Author: Christina Mercer
Series: Arrow of the Mist, Book 1
Release date: March 13, 2013
Published by: Christina Mercer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved, loved, loved this mystical adventure! It carried the classic fight between good and evil to epic proportions.
In this novel, Lia, along with three others, venture into the fog to reach Brume where they hope to find nature’s cure for a horrible, thorny plant that has been attacking and poisoning the people of the village she lives in, including her father. She has to use the healing knowledge passed down to her from her grandma and grandpa and trust many of the creatures that inhabit the land beyond the fog in order to protect herself and her family.
Oh-my-goodness! I had to hold my breath through each step of Lia and Wynn’s journey in Brume. (Wynn = Lia’s cousin.) I was so worried for them multiple times and would anxiously await how they would get out of the next situation alive. The theme, while a classic one, was well executed in this story. I felt like the problems Lia faced were real in this magical land of Brume. Mercer described the mythical quality of this land just enough to make it mysterious to both Lia and the reader. This sense of mystery made me feel like I was a part of the journey that Lia was on to find all of the ingredients for the cure to the poisonous plant. The pacing of this story was perfect. We’d get out of a scrape, find a part of the cure, rest for a moment and reflect, only to fall into another problem (I used the pronoun “we” in the previous sentence because that was how I felt while reading--I was a part of the team: Lia&Wynn&Me!)
Lia, as the central character, rocked. I loved her resilience, independence, and family devotion--a beautiful character. I also enjoyed the subordinating characters, like Wynn who supported Lia on her journey through Brume. I actually really appreciated that it wasn’t a love interest traveling with her on this troubled journey; instead, it was family. I have to say that the theme of family devotion was very important in this story. I think if her love interest had been on the journey it would have sidetracked the story line. Because the story was really about Lia and her emerging abilities and how she grew and changed on this adventure in order to save her family (NOT about falling in love). Something else that was cool was the fact that even Lia’s horse became a character in the story, a minor one, but a lovable one--I don’t usually get that connected to the minor animal characters in a story, but when Merrie was in distress, I was in distress! What a loyal animal.
Again, I loved this novel and highly recommend it to people who enjoy a mythical and magical tale involving the classic good vs. evil fight...and so much more! I was sooooooooo worried that since a sequel will arrive later this year, this first story would leave off at a cliffhanger. I will assure you all that it does not; you’ll be very satisfied with the wrap-up of Lia’s experience in Brume, but I am equally excited about getting my hands on the next book because there is a little twist involving family that is discovered towards the end of the story and, to Lia’s distress, something has been left behind in Brume that may cause problems in the future. I want my hands on the next story to find out how Lia and her family work through these upcoming problems.
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