Review Detail

Darcy Pennington is a typical thirteen-year-old girl. I remember what that was like. In fact, at that very same age, my family was undergoing job changes, and my life just felt out-of-control and I wasn't happy about any of the changes that came our way. I was moody, cranky, went into funks, and was just plain nasty at times. Though the situations aren't always the same, that moody, selfishness is pretty much par for the course for thirteen-year-olds. They drive most parents and teachers crazy, and yet we still love them. (Though I have to say that it's always awesome when the teen grows out of that! LOL!)

Darcy stumbled upon a gateway in the middle of the forest. From gnomes to fairies to dryads to narks (I love narks!) to humans, Darcy suddenly finds herself in a parallel world where magic exists and a very dark force has long since taken control. There is a prophecy that involves Darcy and her other five companions and they go off on an adventure in Alitheia.

Does this prophecy then make Darcy change and grow overnight? Absolutely not. She is still a selfish thirteen-year-old girl who makes stupid decisions. Those stupid decisions are, after all, part of what make her a believable thirteen-year-old girl. I wanted to smack the girl upside the head on more than one occasion. On the other hand, I also wanted to smack some of the adults upside the head. They weren't sure how to deal with a group of thirteen-year-olds either and they made some equally dumb decisions. And really, fallible characters are largely what helps to make a well-rounded story.

However, as the story goes along, the teenagers do begin to grow. Not too much too fast, but just enough to be believable. And by the time I reached the end of the book, I was searching through my book list for book 2.