The Lord of Stariel

Incredibly engaging story setting up a world I can't wait to get back into in the next book in the series.

I only wish the romantic interest didn't resolve itself the way it did, but otherwise it was excellent. 

DNF @ 40%

Whimsical and airy. Sweet with mystery and darkness slowly creeping in. Sounds amazing and I think for the right reader it will be.
Unfortunately, I found it boring as I kept waiting for something to happen and I just... stopped caring.

Okay – I enjoyed The Lord of Stariel. I did. But it fell a little short of something AMAZING for me, and I think this all stems down to the fact that this book is...well... it's SHORT. The plot that is there is nicely rounded up at the end, but despite that I was definitely left wanting more. Yes, there are sequels, but it feels like maybe there just could have been more. More shown, more explored, more something.

Hetta, the lead character, is absolutely fantastic. Headstrong, knows what she wants and isn't afraid to be who she is without being annoying about it. I love a good lead character that doesn't make you want to shake her. She makes reasonable decisions, nothing that makes you second guess her intelligence or anything.

The other characters feel a bit one dimensional at times, but again, short book.

This story does have a romance aspect to it, but again, I wanted more. There wasn't a lot of time to explore what was there in the 319 pages that make up this novel. I will definitely pick up the sequel just to see if it gets any better, but over all I was left a little disappointed by The Lord of Stariel.