Book Review

Title: Even the Darkest Stars (Book 1)
Author: Heather Fawcett


Book Blurb from Amazon.com:

Kamzin has always dreamed of becoming one of the Emperor’s royal explorers, the elite climbers tasked with mapping the wintry, mountainous Empire and spying on its enemies. She knows she could be the best in the world, if only someone would give her a chance.

But everything changes when the mysterious and eccentric River Shara, the greatest explorer ever known, arrives in her village and demands to hire Kamzin—not her older sister Lusha, as everyone had expected—for his next expedition. This is Kamzin’s chance to prove herself—even though River’s mission to retrieve a rare talisman for the emperor means climbing Raksha, the tallest and deadliest mountain in the Aryas.  Then Lusha sets off on her own mission to Raksha with a rival explorer who is determined to best River, and Kamzin must decide what’s most important to her: protecting her sister from the countless perils of the climb or beating her to the summit.

The challenges of climbing Raksha are unlike anything Kamzin expected—or prepared for—with avalanches, ice chasms, ghosts, and even worse at every turn. And as dark secrets are revealed, Kamzin must unravel the truth of their mission and of her companions—while surviving the deadliest climb she has ever faced.

My review:

To be honest, I have never read a book about mountain climbing. Never. So when I chose to read this book I never thought I would want to climb mountains after finishing this. I enjoyed the amount of imagery Heather Fawcett put into the story. I felt like I could see and feel everything that was happening. The characters fleshed out perfectly, the writing was a joy to read, and I can feel all the emotions Kamzin was feeling.

Of course, keeping that in mind, I disliked Lusha and liked her too. I understood how Kamzin felt about her older sister. Lusha is the center of the universe for most people in their village and Kamzin was the slightly disappointing after fact trailing like a shadow behind a bright light. I personally connected with that as I had the same kind of feelings with my own sister. I understood the dislike and the worry she had over her sister. Kamzin fleshed out so well in the book that if there wasn't a sequel coming out in a few months I'd be fine with just this edition.

River Shara. Damn those eyes. I like the twist about him and the relationship between him and Kamzin. They are not perfect at all and work so well together.

One of my favorite things about the book is the magic, shamans, witches, dragons, and magical-ness of the story. I wish I could live in it and climb mountains and explore like Kamzin.

I'm excited for the sequel and have it on pre-order. I'm ready to delve further into the story and see what happens next.

Next read, courtesy of Netgalley.com:
Outrun the Wind by Elizabeth Tammi