Review: Renhala by Amy Joy Lutchen

Posted December 13, 2012 by Lola in Fantasy, Review / 2 Comments

I already posted my review of Renhala on K-books, but today and tomorrow Renhala is on sale for $.99 so I wanted to let you know and share my review with you on this blog. You can find the links to where you can buy Renhala beneath my review.

Renhala
by Amy Joy Lutchen

 I got an e-copy for review from the author

Blurb from Goodreads (the blurb contains small spoilers, my review doesn’t): Kailey Rooke, timid accountant, dedicated to philanthropic work, finds herself spiraling into a deep depression after she suffers a horrifyingly odd and humiliating assault, to only discover more of these freakish assaults occurring across the globe.

A chance discovery leads Kailey to a meeting with elderly Gunthreon, actual master of persuasion. Gunthreon, who seems to know too much of Kailey’s history for her liking, opens Kailey’s eyes to a coexisting realm she never knew existed: Renhala, while entrusting her with the knowledge of her newfound power as karmelean, serving as a beacon to the Higher Ones. Kailey slowly starts revealing new talents, and Gunthreon is fascinated with what she starts achieving.

She soon discovers that Renhala is in danger, and this danger has been leaking into her own realm. As she uncovers secrets within herself, and attempts to toughen up, she fuses with an unlikely band of fellow travelers (including a dragon, woodsprite, six-hundred-pound greble, her faithful female canine companion, and a “giver”), falls into an unexpected love triangle, deals with her sexy and flirtatious best friend’s “issues,” and finds the courage to master a new deadly weapon.

On her mission to save Renhala, Kailey will find herself running from life-threatening disasters, such as greble Tartarin, who likes to remind Kailey that when he catches her, he plans on eating her brains with ice cream; she’ll run from the deadly meeples: small cute bunnies with talons and an undeniable thirst for imposing self-destruction on others. Kailey will also run into the possibility that a centuries-old Renhalan rumor is true, that advanced technology existing in Kailey’s realm shortens all life spans.

As blood is shed and puzzles near completion, Kailey pulls from deep within herself, conjuring up mystical qualities that enable her to astonish as once predicted at her birth, but despite the newfound strength, Kailey will discover that monsters not only come in ugly packages, but can be easily disguised as those she has come to love and trust.

My Review:
Lately I have been reading many books that are quite short and fast paced, I love those kind of books, because I can start a book finish it and then quickly start another book. I didn’t realize that sometimes I miss reading books that are a bit longer. When I started this book I was wondering whether to start it now or not, as it was quite long (430 e-book pages). I ended up just starting it and quickly I forgot the number of pages and immensed myself in the world of Renhala.

The book starts off slow paced and a bit confusing. I was actually wondering whether to continue it or not, because I was sure something supernatural was mentioned in the blurb and well I didn’t see any hint of that in the first 50 pages. And then suddenly things start making sense, the supernatural is introduced and I was sucked into this story. The story is awesome, it’s a bout Kailey and about friendship and love. About good and evil and grey. And so much more.

The characters are loveable! I couldn’t wait to read more about them and I especially liked Kailey, she is such a strong girl, but also so normal at times. A few other favourites are: Lupa, Bu, Jenna, Kioto, Greer and Ladimir. Kailey meets so many interesting and nice creatures and I couldn’t help but like them all, they all have these characteristics that make them unique. Although I wouldn’t mind spending more time reading about all of them and learning more about them. I think the author did an awesome job creating a whole cast of likeable characters.

The evil characters were not as easy to like and I thought it was difficult to really get why they acted like they did. I would’ve liked a bit more insight in way they did these evil things and who they are.

The world building is also done briliantly. Although after finishing the book I still have so many questions. The author describes the world perfectly, not too much details, but enough to get a good sense of how this world looks. I also loved all the originaly touches, like the life pond and the strange creatures like the Grebles, the Meeples and the Mooncats. I do think that one book is just too less to get to know all of the world and I am would like to learn more about this amazing world.

To conclude: a great story, slower paced and longer than what I usually read, but I loved it! The only minpoints are the fact that the beginning is quite slow and I didn’t get a good idea why the evil characters acted like they did. The story was original and interesting, the characters were likeable and the world building was done really well. The story was longer then what I usually read, but I only wished it was even longer, because I already miss reading about Kailey and Renhala.

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You can find it on Goodreads

And you can buy this book, 13 and 14 December it is on sale for $.99. You can buy it here:
Amazon 
Smashwords
B&N

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2 responses to “Review: Renhala by Amy Joy Lutchen

  1. Thanks Soma! It certainly is a different and unique story and I liked it even more because it was so long and I had gotten so used to reading those short books. It is really nice to read a long book once in a while 😉

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