S. M. Beiko

As the winter ice begins to thaw, the fury of a demon builds -- all because one girl couldn't stay dead . . . Roan Harken considers herself a typical high school student -- dead parents, an infected eyeball, and living in the house of her estranged, currently comatose grandmother (well, maybe not so typical) -- but she's uncovering the depth of the secrets her family left behind. Saved from the grasp of Death itself by a powerful fox spirit named Sil, Roan must harness mysterious ancient power . . . and quickly. A snake-monster called Zabor lies in wait in the bed of the frozen Assiniboine River, hungry for the sacrifice of spirit-blood in exchange for keeping the flood waters at bay. Thrust onto an ancient battlefield, Roan soon realizes that to maintain the balance of the world, she will have to sacrifice more than her life in order to take her place as Scion of the Fox. American Gods meets Princess Mononoke in this powerful first installment of a trilogy sure to capture readers' imaginations everywhere.

Scion of the Fox

Sheila Goicea

This full review can be viewed on my blog along with others at: shesgoingbookcrazy.com

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

  
    The world was dreamed into being and kept by the collective consciousness of all those who passed before. We call this consciousness Ancient, for it is the spirit of the universe, and it is older than all of us.
  

Let me start out with saying that this book was good, but it was also very strange. The first quarter of it, I had little to no idea what was going on. In fact, I almost DNF'd it, as it was rather grotesque. When the incident happened when a moth popping out of Roan's eye, my stomach did more turning than the pages in that moment. 

I've been putting off writing this review for a little while, trying to process what all this book as to offer, or not offer. I must say that it has a bit of both. While its originality is stunning, it almost made it difficult to relate to.

  
    "Ancient is the ember from which life sparks, and as each life ends, so it returns to Ancient. And the cycle continues. Ancient exists in all of us, from the smallest stone to the eldest mountain. And there are those of us whom Ancient has touched and allowed to see beyond the physical world and into the spiritual, into the realm of Ancient called the Veil. It is from the Veil that my power comes, and that yours will, too, in time."
  


  Things I liked:


#1 Their is no doubt that Beiko is masterful when it comes to creating creative worlds. Mixing theology, mysticism, animals, crazy creatures, and people, enabled complex history, depth to characters, unique beliefs, and multiple plot lines to emerge.

#2 There's not an official romance! There may have been a hint of one towards the end of the book, but I didn't pay it much mind because nothing came of it--at least, nothing up until this point.

#3 The diversity among the characters is broad, refreshing, and empowering. The main character Roan has her eye ailment, while another prominent character is wheelchair bound due to having no legs. 

#4 If you like complex plots, which I tend to lean towards, this definitely has that.


  Things I didn't like:


#1 The beginning fifteen to twenty percent of the book, I was utterly lost. There isn't an easy intro for the main character into this world; she's more-so thrust into it in a rather unpleasant way. So, her confusion as to what was going on, added to my confusion--which didn't help me as the reader at all. Yes, eventually things were explained, but it was perhaps too much in the beginning.

#2 The pacing couldn't figure out which speed it wanted to settle at. Actually, it never really found a rhythm that worked well. The transitions from monotonous to speeding bullet were unexpected and not always welcome. 

#3 For how much I liked the creative world, I felt that it could use some more explanation. There is a lot of information to take in while reading this book and sometimes made it difficult to keep up with everything else happening around those vital details. 

Overall, I enjoyed this real a lot but also had some issues with it, more so with the pacing variances than anything. It was a solid three-star read, and I'm looking forward to the sequel. 

Vulgarity: I'm pretty sure there was some...Ahh! Now I can't remember for sure!
Sexual content: None.
Violence: Quite a bit, but it wasn't gory. 

3 stars.

Manon van Heumen

I so wanted to enjoy this book, but sadly, it really wasn't for me. Halfway through I wanted to DNF it, but I ended up skimming the rest. This story just didn't grip my attention.

Scion of the Fox

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