Title: The Arrival
Series: BirthRight Trilogy Book One
Author: Nicole MacDonald
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Blurb: Cat, Kassie, Sian and Loi are anything but damsels in distress. Fed up with a lack of decent male specimens they cast a love spell in the hopes of finding their soul-mates. And inadvertently land themselves on another planet.
Oops…
The Arrival, follows the girls’ adventures as they stumble through a foreign and often hostile world where humans are NOT at the top of the food chain. Friendships are forged and love teeters on the horizon while the threat of civil war looms thanks to the girls’ very unexpected ‘gifts’. Will the girls master these gifts in time to survive a war in which, not only are they the ultimate weapons, but also the ultimate prize…
Thoughts: The world the author immerses us in is amazing – from creatures we recognize like griffons, to the unknown like tehnears – the world is fascinating and engaging. That alone is enough to keep you turning the pages! But add to that four feisty women who suddenly find themselves in an all new world, hunky male warriors who are fascinated by these strange women who have dropped into their world, and a evil sorceress intent on finishing a long-sought war – and you have a tale worth reading.
I only had a few issues with this book. First off, I didn’t really like how the viewpoint kept switching from character to character. I found that really annoying. Even minor characters had a paragraph here or there before it is switched yet again to someone else. While I do enjoy reading each characters thoughts and views, I would much rather each one got their own book telling things from their viewpoint. It was helped a little by the fact that when Cat (who through most of the book is the main character) is told in the first person view and the others are not.
My other issue is the ending. While I won’t give it away and spoil the book for anyone, I do need to say that the ending is problematic for me. While I love a good cliffhanger, there is a difference between a great cliffhanger that leaved you panting for the next installment – and a ending that simply dumps you off and leaves you feeling like the second half of it is missing. This one left me wondering if somehow, during publication, the last of it got lost. You feel like you missed something. While I do understand that this one done so the second installment could take up where the first left off, I feel that there were better ways to do it.
All in all, a good solid read – especially for those who like sc-fi. But easy to get lost in all the characters.
Rate: C+
