Review: Tyger Tyger

Tyger Tyger

Kersten Hamilton

Series or Stand Alone: Goblin Wars series, book one

Release Date: November 2010

Publisher: Clarion Books

Pages: 322 (Hardcover)

Author Site: http://home.comcast.net/~kerstenhamilton/

My Rating: 4.25/5

Source: NetGalley

Synopsis:

[from goodreads.com]

Teagan Wylltson' best friend, Abby, dreams that horrifying creatures--goblins, shape-shifters, and beings of unearthly beauty but terrible cruelty--are hunting Teagan. Abby is always coming up with crazy stuff, though, so Teagan isn't worried. Her life isn't in danger. In fact, it's perfect. She's on track for a college scholarship. She has a great job. She's focused on school, work, and her future. No boys, no heartaches, no problems.

Until Finn Mac Cumhaill arrives. Finn's a bit on the unearthly beautiful side himself. He has a killer accent and a knee-weakening smile. And either he's crazy or he's been haunting Abby's dreams, because he's talking about goblins, too . . . and about being The Mac Cumhaill, born to fight all goblin-kind. Finn knows a thing or two about fighting. Which is a very good thing, because this time, Abby's right. The goblins are coming.

Review:

Teagan has a plan set out for her future that is pretty straight forward. No boys or relationship issues until she gets her scholarship – or better yet until after she graduates. No boys = no worries. She has an excellent job working with animals that she loves and she’s entirely focused! Her best friend Abby is a little worried though. She’s been having some pretty crazy and scary dreams featuring Tea and some terrifying creatures. But Abby isn’t always the sanest person around so Tea isn’t too worried about Abby’s goblins.

But when Finn Mac Cumhaill shows up, Tea’s life gets totally turned around. Not only is there sparks and sizzles flying between her and Finn but he starts talking about goblins too. So even though he’s really good-looking and is electric to be around, Finn has to be nuts! But Tea’s mind starts to change as an entire new world is introduced to her and her family that will take her on a frightening and shocking ride.

I thought Tyger Tyger was a pretty amazing read. It was full of Irish myths and creatures (i.e. goblins, sprites, Sidhe) that I haven’t really read much about yet. I loved how unique the story was and the characters really stood out. I really liked Aiden. He’s young and very different from “normal” younger brother type characters. He grows and matures a lot throughout the book and yet still keeps a strong hold of his innocent side. Teagan is very independent and fierce when she needs to be. Yet she has a vulnerable side that finally cracks towards the end of the story that really helped me connect with her.

I had a few issues with Abby though… Although she’s a very funny and quirky character I felt she was very under-developed. I admit she was only semi-important to the plot of the story but her personality was lacking a bit and her dreams about Teagan were barely mentioned. I honestly felt a little lost and confused at parts. Sometimes the story jumped from one moment to the next without suitable transitions and I had to take a moment to re-orient myself. The lost moments weren’t very frequent or drastic but they were enough to annoy me, especially at the beginning. The copy I read was from Netgalley so I don’t know if the confusing issues were due to an advanced reader copy thing.

Those few minor issues aside, I really liked what Tyger Tyger did. Hamilton is a great story-teller and I am truly looking forward to reading the next installment in The Goblin Wars series. I look forward to seeing what’s in store for the characters and reading more about the wonderful and scary world of Mag Mell. Tyger Tyger had a lot of action, unique and original characters, great world-building and an excellent ending that had me wanting more!

P.S. (cover talk)

I think it goes with the story very nicely. It’s dark and creepy but still has an alluring quality.