again…another favourite author has decided to torture their fans with another cliffhanger.  I suppose I’m getting used to them by now…but I suffered no less.

Descendant is the second book in the Starling trilogy, and picks up right where Starling left off and chugs along at a good pace right on through to the end with another cliffhanger.  Yeah.

But all the pages in between were chock full of adventure, travel into other realms, rich mythologies (yes, plural) and melt-worthy romance!!!  I enjoyed it from start to finish!

Mason continues to be a great heroine in my eyes.  Slowly becoming privy to her family’s plans for her, we see Mason evolve into a more mature young woman, who is also learning to roll with the punches (and there are plenty) and overcome her greatest fears, all the while maintaining an appropriate sense of humour – however, her timing was not always perfect.

And Fennrys…I didn’t think I could love him more than I already did…but he became even more swoon-worthy in this installment.  Much more front and center, and more demonstrative about his feelings…he had my heart fluttering along with Mason’s.  I loved that he was as much a part of this story as Mason, if not more so.  Now that he had all his memories back, he was better equipped at protecting Mason and protecting the world against the impending “Ragnarok”...doing everything he can to stop it.

Was Fenn worthy of a second chance?  I think you will find after reading this second book in the trilogy, there is no doubt he is more than worthy.  Fennrys definitely learned from his mistakes in his previous life.

In fact, all the characters seemed to evolve perfectly in this installment…the good guys got better…and the bad guys got badder…with a couple in between where I still questioned their true loyalties.

If you are a lover of Norse, Greek, Egyptian and Roman mythologies…all are touched upon in this part of the trilogy…with heavier emphasis on the Norse and Greek legends…including a legendary character or two making a cameo appearance.  And lovers of the Wondrous Strange trilogy will enjoy seeing a couple of old friends pop up to help Fenn when he needed them the most.

There is much more to the Big Apple than meets the eye, and Gosforth Academy is no ordinary private school…it is a veritable melting pot for the descendants of many mythic legends and serves as neutral and protected ground for them as well.  In this installment, we are starting to see several key players emerge in what is promising to be an apocalyptic ending of some sort.

I will admit that the merging of all the different mythologies did get a bit confusing at times…but rather than obsess about the details…I just went along for the ride and didn’t (for once) try to understand every aspect of it…and that helped me appreciate the story much more.

There were a lot of twists and turns too…most of which, I didn’t see coming at all.  Lesley definitely has a flare for the dramatic and pulls it off in spades in this latest installment.  I was literally willing more pages at the end because I didn’t want to accept the fact that I’ll have to wait another year to find out what happens next.  But then, cliffhangers have a way of always making us feel that way, don’t they?!

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The last thing Mason Starling remembers is the train crossing a bridge. An explosion . . . a blinding light . . . then darkness. Now she is alone, stranded in Asgard—the realm of Norse legend—and the only way for her to get home is to find the Spear of Odin, a powerful relic left behind by vanished gods.

The Fennrys Wolf knows all about Asgard. He was once trapped there. And he’ll do whatever it takes to find the girl who’s stolen his heart and bring her back—even if it means a treacherous descent into the Underworld. But time is running out, and Fenn knows something Mason doesn’t: If she takes up the Spear, she’ll set in motion a terrible prophecy. And she won’t just return to her world . . . she’ll destroy it.

In this pulse-pounding sequel to Starling, Lesley Livingston delivers another electrifying blend of nonstop action and undeniable romance that will leave readers breathless.