River Secrets by Shannon Hale

Out of all Shannon Hale's books, this one seems to get the least praise and the most criticism. Knowing that, I was prepared not to like it. Maybe my expectations were too low, but I was very pleasantly surprised. I liked it just as much as The Goose Girl and Enna Burning.

I don't know if Shannon Hale pulled off the male protagonist quite as successfully as the heroines in her other books. However, Razo is such a fun-loving character, it was impossible not to love him. I liked him in the other books, so I was really interested to get more details and see his character developed more fully.

While I was listening to this book, I caught myself thinking (again and again), "I wish I could write like Shannon Hale." There is something about her style that totally captivates me; whether it is her simplistic descriptions or capturing the perfect metaphor, I don't know, but I love it. It's all so fresh and original. You don't hear the same phrases and descriptions that have been used a thousand times by a hundred authors.

I'm so sad I don't have Forest Born yet because I would much rather read that than the next book I have in line.

I wrote this review before the birth of this blog.