Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Reader's Review: "The Seventh Crow" by Sherry D. Ramsey

 
Synopsis from Amazon:
 
When you can’t remember most of your life, you’d better be prepared for anything. The day a talking crow meets her on the way home from school, fourteen-year-old Rosinda is plunged into a forgotten world filled with startling revelations: magic ability flows in her veins, she’s most comfortable with a sword in her hand, and the responsibility for finding a missing prince rests solely with her.

While dark forces hover in the background and four forgotten war gods from Earth’s past plot to reclaim long-lost power, Rosinda struggles with waves of slowly-returning memories as she searches for clues about her past and the true identity of her family; a search that takes her back and forth between two worlds. In a race against time to recover her memory, find the prince, and rescue her loved ones, Rosinda has only her friend Jerrell and an unusual trio of animals as companions. And as the gods prepare to bring her world to war, Rosinda is unaware that the shadow of betrayal lurks within one whom she trusts the most… 
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My Review:
 
I received this book in return for an honest review—so I won't mince my words!

I have read a LOT of books where a young female finds out the existence of a strange world. More often than not, she has to team up with a rather good-looking (sometimes "in-his-own-way") young man to save the world/the realm/the kingdom, and completely sass the pants off anyone who disbelieves her along the way. Being that it's such a common trope, it takes a really good author not to make a complete "Mary-Sue" out of a premise like that. In truth, I almost expected it.

But it never quite happened. 

After reacting quite calmly to a talking crow at the beginning, Rosinda does a fine job of behaving exactly like somebody who isn't at all sure about these magical powers she is supposed to have. I especially appreciated the way Ramsey scattered the return of the memories that had been taken away, so that it's when someone makes a reference, or when they arrive at a location that she comes up with the information they need. (followed immediately by "Wait! But how did I know this??")
 
Most of all, though, I loved all the characters involved. It can be tempting to use peripheral characters for exposition or Plot Device of Total Convenience... but the secondary cast is just as fascinating and dynamic as the main character, and each individual carried their own "voice" very well indeed!
I loved the lore that went into creating this story. It drew me in and held my interest, I never felt bored or that I "knew what was going to happen"... in fact, it almost seemed that every time I tried to predict an outcome, something else would happen and the adventure would bend on a whole new twist! 

THE SEVENTH CROW earns *****5 STARS***** for Simply Delightful Storytelling! It isn't super-heavy on the feels, nor overly complex, but it's marvelous in its simplicity and the sheer creativity of it all makes this an Upstream Writer Certified TOTALLY RECOMMENDED adventure! 

Further Reading: (Magical Girls Save The World/YA/Middle Grade/Adventures/Talking Animals)

The Untamed Series--Madeline Dyer
       -Untamed 
The Vemreaux Trilogy--Mary E. Twomey
       -The Way
       -The Truth
       -The Lie  
The Fair Folk Chronicles--Jeffrey Cook and Katherine Perkins
        -Foul is Fair
        -Street Fair
        -A Fair Fight
Spirit Knights--Lee French
       -Girls Can't Be Knights
       -Backyard Dragons  
Lord of the Wyrde Woods--Nils Visser
     -Escape From Neverland
     -Dance Into The Wyrd
Talented Series--Amy Hopkins
     -Dream Stalker
     -Barrow Fiend 
The PSS Chronicles--Ripley Patton
       -Ghost Hand
       -Ghost Hold
       -Ghost Heart
       -Ghost Hope
 

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