Silverwood by Betsy Streeter: Book review

Book title/Author: Silverwood by Betsy Streeter

Publisher/Year: March 11th 2015 Light Messages Publishing

Genre: YA Fantasy

Series: Silverwood #1

Pages: 320

Source/Format: e-arc | NetGalley

(Thanks NetGalley/Light Messages Publishing!)

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affects my opinion.

*This review may contain spoilers!*

Synopsis

The Silverwoods are a clan with a messy history and an uncertain future, responsible to protect humanity from the shape-shifting Tromindox. Helen Silverwood, fourteen, is beginning to realise that she will never lead a normal life. There have been clues: her mother's unusual work habits, her father's absence, her brother's strange abilities with a pencil and paper, and her own recurring dreams and hacker tendencies. And, the family's constant moves from place to place.

Things are about to get much more complicated, and it all leads to the remote town of Brokeneck, California. Can the Silverwoods keep from losing each other in space and time, while unravelling a dangerous mystery?

My review

I honestly had no idea what this book was about at all, and to be honest, I wasn't expecting much, as I hadn't heard anything about this book, so I was pleasantly surprised. When I got into the book a little bit, I still wasn't sure if it was going to be my thing as I'm not the biggest fan of all Fantasy, but this one I really enjoyed.

The concept of this book was very original, and I liked that about it. I've never heard of anything like the Tromindox or the kind of job that Helen's mum had. There were also no real big clichés, which can sometimes happen in a book with an original concept but luckily this book had none.

At times I did get confused as to what was going on because the book switches between different POVs, and they were set in different places, and as the book is quite complex it was sometimes hard to keep up.

One other issue I had with the book was the fact that they encountered lots of problems, which is fine, but they miraculously managed to escape them smoothly each time, which I thought was unrealistic. Also, everyone seemed to deal with the issues as though they were nothing, when it would've seemed better to be even a little bit freaked out. Furthermore, the Silverwoods all dealt with things so professionally and well, and although the mum and dad may have encountered something similar in the past, the children certainly wouldn't have.

Overall, it was a very interesting read and I'm glad that I did read it. I'm not sure if I will continue with the series next year, however.

If you enjoy sci-fi and cool families battling even cooler creatures, then you should check this out.

Izzy