Review of "Heart's Blood" by Juliet Marillier

Well, I thought I'd foray into something I've never done before. After all, this blog is just for myself anyways right? Right. So, a friend of mine loaned me a book of hers with the recommendation that I read it. Um ...duh! She loves this particular author and thought this book was "a beautiful story." Believe it or not it sat on my shelf for close to 4 months, an unheard of act when it comes to new books in my house. I just couldn't muster up the desire to read it. I mean you know how some books whisper to you and beg you to pick them up and read them, thoroughly devour them and get lost in the story? ( I swear I'm not crazy) Well, this one didn't. Anyhow, I have now completed her suggested book and will heretofore provide my thoughts on said book. :)

Kristi's Review of Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier: There are SPOILERS
Just a few things quick, its a historical paranormal fiction story. It takes place in Ireland I'm thinking thousands of years ago. Caitrin is our heroine and Anluan the hero. It boils down to a strange and yet different mixture of Beauty and the Beast with twists of Lord of the Rings and other well-known sci-fi/fantasy adventures thrown in for good measure.

Short version: I liked it. I didn't absolutely adore it, but I definitely enjoyed reading it. I'd give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Long Version: I liked it, but wow were there areas I found remarkably annoying. Let me start off by saying that I really enjoy period piece's set in Ireland. I'm a huge Ireland fan. However, if you are going to put names in your story that the average human being will NOT be able to pronounce, please include a glossary of phonetic pronunciations. I just hate not knowing if the voices in my head are saying it correctly. I did trudge on though, making up names if I had to. So to the story, Anluan's people in the land of Whistling Tor are pretty much under a curse. They've been plagued by what is known as "the host" for almost a hundred years. If the host leaves Whistling Tor ( tor also being a hill of sorts) dire things happen and many lives are taken. The Chieftain of the hill at the time is responsible for keeping the host under control. Anluan, is of course, the chieftain. Anluan is afflicted by the tragedy of his father's alleged suicide and also from permanent damage to his right side from seizures as a child. This was a bit much for me, but also what contributed to the knowledge that this "story" was based on the Beauty and the Beast fairytale. Needless to say, girl falls in love with boy, boy is difficult and surly until one day voila she's wonderful and amazing and changes his life. Isn't that always the way? Caitrin changes Anluan's life and demeanor and convinces him to rally the troops (the Host and townsfolk together) for a fight to the death against the Normans. (English I'm supposing) Due to his worry for Caitrin, he turns mean to her and sends her away, she of course believes him in true Historical Heroine fashion, and goes away to her home to live her life and blah blah. Caitrin reunites with her sister who's husband has died and who now has a little baby to raise on her own. They get back their home from an evil relative who sought to discredit Caitrin by demeaning and having her son beat her. Caitrin has a vision of Anluan under attack and has to go back to Whistling Tor.

So, hopefully I didn't give away to many spoilers, even though I know noone is reading this. I just want to say after re-reading what I wrote that I make it seem like I didnt enjoy the story. I apologize for that, because this truth is that I did like the story, it kept me interested enough to complete it in 2-3 sittings. Its just that I have to call it like I read it and this is definitely Fluff Stuff. Neat re-telling of a classic story and nothing too disturbing or horrible about it. There were some even nice twists. I was very happy about Emer( pronounced ayv-er, see what I mean?) and Gearróg. So, read the story if you're in for a fun bit of fluff that will make you smile and occasionally laugh out loud. However, I suggest you visit this page http://www.julietmarillier.com/books/hbpronunciationguide.html for help with pronunciation.

Cheers,
Kristi