C.E. Clayton, official author website
  • Home
  • About the Author
    • C.E. Clayton
    • Requesting Book Reviews
  • List of Works
    • Starfish Ink >
      • Eerden Novels
      • Eerden Novellas
    • The Monster of Selkirk Series
    • Freebies and collectors editions for TMOS
    • Other Published Works
  • Musings
    • What I'm Reading
    • Blog
  • Newsletter
    • Giveaways
    • Clayton's Super Friends
  • Members Only

What I'm Reading


Want to get more reviews and bookish giveaways? Be sure to sign up for my Book Club!
Sign up for the Book Club now!

Verena's Whistle (Varangian Descendents, 1); K. Panikian

4/6/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
“Verena’s Whistle” is an urban fantasy adventure that is steeped heavily in Slavic folklore. We follow our main character, Verena, who finds out very quickly that her families dwindling magical talents are needed in order to close a portal that has allowed monsters from another place and time to enter our world. Verena’s family has always known that they are the last line of magical defense should this very thing happen, so there really isn’t much of a secret there. But Verena’s particular talent manifestation comes as a surprise, especially as their magical strength has been dwindling over the centuries. But while the synopsis claims there are secrets and Verena must decide if she’s capable of leading, you’d never know that by reading the book.

A lot of the mystery is taken care of within the first few chapters of this book: what Verena’s power is, and the threat they face, as well as the family history. The rest of the story was just a very detailed step-by-step process of how Verena and her family, and her love interest, then go about solving the problem. This includes their meal breaks. That’s the level of step-by-step detail were talking here. No one ever questions who is the leader either, it was always Verena and she seems very comfortable leading, which I liked personally. It was nice to have a female character not be constantly question on their role as leader. The world building is all done through exposition, however, which sacrifices the character development we’d otherwise get by being shown how these characters discover information and then react to it. Plus it lessened the impact, for me, of when some of these folklore legends and gods then made an appearance in the story to help our main characters fight and defeat these monsters. Often times things come very easily to the characters, whether that’s finding information, using their magic, or even falling in love (which is very instant), so while there is lots of action in this book, I didn’t find the story very exciting.

Because the main storyline is introduced so early, the book is oddly paced. The reader knows what needs to happen and then the main characters very methodically go about doing it with lots of little breaks in between for meals or training. It details the mundane rather than focusing on the big issue of the monsters prowling about the Russian mountainside. The premise is very unique though, I just wish there had been more tension or angst when it came to the characters going about this particular quest, and coupled with little character development, this was a 2.5 star read for me, but others may enjoy this book more especially if they are fans of Slavic mythos. And thanks to the author for sending me a copy for an honest review!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Click the book images to see them on Amazon!

    C.E.'s bookshelf: currently-reading

    The Night Bird
    The Night Bird
    by Brian Freeman
    tagged: currently-reading
    A Boy From the Chesapeake
    A Boy From the Chesapeake
    by Larry Roszkowiak
    tagged: book-review-requests and currently-reading
    The Mine
    The Mine
    by John A. Heldt
    tagged: book-review-requests and currently-reading
    September Sky
    September Sky
    by John A. Heldt
    tagged: book-review-requests and currently-reading
    Made Men: An Urban Fantasy Novel
    Made Men: An Urban Fantasy Novel
    by Seth Creamer
    tagged: book-review-requests and currently-reading

    goodreads.com

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Action
    Adventure
    Anthologies
    Christian
    Contemporary
    Crime Drama
    DNF
    Dystopian
    Fantasy
    Fiction
    Graphic Novel
    Historical Fiction
    Horror
    Humor
    Literature
    Memoir
    Middle Grade
    Mystery
    Mythology
    New Adult
    Non Fiction
    Non-Fiction
    Novella
    Paranormal
    Poetry
    Romance
    Science Ficton
    Short Stories
    Steampunk
    Thriller
    True Crime
    Urban Fantasy
    Western
    Young Adult
    Zombie

    Upcoming reviews

    The Squire's Tale
    Division of the Marked
    Night Watch
    Hatter
    The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
    The Blade Itself
    Dealing with Dragons
    Harbinger
    Over Sea, Under Stone
    Neverwhere
    Demon's Prize
    Terra Obscura: Volume 1
    The Thousand Names
    The Name of the Wind
    The Thorn of Emberlain
    The Time Traveler's Wife
    Babayaga
    The Goldfinch
    Wake Up, Sir!
    Someone Could Get Hurt: A Memoir of Twenty-First-Century Parenthood

Support

Privacy Policy
© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • About the Author
    • C.E. Clayton
    • Requesting Book Reviews
  • List of Works
    • Starfish Ink >
      • Eerden Novels
      • Eerden Novellas
    • The Monster of Selkirk Series
    • Freebies and collectors editions for TMOS
    • Other Published Works
  • Musings
    • What I'm Reading
    • Blog
  • Newsletter
    • Giveaways
    • Clayton's Super Friends
  • Members Only